Recipe: Creepy Crunch Mix! (gluten free)

I love to make this simple, but very tasty chex mix treat. I've made it at Valentine's Day and used m and m's in red, white and pink, calling it "Sweetheart crunch mix". At Christmas, using the green, red and white m&m's I call it "Christmas crunch mix" For Halloween however, I use the Halloween inspired m&m's (pictured above) that are in a neon orange, black, purple and green, calling it "Creepy crunch mix". Here's what you need:

1regular size box of RICE Chex Cereal

3 cups pretzels (rough chopped)

2 cups salty peanuts, cashews or macadamia nuts (peanuts are most economical)

2 bags of white chocolate chips

1 large bag of plain m&m's (look for holiday editions)

Saran Wrap press and seal or wax paper

2 t. vegetable oil

Using the largest bowl you have or splitting between two bowls, pour the entire box of cereal and the m&m's into the bowl. Then, using a food chopper or knife; rough chop the nuts and pretzels and add to the bowl.
Pour both bags of white chocolate chips and 2 t. vegy oil into a microwavable bowl (I love using my Pampered chef micro cooker for this) Place in microwave oven without lid and cook for 30 seconds, remove from oven and stir. Return to microwave for another 30 sec. stir. Repeat this process until chips are melted and silky when stirred. (DO NOT OVERCOOK, stop when the chips are just melted. Stir until silky. (this process only takes 90 seconds in my microwave)

Pour the white chocolate over your mix and with two wooden spoons, slowly and carefully mix until the white chocolate covers all the mix. (you may want to split the mix into two bowls for this if you don't have a big enough bowl)

Using press and seal wrap OR wax paper, line two cookie sheets. Spread the chocolate covered mix into the pans and gently press flat with your hands. Let the crunch mix set for approx. one hour.

Once your mix is set up in the pans, break it apart and distribute it to cellophane gifts bags, holiday tins or wherever you want to store it! (I dare you to try and do this without nibbling the yummy mix as you go!) I sent some of this to Kate in her dorm last year at Valentines Day and her and her friends went wild for it. So...I'm sending some out again tomorrow to her and her cousin Brandy who lives down the street from Kate and attends the same University.

Enjoy making, gifting and eating this yummy crunch mix!

Pics of our loft

As promised, here is another room in the house to check out. We are REALLY enjoying this loft.
We put the big screen T.V. up here which is too big for any room in my opinion unless you have a built in space for it. We did in our last two houses, but not in this one. Eventually we will sell it (if anyone would buy it..LOL) and get a flat screen, but for now it works fine up in the loft. Kev and I have been retiring to this area in the late evenings after Kyle goes to bed for watching T.V., movies and reading. This loft is also where Kyle watches T.V./movies. It is right off his bedroom so he tends to spend a lot of time up here.

This is our hide a bed sofa which will work great for a guest when/if we have enough people visiting to need more sleeping space than the guest room down stairs. We are currently keeping our eye out for an arm chair on Craig's list to put up here as well. (it would go in front of the window)

I found this sign at Home Goods for $10 and had to have it for this room.

I inherited these old suitcases from my Mom. It's where she kept all her holiday decorations (other than Christmas) and it is now where I keep mine (and hers). I thought stacking them up like this made a cool table.

Here are a few more of my Halloween decorations. My Mom cross stiched the October "halloween snow man"

Here is the built in tech center. This is where I sit in the evenings to write in my blogs. This is also where Kyle works on the computer. I love all the cabinet space in this tech center. It houses games, blankets and the printer.

Another view of the tech center. Stay tuned for a tour of our bedroom, Kyle's room, Kevin's office and my craft room.

Happy Halloween

Today I brought out the Halloween Decorations! Growing up, Halloween was never about anything evil or scary...it was always a fun holiday to have a class party and dress up in one of Mom's hand made costumes. Through the years, my Mom made almost all my brother's and my costumes and going out trick or treating with Mom and Dad remains a favorite childhood memory.

Which is why, I tried over the years to make Halloween an especially fun holiday for my kids. Kyle won't be trick or treating this year, so it looks like last year was officially his last. I can't deny the sadness I feel in knowing that my children are grown up past the days of trick or treating. That does not mean however, that I still can't bring out my decorations and getting into the spirit anyway!

Above are my black cat, pumpkin people and ghost collections. The little paintings were done by Mom and I cherish them dearly. I just love these little country/vintage figurines. The little Happy Halloween stacking block sign was a new purchase at the Pumpkin Patch's gift shop this last weekend. (click on pics to see a larger image)
Here is my Halloween tree. The plates that are hanging above were gifts from my Mom many years ago.

Here is a closer look at the little ornaments on the Halloween tree. I took Vintage Halloween stickers, put them on black card stock and then cut them out and hung them with a thin black satin ribbon.

Here is my witch collection. My Mom started this collection for me years ago.

