Beef Enchilada Freezer Meal

Beef Enchilada Freezer Meal

One of my favorite meals growing up was enchiladas! We would have them as often as we could. It wasn't too expensive and fed our family of 7 with some to spare. So today I am making beef enchiladas with a few minor changes to the way my mom makes them.

We are going to make them like a casserole instead of individual enchiladas. Makes it faster and you don't have to worry about messing up the enchilada when dishing it up.

You will need (made some changes after taking photo below)

This recipe makes two large pans of the dish. I use one to eat now and one to freeze for a later date.

4 lbs of ground beef

2 lbs of cheese (I used 1 lb cheddar and 1 lb mozzarella)

Corn tortillas

2 small cans (or one big can) olives, I used chopped and sliced today.

Large can of red enchilada sauce

Two pans. I am using the foil pans from Sam's club. Cheap and makes dishes easier.

Shred the cheese.

 Brown hamburger meat in a large skillet, drain, and mix in olives

Start layering the ingredients in the pans. Start with the meat mixture.

Then add a layer of cheese.

Next I put the tortillas. I just folded them in 1/4 and they broke up well enough to cover the cheese.

Another layer of meat.

Layer of cheese.

Layer of tortillas.

More cheese. (I like cheese)

Pour on half a can of enchilada sauce per pan. You can dilute it if it will be too spicy for you straight from the can.

You can cover and freeze or cover and cook. When cooking preheat oven to 375* and bake for 45 minutes. If you freeze it make sure when you decide to cook it you let it thaw in the refrigerator over night. That way when you cook it you don't end up with some parts burnt and some frozen.

I hope you enjoy this simple quick way to prepare a meal I know I love. I love cooking when I get the chance. With 3 kids under the age of 5 it doesn't happen as often as it used to!

Thanks for reading. Please comment if you have any questions or if you made this meal and what you thought.

My Nerium Adventure

Hi Everyone! I am so excited! I have been trying not to blow up my Facebook and Twitter feeds with my excitement so I thought I would just blog about it instead.

So I found out my sister was working for Nerium as an Independent Brand Partner. Now I have been a part of my fair share of MLMs and was very skeptical. I have only been a member of one that I actually believed in but I got pregnant and overwhelmed didn't have time to do parties and such so when she started telling me about this opportunity I told her I was slightly interested but really guarded because of the type of company it is.

My sister has never lead me astray but since she was new to the company I wanted to see how it worked for her first. At the end of February she got her Lexus qualification! That's right LEXUS! What's more shocking and intriguing is that she got it after only being in the company for 6 months!!! She owns her own fitness/mentoring company and is still fully invested in that because helping people be healthier and love themselves is who she is.

Anyway so I joined up at the last minute on 2/28/2014. Since then I have been using all of my spare time learning MORE. I am a stay at home mom of 3 beautiful kids and they get my attention first. Then my house (sometimes) and then other things. I am also a full time photography student. What I have loved so far about Nerium is the huge, giant, and enormous support system! It doesn't just end with who signed you up it just keeps going! They don't require so much time invested that I have to give up school or take time away from my kids just to make a difference. You do make what you put in but if I can do an hour or two a day then I know many more people can as well.

Here's another thing that really got me to look into Nerium... it's not the product though I have seen great results with my sister and can't wait to get my kit, it's not the money (though that is a perk) its the concentration on helping people! They are so involved in Big Brothers Big Sisters. They have many more ways of giving. I just love companies that love to help!

Ok so that's my blog update for 3/4/2014. I plan to update with photos and new things I learn quite often. Thanks for reading! Post a comment if you have, well a comment :) or a question. Or you can just email me at mammajo82@gmail.com make sure your subject line mentions Nerium so I can catch it.

March 12, 2014

So here are the before photos of the hubby and I. We will post comparison photos in a few more days. I am so excited! I have been using Nerium since Friday 3/7 so our week is up on 3/14! This is so EXCITING!!

March 17, 2014

Wow so after 10 days of using NeriumAD night cream We have seen so many changes! I am loving how soft my skin is! Here are the progress pics!

Nerium is so simple to apply! Only one product at night! That's it. We make a day cream as well. This is an amazing company to work for and purchase from. I am so AMAZED!

May 12,2014

So I am still very happy working with my Nerium family. I have to focus on better uses for my time. I tend to spend way too much time just sitting around wishing things would happen for me. I have tried the Facebook way of getting customers and it has yielded a few people which makes me totally ecstatic! I still have goals of getting people to join this amazing journey with me. I know that from every 100 no's there will be that one yes. I also know there are people sitting back and watching me just to see if I succeed. In my mind I have already succeeded. I use all of our products and love love love them. I am getting my own results and couldn't be happier. just doing that is a success in my book. I can't wait to see the changes Neriumfirm makes on my back. This is an exciting time and even if it takes me a year I will get my Lexus and I can wait. "go slow to go fast"

Chicken Enchilada Casserole Freezer Meal

When I married my husband his mom made me these delicious enchiladas! It's a lot easier to make a casserole than individual enchiladas. I love it!!

What you need:

Boneless chicken breasts (about 4)

2lbs of Monterey Jack Cheese

2 big cans of chopped olives

2 big cans of diced green chilis

2 family sized cans of cream of chicken soup

1 family sized can of cream of mushroom soup

Corn tortillas

Large tub of sour cream

Preheat oven to 450 and cook 30 min covered and 15 min uncovered.

Tonight I used the George Foreman to cook the chicken but sometimes I bake it.

In a large bowl mix all of the cans up. Looks somewhat like this. Normally I mix everything but the tortillas in the bowl but this makes a lot and I wanted to make some to eat tonight and some to freeze.

So after I mixed the soups and such my hubby shredded the cheese in a separate bowl.

