A visit from Kate

What a wonderful birthday gift I received this year.....a visit from Kate! She was originally supposed to come down Friday-Wednesday and I had made lots of plans for our time together....alas it was not to be. Kate got confused as to when school started and thought it was the 30th. However, to her surprise she discovered it actually starts this Monday the 23rd!! So once again, her visit was very short. I'm just so glad she got to come at all. She came in Thursday night the 19th around 8 p.m. and we enjoyed a nice evening just visiting and watching a movie. It was strange at first when Kate arrived...she looked SO SMALL to both Kevin and I both. She has been 5'2" tall for about the past 2 years now so we couldn't figure out why it was she seemed so small....until her now 5'6" brother Kyle walked into the room and stood next to her!! Kyle, who was only 5'1" at Christmas is now towering over Kate! So what we realized is that because Kyle is so much bigger now it makes Kate seem smaller!

 The next day (my birthday) her and I met up with my Dad, Step Mom and Step Brothers for breakfast which was a treat for my birthday from my Dad. They were passing through on there way to a family reunion with Polly's family in a near by city. We had a wonderful breakfast together and Dad and Polly gifted me with a beautiful 18K gold cross necklace from Mikanos, Greece as a birthday gift. It is EXQUISITE and I will proudly wear it daily!

After breakfast Kate and I went shopping and grabbed a smoothie before heading home around 3. I then took a 2 hour birthday nap....so refreshing!  When I woke up, Kevin was home from work and he and the kids had gifts for me to open. I received a book and CD that I've been wanting. We had a simple dinner at home before heading out to the movies to see Eclipse. I really wanted to see it twice before it left the theatres and Kevin had not seen it yet so we decided to go. Believe it or not it was Kate's 4th time to see it! Kate and I both love the Twilight books and movies so it was fun to see Eclipse together.

The next day we took the kids to the LA area to Knotts Berry Farm.

We had a fun day of riding roller coasters and other thrill rides, seeing shows and eating amusement park food! To save money, we had Taco Bell for lunch before getting to the park around noon. That did not stop us though from getting pretzels with cheese and ice cream sandwiches however later as snacks AND eating burgers and fries for dinner around 7 p.m. We ended the day at the park with watching a tribute to the Beatles show that was FABULOUS. They sounded JUST LIKE the fab four and we all enjoyed the show.

We left the park around 9:30 p.m. and  were home by 10:30. It's nice to live only an hour away from all that the LA area has to offer...(without living there)!

This morning after church my Dad, Polly and Zac (one of my step brothers...Clay went home yesterday on the train) came to visit on their way home. It was their first time to see our new house. They LOVED it! They visited for about and hour and then they left to head home as did Kate! It was great to see Kate, my Dad, Polly, Zac and Clay.

Recipe: Quesadilla Casserole (gluten free)

Here is a new recipe at last! Kyle is back to school and I'm LOVING my free time during the day. I'm going to be trying out several new recipes through the end of the Summer and Fall and I look forward to sharing the "winners" with you. What is a winner in my eyes? When both Kevin AND Kyle say to me "yum", " it's so good", or any expression that says they like it AND they go for seconds that makes a recipe a winner. Of course I have to like it too. I made this casserole and all three of us absolutely loved it. It was easy to make, is healthy and I will definately be making it again. Here is what you will need to get started:

You may recall when I made fajitas using one of the Recipe Inspirations Spice Kits. I have found these at Albertsons for $1.99 in many varieties.  I love these spice kits! They come with pre-measured blister packs of the spices you need, a list of the other items you will need to buy and the recipe. The recipe is on a 3 x 5 card so you can hold on to it for the future. In this case, now that I have the recipe card...the next time I make this I will just use spices from my jars to make it since I have the spices. If I did not have one of the spices, I'd just buy the kit again. A jar of spices can cost anywhere from $3-$7 so this would save me quite a bit of money to buy the kit vs a jar of spices that I may not have on hand. In case you can't find the recipe inspirations kit or already have the spices on hand; here are the measurements for the spices.

1 Quesadilla Casserole Recipe Inspiration Kit which includes:
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 t. oregano leaves
1/2 t. crushed red peppers (optional)

1 lb. ground beef OR turkey
1/2 c. chopped onion
2 cans (8oz each) tomato sauce
1 can  (15 oz)  black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (8 3/4 oz) whole kernel corn, drained
1 can (4 1/2 oz) chopped MILD green chiles, undrained
6 flour OR corn tortillas (I used corn)
2 cups shredded Cheddar Cheese

Directions:

Brown meat and onion in large skillet on medium-high heat; drain. (I use a potato masher to break up the meat into small crumbles)

Rinse and drain the black beans.

Next, add the tomato sauce, beans, corn and green chiles; mix well.

Stir in all the spices (only add the red pepper flakes if you want a medium to spicy casserole..I made it without the red pepper flakes and the result was a perfectly seasoned, MILD casserole that is adult AND kid friendly)

Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes.

Spread 1/3 of the meat mixture on the bottom of  a 9 x 13 casserole dish sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. (I used my Pampered Chef deep dish baker)

Top with 3 of the tortillas, overlapping as needed.

                                                           Sprinkle with 1/3 of the cheese.

Repeat the layers. 1/3 of the meat mixture, 3 tortillas and 1/3 of the cheese.