Here is another one of my Mom's cute paintings. I love this broom flying witch! My witches are not evil ones, no...they are whimsical characters who bring a smile to my face each year when I bring them out. When I was around 6 or 7 my Mom made me a witch costume and painted my face green. What a memory!

Happy Halloween everyone!

Scrap book pages and mini book

Here are the scrap book pages I just finished using the pics from our trip to the beach with the C family last month. Click on each image to see the pages closer. These are 12x12 pages

Here is a little mini book I made using the same pics.

Sorry for the angle. I could not for the life of me get this to turn the right way.

Recipe: Chicken Chile Enchiladas (gluten free)

Here is a recipe that I got from my friend Beverly. I have tweaked the recipe slightly from the original and it is a family fav! Pictured above are the ingredients you will need (green chiles not pictured)

INGREDIENTS

3 c. shredded cooked chicken (I shred chicken off one rotisserie chicken from Costco)

1 4 oz can diced green chiles

1 t. salt (optional)

1 10 oz can green chile enchilada sauce

5 oz can evaporated milk

package of 10 corn tortillas (white or yellow)

2 cups shredded monterey jack cheese

DIRECTIONS

Shred all the meat off the rotisserie chicken and put into large bowl. Stir in the diced green chiles and salt. Set aside. Take two paper towels, wet and wring out excess water. Take 3 corn tortillas and wrap them up into the damp wet towels. Microwave for 30 seconds. This will soften the tortillas and prevent them from splitting when you roll the meat up inside them. (you may also fry them in oil, my method has much less calories though!)

Take one tortilla at a time and place approx 1/4 cup of the meat mixture in a line in the middle of the tortilla. (as seen above) Fold one side up over the meat and while turning over, roll into a log shape. Place seam side down in a prepared (sprayed with non stick spray) 9x 13 casserole dish. Repeat until all 9-10 enchiladas are prepared and in the dish. (as seen below) Set aside

In a small bowl whisk together the enchilada sauce and the evaporated milk. Pour evenly over the enchiladas. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake in a 350 oven for 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

*tip: If you make this in advance, do not pour the enchilada sauce/milk mixture over the top until RIGHT before you bake. Otherwise, the sauce will be mostly absorbed by the tortillas and you will have a dry casserole.

Fall Decor

Welcome Fall! This is by far my favorite time of year, and I'm especially excited about it this year as I anticipate the trees of our community coming alive with bursts of color as their leaves turn bright reds and oranges! After 5 years in the desert where you might see 2 or 3 trees in a weeks time with brightly colored leaves, with the endless sea of tree lined streets of our community it will be a sight to see I know. Although our days are still warm and feel like Summer, our mornings are getting cooler and our evenings coming earlier and cooling off nicely. It won't be long before we can put our shorts and short sleeve shirts a way and bring out our pants and long sleeved shirts!

One thing I've already brought out is my fall decorations! I had a blast decorating the new house. A few of my blog readers have been asking for pics, so here goes!

Recipe: Taco Pie (gluten free)

This is one of Kevin's favorite meals. Lately I've been making with ground turkey instead of ground beef to be healthier. It's great either way. This is also an impressive meal to make for guests. You can double the recipe and put it in a 9x13 casserole dish as an alternative.

CRUST

1/4 cup/plus 1 T cornmeal, divided

3/4 cup all-purpose flour (or rice flour, Bob's Red Mill gluten free baking flour...gfree flour of choice)
if you are gluten free

1 1/2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

1/3 c. milk

1 T. vegetable oil

FILLING

1 lb lean ground beef or turkey

1 cup salsa (I use mild Pace Picante Sauce)

1 cup shredded cheddar

1 cup shredded iceberg lettuce

1/2- 3/4 c. chopped tomato

1/2 cup sliced black olives

Sour cream to garnish

optional (avocado slices)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Using vegy oil spray (like Pam) spray a 9" round pie plate. Sprinkle 1 T cornmeal evenly onto the bottom and sides of the prepared pie plate. Set aside. In mixing bowl, combine the remaining 1/4 c. cornmeal, flour, baking powder and salt. Add milk and oil, stir with milk until mixture forms a ball. Knead gently to combine all ingredients completely. Dough will be sticky at first. Transfer to lightly floured surface. Using lightly floured rolling pin, roll out crust to a 10 inch circle. Place in prepared pie plate and press dough in to fit. Press dough up sides of pan and trim excess. Using fork, crimp the edges (see picture for example) Set aside.

Cook and stir the ground meat in frying pan over medium/high heat for approx 10 minutes of until meat is no longer pink and is cooked through. Drain. Add the salsa and stir to combine. Pour meat/salsa mixture into prepared pie crust. Sprinkle with the cheese. Bake 12-15 minutes until crust is golden brown and cheese melted. Top pie with shredded lettuce, tomato and olives. Garnish with sour cream and optional avocado slices. Serve with additional salsa if required.

I like to serve this with Spanish rice as a side dish. Enjoy!