Basically this is a "layer" meal. Layer in the soup mixture...

Cheese on top of that....

Now layer shredded chicken on the cheese. I shred the chicken by putting it in the mixer and using the bread hook or dough attachment and turn it on. It shreds itself. Like magic saves so much time!

Next step is putting a layer of tortillas. I just tear them and place them on top. Repeat the layers one more time.

Here are the two pans I made. One to cook one to freeze.

Finished product! YUM! It usually isn't this crisp. This time it is because I didn't cover it before cooking it because the pan was so full and I didn't want the cheese to stick on the foil. It tasted yummy!!

Hope you enjoy! This is one of my favorite meals!!!

Dump Cake

Yes, DUMP CAKE! Not the most attractive name for one of the best desserts I have ever had! I have a friend who cannot have some types of dessert due to a food allergy so when she came by my house with this little gem I just HAD to have the recipe. I was so shocked at how EASY it is to make.

Here we go.

For this recipe I use:

1 box of cake mix (I have white pictured but we have used yellow before)

2 sticks of butter (I only had one at home so I had to use some softened stuff we had for spreading) use BUTTER not margarine.

1 can of pie filling ... not the small one...(I used cherry for this one but blueberry is great too.)

1 can crushed pineapple... once again not the small can...

Whipped topping

and a 9in x 13in pan

Preheat the oven to 325*

The prep is so very easy. Open the can of pineapple and DUMP it into the pan.

Open the pie filling and spoon it into the pan on top of the pineapple.

Spread the DRY cake mix on top of the pie topping and pineapple. I use a fork and scoop it out and kind of shake it out over the top of the mixture. Then I even it out by gently tapping the cake mix with the fork.

So my picture of this next step isn't pretty. I needed 2 cubes of butter but alas this will have to do. So I cut the cube into thin squares. When I have enough butter I place these squares end to end and cover the top of the cake mix with butter.

 Bake in the oven you preheated to 325* for an hour.

YUM right? So very easy and when you taste it you will thank me :) It's sweet and rich so small servings are advised. Top with whipped topping and enjoy! Leave a comment if you tried this and let me know how it worked for you.

Easy Strip Quilt Part 5 Trimming and Binding

I have to be honest... this is the part of quilting I HATE. Just not my favorite thing to do. But it has to be done so I do it. :)

After you tie the quilt and are ready to bind it you are almost done!

Lay the quilt out on a flat surface. I use my floor in the family room because its the cleanest and its not carpeted.

You will want to cut off the excess batting and backing.

I use my cutting mat I used to cut the strips. I also use the ruler and rotary blade. I place the mat under the quilt and line the ruler up with the edge of the quilt top. Ideally the quilt is square but that doesn't always happen. The goal is to not have to cut too much off of the quilt top to make it square. Trim up all 4 sides.

Pretty right? Sometimes I wish this was the finished product :)

So here is the binding. I only needed one package for this quilt but I usually buy two just in case there is a mistake or the quilt is a little larger than what is in one package of binding.

You will notice that the binding is not folded even. This is a good thing. The wider side should be on the back of the quilt. It helps when you are sewing the binding on to make sure it stays on the back of the quilt. This stuff is slippery and moves all over the place.

So I measure the binding usually with a measuring tape but I couldn't find one so I used the quilt and a ruler. Just cut the pieces a little longer than the edge of the quilt to allow for the seams. Cut an individual strip for each side of the quilt. Each side will measure a tad different than the others so using one side for all 4 cuts will make it so you either have too much binding for one side or not enough for another.

Here's the technical part. We are going to bind this quilt with diagonal corners. So open up your binding on one end.

Mark it with the ruler and pen. Here I used the ruler I had used to cut the fabric. It has an angle on it. I line the fold in the binding up with the 45* angle. This creates a triangle once the markings are made.

Here's how it will look after you mark it.

Take the end of the next piece of binding for the quilt. Make sure if you mark the right end of the strip of binding that you pair it up for the bottom edge of the next piece of binding to the right of the quilt.

Make sure when you match up the binding you match the wide part of the binding together and the more narrow parts together. You don't want to have the wide side with the narrow side or you will end up with a strip of binding on backwards.

Now you pin it. I use 3 or more pins. Like I said this stuff is silky and moves like crazy! Repeat for all 4 corners. Then take it to the sewing machine. When you move to the next corner though make sure that the binding isn't twisted up cause you will have to take out seams and re-sew it if it is.

I line up the markings with the center of the foot of my sewing machine. Then I sew over it a few times to make sure the seam holds nice and tight.

This is what it should look like when you are done sewing it.

Then I trim off the excess leaving just a little so you don't cut the seam.

Then you can turn the right side out and see your pretty corner. Repeat this step for all 4 corners.

I laid out my binding "frame" on the quilt top so you could see how it works.

Now is for the "fun" part. We need to tuck the quilt into the binding. You will want to get the edge of the quilt all the way into the binding where it touches the fold. It may not stay this way though but its a great place to aim for.

I pinned every seam but you can pin more or fewer spots depending on your comfort level.

Now we sew. This is hard for me because I like to line things up with the inside edge of the foot of my sewing machine but that causes too much bulk to pull through the small opening so I have to do things backward and line it up with the outer edge of the foot. Now just sew around the whole quilt. You can do a straight stitch or zig-zag. Really any stitch you prefer.

Once its all done you will have completed your quilt.

Good Job! I love quilting. I actually make a few quilts a year. I make them custom and sell them. It's a wonderful craft that I really enjoy. Lots of time and love put into these things but it makes me feel like I am doing something great. 

If you have any questions please comment and I will try to clarify. I hope you enjoyed these quilting posts. It has been really fun doing them. Thanks for reading!!!