Taco Night

When the kids were young we had taco night weekly.  They loved it and it was so quick and easy that I loved it too.  But I also loved going to a local restaurant and having an India de Pollo.  It was so good and they don't have them on the menu anymore.  Can you see my sad face?  So whenever taco night rolls around, I make this variation for me.

I've tried to recreate Ninfa's India de Pollo and somehow it never seems to be the same.  Can the memory be better than the actual dish?  Maybe so since I asked if I could order it and being a customer oriented restaurant they said yes.  And that one was missing something too.

Even though the kids are older now, they still like taco night.  And I continue trying to get that taste right on the India.

The difference between and taco and an india is the tortilla.  An india is a flour tortilla lightly fried.  A taco is either a flour tortilla or a crispy corn tortilla.

I made ground beef with taco seasoning and also grilled chicken with a little of the same seasoning.  See what I mean about easy.  And I use canned refried beans.  So now you get to build it any way you want it.

The india has a flat tortilla and has to be eaten with a knife and fork.  And the only thing I didn't have was an avocado.

It was pretty darn good but I'm going to keep trying until it's perfection.  I'll let you know.

Karen and Charlie

Jay's Weekend

My nephew, Jay spent the weekend with us.  It was a busy time and I left him with James on Saturday while I worked at a craft show.  They spent their time building a skateboard.

And they did a great job.  Jay was very happy about that.

Jay was also very happy with the amount of candy he was able to find at our house.  I'm working on a new venture, 'The Ultimate Candy Buffet', and the craft show that I was doing was to promote that business.  Jay was so excited when he started going through the bags of candy because apparently Mom doesn't let them 'have this stuff'.

Don't get me wrong.  We do have rules at our house.  You have to clean up after yourself. You don't throw anything in the house.  You speak politely. But other than that, it's pretty much anything goes.

So Jay enjoyed a lot of this:

Actually he liked these things called sour war heads which I think, well lets just say that Jay can have them all!  Those and a lot of Three Musketeers that melted during the day at the Craft Show and he was a happy guy.

Things slowed down on Sunday and they normally do around here so I introduced Jay to pizza making.  He doesn't help in the kitchen much at home but was open to doing it here.  This is Jay's cheeseburger pizza.

And this is Jay's pizza after baking:

He took it to the next level by adding jalapenos.  It was so good that words just don't really describe it.

I loved it.  Jay did too.  And guess what - Uncle Charlie liked it too.

Good Job Jay.  You can cook at our house anytime!


Pizza Dough:
from Martha Stewart Everyday Foods

2 packets (1/4 oz each) active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 tablespoons Sugar + 1 teaspoon
1/4 cup olive oil + more for bowl and brushing
2 teaspoons course salt
4 cups all purpose flour + more for work surface

Pour warm water into a large bowl, sprinkle with year and 1 teaspoon of sugar.  Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.

Into yeast mixture whisk sugar, oil and salt.

Add flour, 1 cup at a time, and stir until a sticky dough forms.  Put olive oil on the sides and bottom of another bowl.  Transfer the dough into the oiled bowl and brush the top of the dough with olive oil.  Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm draft free place until dough has double in size, about 1 hour.

Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead 1 - 2 times before using.

Top anyway you like.  We bake on a pizza stone, 500 degrees until the cheese is melted and the crust is golden brown.

We topped it with a sauce made of 2 parts ketchup and 1 part mustard and diced dill pickles.  Added hamburger meat and shredded cheddar and mozzarella cheese.  Jay added the jalapenos after the pizza was baked.  You can also add some lettuce and tomato on top.

Try it some day.  You'll like it too.

Burgers with the family

What a great evening.  The kids came over for one last dinner together before Geneva and Jesse head to school in Natchitoches, LA.  It's only about 4 hours away but the drive is boring and makes it seem alot longer.  We have 3 kids, Eric, Geneva and James.  And all three have mates, Katie, Jesse and Crystal.  Eric and Katie live in Pennsylvania so obviously they didn't drop over for dinner but the other four were here.

We kept it simple and make burgers on the grill.  I'll admit it's not the best picture but there seemed to be a million things going on at once.  How does that happen?  It did eventually turn into a very relaxed evening.  We ate our burgers and laughed alot.  Ended up playing a 'Apples to Apples' and some game on Wii.




The kids munched all night on a no bake cookie I got from my mother's recipe box.  There are lots of these out there and I'll post it sometime but it's just cocoa, sugar, milk, butter, peanut butter and oatmeal.  The kids love them but they are kinda rich for me.

Oh and yes, we did finally go to the store and stock the pantry.  Charlie was afraid of 'how many things can you do with an egg', so he stopped on the way home and bought a variety of things so I can continue to make up stuff as I go.

We have stuck to the 'Eat in Month' Challenge.  How are you doing?


Live, Laugh, Love,

Karen and Charlie

Weekly Menu

Do you make a menu for the upcoming week?  I used to.  I’m not sure what happened but I haven’t in a while and really need to get back into it.  Especially since the holidays are always so rushed and the stress level at work seems to be at an all time high. 

I would like to avoid going to the grocery store because it is a chore for me.  Many people like it.  I have a friend who says it’s the only time she doesn’t have her gets with her so she gets a Starbucks, strolls leisurely down the aisles and thinks of it as her ‘me’ time.  But that ain’t me babe.  If I can get Charlie to go, I love it.  And he usually does.  I love him for that!

Charlie likes Sam’s Club.  We do almost all of our shopping there.  Okay, Okay, He does almost all of our shopping there.  Since it is just the two of us at home now, we always have a full freezer due to the large sizes you have to buy.  I look at it as an advantage though because the prices are good and we just freeze them in dinner size portions.  If one of the kids happen to pop in, we take out two.

Dinner Menu Madness

Saturday – Turkey Pot Pie (using Thanksgiving Leftovers)

Sunday – Ham Fritatta (using Thanksgiving Leftovers)

Monday -  Kentucky Hot Browns

Tuesday – Hamburgers

Wednesday – Pork Chops with Au Gratin Potatoes

Thursday – Korean Beef and Fried Rice

Use It Up

In the process of planning dinner (read it...throwing dinner together) I took a look at what was in the fridge and discovered:
  Spaghetti sauce
  Hamburger meat originally cooked for sloppy joes
  Mushrooms
  Green onions (needed for Thanksgiving)
  Cheese (we always have lots of cheese)
  Bacon (aw, come on - you knew that)

And not much else.

BLTs would be easy but not in the mood.  Tacos, maybe but no tortillas.  I could make sloppy joes but that really wasn't doing it for me.  I'm not sure why I was in such a mood but this is what we did.

It's kinda of a cheesy hamburger sandwich.  I put about 3 tablespoons butter in a pan.  Diced a green pepper, onion and mushrooms.  Added the already cooked hamburger meat. Heated it through.  Sliced a loaf of french bread.  Topped with swiss cheese.  Put in broiler and heated spaghetti sauce in microwave.
Dinner in about 15 minutes.

Charlie's comment - it really taste like a cheese steak.  It's really good.

I dipped my sandwich in the sauce.  Charlie poured the sauce over the top of his.  You choose what way works best for you.

What do you have in your fridge that you can use to create dinner?


Have someone on your Christmas List that is difficult to buy for?  Consider chocolate.