Complete the casserole by spreading the last 1/3 of the meat mixture on top and the last 1/3 of the cheese.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 20 minutes or until bubbling. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream if desired.

ENJOY!!

Home tour #3 My Craft Room

Sorry for the delay in between blog posts lately...life has been full and BUSY! Kyle starts school on Wednesday, which will free up my time considerably  and I look so forward to spending more time on my blog.

Here is another room in our wonderful new home...my craft room. First of all I have to thank my incredible husband Kevin for handing this room to me on a silver platter. I offered to share it with him as "our office" but he insisted I have it all for myself for my scrap booking and stamping hobby. I think the fact that in our last house we both had dedicated rooms for an office and I was in mine daily and he went in his to work maybe twice in a year has a lot to do with that! Once again I feel so blessed by our new home. Kevin and I both feel that this home reflects us better than any other that we have lived in (and there have been a few homes in 20 years!) I could not be more blessed with this craft space. This room simply has everything I need and more. As you are looking at the pictures remember you can click twice on the pics to see a larger image.

This built in desk is incredible. There is enough room on this desk top for me to completely spread out and scrap book as well as share this space with a friend who might come over to scrap book or stamp with me. I also love to watch/listen to TV while I create and my little tv fits perfectly nestled in the corner. The painting was done by my Mom and was gifted to me by my Dad last year. It is by far my FAVORITE of all of Mom's paintings and it is perfect here in my craft room.

                           The built in shelving offers plenty of space for all my paper and stamp sets!

...not to mention the rest of my stuff!! In fact these shelves go up to the ceiling! Currently I haven't put anything in the top two shelves...but you know me, if there is a space to decorate I will find something to decorate it with!!

On either side of the desk I chose the third shelf up to put a picture of each one of the kids.

On the opposite wall from the built in desk and shelving is the perfect spot for my cube shelving, file cabinet and wireless printer. I house all family scrap books in this cube as well as my scrap book/stamping books and other supplies.

The art work is simply pieces of scrap book paper in 12 x 12 frames. I found the paper at Michaels and loved how it complimented my Mom's painting!

Here is another small book shelf that I put near the side door that leads out of my craft room and into the court yard area. It has a screen door on it and I love to keep it open (except the screen) during the early mornings and evenings when the air is the coolest. In this book shelf I house my scrap booking magazines and various other supplies.

I love this wall hung curio case hanging above the small book case. I keep some of my Mom's rubber stamps in here as well as a few shells and a small book on love.

This hall/foyer area of my office is a great space. I've turned it into an area to store all my die cutting systems and punches.

There is a ton of storage space in this cabinet and I currently am housing all my Mom's photo albums there. (she did not scrap book but had the same love of taking pictures and put all her pics into chronological albums) The top of this cabinet is perfect for die cutting. The picture of the lady was a painting that I started and was finished by my Mom on a day that my Mom wanted to teach me how to paint. I gave it my all, but at least for now...I'm not a big fan of painting. I'm not saying I'll never paint..but it is not an interest yet. I got as far as the dress and Mom took it over from there.

Here is one more shot of the space standing in the foyer/hall area looking into the room.

So there you have it...my scrap space! Thanks for taking the tour. That is the end of the home tours for a while...our room and other areas/rooms are a "work in progress" however, when they are done I will share. I have a lot of fun projects up my sleeve for this house and look forward to sharing them as they are completed.

A visit from Janet!

Janet came to visit us from Vegas for 3 days and 3 nights. It had been a year since I'd seen her so it was wonderful to spend some time with my close friend. She arrived Saturday after lunch and we spent the afternoon catching up. That night I made a big pot of Spaghetti and we had a nice dinner before heading to the movies to see something that we both had been wanting to see...Charlie St. Cloud. What a wonderful movie! Janet was always game for going to the movies when we used to live in Vegas, so it was great to go see a movie with her the first night. The next day we got up and went to the 11:30 church service where I was able to introduce her to our Pastor and several of our friends. Janet enjoyed our service immensely and it was so great to have my friend next to me in church. After church I took Janet to the "old town" section of our city and treated her to lunch out at my favorite Italian restaurant as a belated Birthday gift. (her birthday was in late July) I knew Janet would love this restaurant as much as me and she did! Their handmade ravioli and sauces are to die for. We also splurged and had a tiramisu in a coffee cup which is my all time favorite desert since moving here. We don't go there often (it's not low calorie as you can imagine!) but when we do...it is fabulous!! After lunch we strolled for 2 hours through all the little shops and Janet had fun buying a few things here and there. Monday we slept in and drove to the beach around 11 and spent the entire afternoon there soaking up the sun. The tide was high, so the beach was not as clean and pristine as our beaches in this part of the state usually are...but Janet didn't mind and soaked up every moment of the sun, sand and surf! On the way home we stopped for in In and Out Burger and strolled through my favorite scrap book store in this area which is on the way home from the beach. This morning we sat in the back yard and enjoyed the cool morning while we sipped coffee and one last long talk before saying say good-bye (for now) After being my next door neighbor for 5 years, Janet became a true friend and confidant while living in Vegas. We have made a commitment to try and get together at least once a year if not more. Luckily we only live 4 hours apart which makes that goal attainable. The pics below were taken this morning across the street right outside of the Country Club's club house. Not bad for two forty something gals, right? It was so wonderful to spend 3 fun filled days with one of my besties! Can't wait to see her again.