Dinner Tonight

I'm excited, because for the first time ever, I have all of the ingredients on hand to make my mom's super yummy enchilada casserole! It's a family get-together favorite! It's perfect with a side of tortilla chips and salsa. Here is my mom's version of this delicious casserole! Can you tell I'm hungry?!? I'm ready to eat!!!

Nancy's Enchilada Casserole
1/2 large onion, chopped (I'm cheating and using frozen)
1/2 bell pepper, chopped (I'm not using this, but it does make it extra delicious!)
1 lb. ground beef
1 can mild enchilada sauce
1 can chopped green chilies
1 pkg corn tortillas (Actually, I lied, I don't have these, so I'm using tortilla chips!)
1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, grated
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups Velveeta cheese, grated

Brown beef in skillet w/salt and pepper, onion and bell pepper. Drain off grease. Add soups, enchilada sauce, chilies and milk. Stir well and heat. Cut tortillas in fourths and line greased casserole dish with half of the tortillas. Add half of beef mixture, half of both cheeses. Then add the rest of tortillas, the rest of beef mixture and rest of both cheeses. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

This feeds quite a few! I'll probably put some in the freezer for another day. Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Crumb Bars Recipe

While I wait for paint to dry....

Here is the recipe for the Chocolate Chip Crumb Bars (these are pictured in a previous blog). These are really good, but not necessarily my favorite bar recipe ever. Josh liked them better than I did. They kind of taste like a chocolate pie, but in the form of a cookie bar. If you like chocolate chips and shortbread, then this is for you!


I adapted this recipe from the Nestle Toll House cookbook. The original recipe is called "Chocolatey Raspberry Crumb Bars". I was actually just looking for a recipe that called for everything that I had on hand. Apparently I didn't have eggs, so this was perfect:)

Chocolate Chip Crumb Bars

1 c. butter, softened
2 c. flour
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
2 cups chocolate chips, divided
1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 oz)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 13x9 baking pan

Beat butter in large bowl until creamy. Beat in flour, sugar and salt until crumbly. With flour fingers, press 1 3/4 c. crumb mixture onto bottom of baking pan; reserve remaining mixture.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until edges are golden brown

Microwave 1 cup chocolate chips and condensed milk in medium bowl, uncovered, for 1 minute. Stir. Chocolate chips may retain some of their original shape. If necessary, microwave at additional 10-15 second intervals, stirring, until morsels are melted. Spread over hot crust.

Sprinkle reserved crumb mixture over chocolate layer and sprinkle with remaining chocolate chips.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until center is set. Cool on wire rack. Cut into bars.

Makes 3 dozen bars

Homemade Chocolate Syrup Recipe

I ran out of chocolate syrup, but had a craving for chocolate milk. I didn't feel like getting out just for chocolate syrup. So, I found the recipe below. The great thing is that it is much cheaper, preservative free, you more than likely already have the ingredients on hand, and it tastes great in chocolate milk and on ice cream!

Homemade Chocolate Syrup
recipe courtesy of Recipezaar....**I halved the recipe below

1/2 c. cocoa powder
3/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. water
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Whisk together cocoa, salt and sugar. Add water, and cocoa/sugar mixture to a 3 qt pot. Boil for 2-5 minutes (I boiled for 3 minutes), whisking continuously. Take off heat and add vanilla. Transfer to another container (jar, clean old syrup container, etc.) and store in the refrigerator.

One last giveaway for the summer...

I won't bore you with the details here. So, check it out at my Blessings and Bows blog! Good luck!

Rainy Days and Mondays

I am having one of those days where I have a long "to-do" list, but little energy/motivation to complete any of the items on it! These dreary days make it really hard for me to be motivated!
Maybe a Cherry Coke and some peanut M&Ms will do the trick!

The icing on the cake

I'm sitting here daydreaming about how nice it would be to win THIS!! It would be just perfect! We have a carseat/stroller combo for infants, but this would be great, too!! Check it out, courtesy of strollermama.com on momdot.com

I want to cook!

Chocolate Chip Crumb Bars

I haven't cooked in several days and I'm missing it! I've baked this past week (Freckle Face's Symphony Brownies, Chocolate Chip Crumb Bars (pictured), and Chocolate Chip Cookies...I'll post recipes soon!), which I love to do, but I only cooked about 1 or 2 dinners. I'm really wanting to try this recipe! I've had it on my menu for 2 weeks and I still haven't gotten to it! Hopefully this will be the week! One super easy and good recipe from my favorite source, Real Simple, is for Teriyaki- Glazed Burgers. I have never had a bad recipe from Real Simple! They're all great! You should try them out!!