Black Bean and Sausage Pot

This week the challenge is to be thrifty and still put a delish dinner on the table using what I have on hand.

Crock pot cooked black beans from the freezer, dry rice, bell pepper, onion, a can of diced tomatoes, and half a package of jalapeno cheddar sausage.  Seemed a little lackluster, so I added a package of...

 ...Italian salad dressing mix.  The following is not so much a recipe as an experiment!  I cooked the rice and set it aside earlier in the day.  Then about 30 minutes before dinner, I sliced and cooked the sausage and set it aside, too.  Then sauteed the chopped  onion and pepper in some olive oil and added the tomatoes, juice and all with  the seasoning packet and a can of water.

I simmered it all about 20 minutes, then stirred in the rice and kept if warm in the crock pot while I fixed butter dip biscuits from Plain Chicken. It made something of a stew, perfect with the biscuits. Not bad for a frugal meal.

Gina

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One of those weeks

It's been one of those weeks at Camp Rustown.  

Heck, it's been one of those months...

It's better for everyone who lives here if I stay busy.  It's even better for them if, while cleaning out the pantry and putting away the hot chocolate bar for the season (feels like stinkin' Spring here!) Mom finds the rest of her gin from the holidays and mixes up a cocktail for her own private Happy Hour. 

I'm not suggesting that every mom drink a little some-some when she's having a bad day...or week...or month.  But I think it is a nice thing to have every now and again - purely for attitude adjustment and medicinal purposes.  And the lime juice is high in vitamin C. That's my philosophy anyway....

February thifting

Last week I stopped by one of my favorite thrift stores with nothing in particular to look for - which always seems to work out better for me.

 I found 2 like new Eddie Bauer shirts for Hubby that ended up being half price - so $6.29 for two.

 And four tops for me at around $7.50.

 And this little bit of bric-a-brac.  Some new IKEA cork coasters for $1, new food storage containers for $1, the books at about 50 cents each, and a wire "tree" for $2.50.  I was going to save the tree for Christmas decor, but it fit in nicely with the stuff up on the tops of the kitchen cabinets:

 

Simple, pretty, thrifty.

Gina

Four Ingredient Enchiladas

These are a favorite of ours and simple to make - I call them "The Working Woman's Friend" and I have made them this way for years.

 You will need:

One can of chili (or, make your own)
One can of petite diced tomatoes
One package 10 ct. corn tortillas
2-3 cups shredded cheese (I used the Mexican Blend)

*This recipe is easy to double if you are feeding more than 5 people - count on two enchiladas per person.

Put a dab of margarine on each tortilla and stack 'em while you heat up a skillet.

Cook a little on each side - one minute or so total - to soften them up.  I have tried other ways to soften them that didn't work as well - the margarine makes them nice and pliable.

Stack them on a plate to cool til you get them all done.  Then put a couple tablespoons of grated cheese in each one, roll up, and place seam side down in a greased 13x9 casserole dish.

 Turn your oven to 350 and start the sauce.

Saute a little garlic, if you like, and add in the chili and tomatoes, juice and all.  Tweak it with cumin, chili powder - whatever you like. Let it warm up in your already hot pan, but you don't have to simmer it.

Slather it all over the rolled up enchiladas.

And sprinkle with the rest of the cheese.

Bake for about 30 minutes while you chop a salad.

Dessert was Cherry Cheesecake Squares from Abundance on a Dime:

  It was a sweet ending to our enchilada meal.

Gina

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She and He

The Girl asked me to send her some pictures of she and her dad for a slide show that will play at a Father/Daughter event for her sorority.  So I pulled my little scanner out, and went through all the photo albums and digital files to come up with these:

Gina

February blahs...

Yesterday I found the simplest task to be (almost) beyond me - just putting away the pine cones at the front door that were leftover from holiday decorating, and fixing up new front door decor.

You wouldn't think that this had taken me over an hour to do...but it did.  It felt like slogging thru mud with boots on to get this accomplished.  I spray painted the durn thing, then distressed it.  But it's not like spray paint takes a long time to dry.  All I had to do was gather up some greenery and make it look presentable...it was like the creative part of my brain was not functioning at all.

I'm finding it hard to pull myself up out of the February blahs - the weather here is gorgeous and warm and there's no reason I can see for it...it's possible that I just need a break from the drudgery...

so when is Spring Break?

Cinnaroll waffles

This is a fun thing to do with canned cinnamon rolls - I have seen it on several blogs (like this one) and it looked so easy I had to try it myself!  Guaranteed to appeal to kids.

It made a good breakfast for the boys with a side of scrambled eggs.

I sprayed some Pam on my waffle iron and lay one roll on each square.

Smashed them down good, then cooked them the same way I do waffles - when they stop steaming so much, they are done!  It was that simple.

These were the orange ones - it was easy to microwave the container of frosting a few seconds and drizzle it over the waffles.  But I think you could also serve them with pancake syrup.

Bubbie gave them a thumbs up.  Notice the salt?  Oh, I wish he didn't love salt quite that much...

Next time I made them I used regular ole cinnamon rolls and they came out the same - ooh, it smelled good in my kitchen!  I think this might be my new favorite way to do waffles  (:

This is the perfect way to eat cinnamon rolls - especially when summer rolls around and I don't want to turn on the oven.  Plus, it's not as messy as waffle batter, and they cooked pretty quickly.  I am going to experiment and try other types of canned rolls, like the honey butter biscuits. 

 Try them yourself  and let me know what you think!

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