Recipe: Ground Beef Enchiladas

I LOVE Mexican food! If given the chance, I would eat it for every meal, snack and in between. I ate Mexican food through both my pregnancies. My mother and I (mostly my mom, but I assisted!) made a batch of beef enchiladas that were delicious goodness (to coin my girl's phrase). Here is the recipe we used:


Ground Beef Enchiladas

For the meat filling:
1 lb ground meat
1 chopped onion
1 pkg. grated longhorn cheese (we used colby jack mix)
1 can Ro-tel tomatoes, drained
1 - 2 tsp cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste

For the sauce:
1 can chopped green chillies
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 pkg Monterrey Jack cheese
1-1lb velveeta cheese
1 small can evaporated milk
1 can Ro-tel tomatoes

Brown meat with onion. Add cheese; stir until melted. Add tomatoes and seasonings. Fill flour tortillas with meat mixture. Place seam side down in a 13"x9" pan. Pour sauce over tortillas. Cover. Bake at 450 degrees for about 15 min. Top with sour creem, sliced black olives, or jalapeno peppers.


The sauce is so good that we put some aside and used as a dip with chips. No more Velvetta and Rotel for me! I now know the BEST cheese dip!

Enjoy!

Sometimes you can't go home....

I was raised in Texas. My dad was a police officer so we moved around a bit. When I was little (ages 4 - 7) we lived in Thornton, TX. We lived in a small brick house and then my parents bought a big house across the street. I have very fond memories of that house. My mother had a huge garden that we all took care of. I remember her in the huge kitchen canning all kinds of goodies from the garden. I remember going to kindergarten in the neighboring town, Groesbeck. Today, I took my girls on a road trip so that they could see where I lived when I was their age. I made the trip with the girls, my mother, sister and niece. I was a little excited to show them that I was actually their age once and this is where I played, lived and went to school. As we drove through the very small town, none of it was familiar to me anymore. We turned on the dirt road and traveled past a graveyard....funny, I don't remember living near a graveyard at all! Suddenly, we were at the houses. I am so sad...they don't look like anything that I remember. Sure, over the years, changes were made and I do see a shell of the house that I once lived in, but there were so many things that I did not remember. Was the house really that close to the road? Everything seemed so much bigger and wide open when I was little. There were so many trees and out buildings that were not there before. My memories were way better than reality. My girls could not believe that I once lived here. I couldn't believe that I once lived here.

While I was very disappointed, I decided to carry on and drive to the town were I went to elementary school. So, down the road we went and as we were driving I just could not get over the changes. The town that I remembered so fondly was not the town in present day. The school that I remembered was not the school that I saw today. Yes, it is much older, just like me! Needless to say, my girls were not impressed at all with my childhood home or school.

After today's excursion into the past, I have come to realize that sometimes you can't go home. Sometimes, it is just better to keep your past in the past and cherish the memories.

Vacation

The girls and I have been on vacation in Texas visiting my family since mid-June. Although it has been hot, we have enjoyed the relaxing days of summer. The girls have been swimming every day and playing outside as much as possible. In a few days, we will be leaving for home to get ready for school that starts August 13.

While we have been here, my mother and I have been cooking and baking. I have had the opportunity to test several recipes....some have turned out better than others. My mother bought a bread machine while I was here and we have had fun putting it to good use. Who doesn't love fresh bread, rolls and goodies? There is nothing better than warm rolls fresh from the oven to go with dinner and a tall glass of sweet tea.

I found a roll recipe that is so wonderful. Every time that I have made a pan, the rolls go so quick they don't have a chance to get cold. If you have an opportunity, you must try this recipe.
My girls love them fresh out of the oven smothered in butter and honey. The rolls are dense enough that you could easily turn these into hamburger buns and hot dog buns which is what the recipe is for.

I hope that you are enjoying the summer as much as we are!

And so it begins....

I wanted to started this blog months ago, but when you have a family, times gets away from you. I really should have started this blog a year ago when my husband retired from the Air Force after 20 years of service. That is when the real adventure in the "real" world started. We moved to Colorado and gained three more children, my two stepson and my neice. It has been a long and hard year with lots of ups and downs with the boys, but I am determined to keep home life as normal as possible for my girls with both their parents.

Not only did we get more children, but our income reduced by half and now my husband is a full time student. I am trying very hard to continue to be home with my kids so it has been a challenge, thus this blog. I would like to document this frugal life we live...


...so here comes the Rickett Chronicles.