Beef enchiladas

Today is my 24th wedding anniversary. Where has the time gone? We were so young... and thin back then. It hasn't been perfect, but we have survived. We have gone through job layoffs, his & mine, health crises, bankruptcy, etc. but we have come out stronger, wiser, closer to God and closer to each other. We went to Norman on Saturday and celebrated with friends. Tonight our dear friend, Ricky, will be Kevin's nurse while I cook his anniversary dinner. He has requested beef enchiladas and butterscotch pudding.

So, I thought I would share my beef enchilada recipe with you. It is easy, delicious and filling. I make it all the time for church potlucks, funeral dinners, etc. and everyone always ask for the recipe. I started with the recipe that my Mom used to make, but changed it up to how my family likes it.

BEEF ENCHILADAS

2 pounds ground beef
1 onion (chopped)
1 pkg taco seasoning (we prefer Taco Bell)
1 can refried beans
2 pkgs tortillas (any kind you like)
1 large can Wolf brand chili
2 cans Old El Paso red enchilada sauce
1 can Ro Tel tomatoes
2-3 cups shredded cheese

1)  Add ground beef and onion to skillet, sprinkle liberally with Garlic Salt. Brown beef.
2)  When beef is done, add taco seasoning and 1/4 cup water. Mix thoroughly.
3)  Add refried beans to meat and mix together, you may need to add a little more water.
4)  In a large saucepan over low heat, mix together chili, Ro Tel tomatoes and enchilada sauce.
5)  Take tortilla and dip in chili mixture. Add beef mixture in middle of tortilla, roll up and place seam side down in pan.
6)  Repeat until all of beef mixture is gone.
7)  Pour chili sauce over the top of enchiladas.
8)  Sprinkle cheese over all.
9)  Bake at 350 degrees 30-45 minutes until cheese is melted and all is hot & bubbly.

Enjoy! Please let me know how you like them and if you make any changes. I always enjoy changing things up.

Lori

Life is crazy - so adopt some puppies

Did anybody get the number of that bus? Wow! What a busy few days. Friday night watched our niece & some kids from church play basketball. Great kids & very talented. Saturday attended another niece's bridal shower, then took Tiffany to set up her bridal registry. That morning, before the shower, we adopted two 5 week old puppies. We haven't had a puppy in 9 years, so had to get the house set up for the new babies. We only get one day a week off from dialysis, so everything that we do revolves around "will we have time to still do dialysis?" or "is that the day we want to take off this week?".  Dialysis takes a total of about 4 hours. Actual treatment time is between 2 hrs 40 mins to 3 hrs 15 mins, but the set up & take down time is about another hour. We hadn't gone to a basketball game all season, so we decided to take our day off on Friday to go to the game. So, that means we had to still had to do 4 hrs of dialysis Saturday & Sunday no matter what.

Hank & Lucy

Sunday we drove to Durant to help Cole get moved into his & Tiffany's new apartment. Most weeks we only make it to the Sunday morning church service because of dialysis, but since we had to do dialysis that evening, we decided to not go to church Sunday morning, so we could get Cole moved & get back home & get Kevin hooked up. Their apartment is absoutely adorable! I am so happy for them. They got a loft apartment in downtown Durant over one of the businesses. How they got that apartment is a story in itself. Basically, God gave them favor in a big way. We are still in awe of how it all came about. God is faithful. The only thing is that the stairs are extremely steep, but I managed. This time last year, I would not have been able to climb those stairs. Praise God! I made it up & down them twice. I mainly worked on his laundry & getting things set up while Cole & Kevin moved in the furniture & boxes.



Hank



Lucy



We took the puppies, Hank & Lucy, to Durant with us. They did great! They whimpered a little, but not too bad. They are 1/2 Australian Shepard and 1/2 Heeler. They are a lot of work right now, but it will be worth it. Having puppies is like having a baby. Some people don't take being a pet owner seriously, which really upsets me. A pet, especially dogs, will be a loyal loving companion if you just take care of it & spend time with it.



Slick



Our 19 year old dachsund, Slick, does NOT like Hank & Lucy at all. She is a dog snob anyway, but she definitely wants no part of these puppies. They laid on her favorite blanket and now she refuses to have anything to do with the blanket and I think she is mad at us for letting the puppies lay on her blanket.

Life is crazy. Life is hectic. Life is stressful. But, my family, my wonderful friends and my dogs make it all worthwhile.





Turnips - God's food vs. Man-made "food"

A co-worker plants turnips on his land for the deer. Deer season is over, so he brought me turnips that the deer didn't eat. I got so excited pulling them out of the sack. They were fresh out of the ground and dirty.

They smelled fresh & dirty. I used to would not touch food that had dirt on it,  but now I cherish it. It reminds me that it is food that God made. The food that God put on the earth to nourish our bodies. It took me over 45 years to realize that the more of God's food that we eat, the healthier we are and the better we feel. It makes sense, because God created our bodies and He created the food that we need to keep our bodies healthy. Man-made "food" destroys our bodies. It really is as simple as that. So these days if I don't get all the dirt washed off my veggies and fruits, I don't panic. (Unless purchased in grocery store, then I make sure I wash extra extra good because they are probably full of pesticides.) I am so blessed to have friends that have beautiful gardens & share with me. I also try to buy organic when I can at the store.

I sliced up those gorgeous turnips, drizzled olive oil all over them & sprinled with salt & pepper & roasted in the oven at 450 for 30 minutes. So satisfying & delicious.

You just don't get that kind of satisfaction from a fast food place or a box. Wishing you all a happy, healthy & prosperous 2012.

Lori