Decorating Simply

We decorated our home simply for Christmas this year.  There is beauty in the simplicity of not owning a bunch of "stuff" with which to decorate for the season.  I rather enjoyed the challenge of creating a festive home without buying anything but rather using natural decorations like tree boughs and pine cones.  I supplemented with lots of candles, eager for an excuse to pull out the crystal candlesticks we received for wedding gifts.  

 Instead of letting the extra December mail pile up some where in an unsightly pile, I decided to display the Christmas cards we received to brighten up the house by hanging them on a ribbon.  They looked so neat and tidy in their columns at first, but not anymore!

While I enjoy sewing and certain crafts, I don't have a natural "crafty" bent, so I was proud of myself for actually attempting a craft from a magazine - turning the 1" round slice cut off of the bottom of our Christmas tree stump into an ornament marking each year of marriage.  It seemed so simple yet sentimental!  The first problem we encountered was that we don't own a saw, so we couldn't saw off the bottom of the tree when we got home like you are supposed to.  So, we planned ahead and cut off the extra slice while out in the tree field.  It took longer than it did to actually cut down the tree...and it was hard to keep it smooth and flat.  I carried the wet slice back in my coat pocket, then tried to wash the sap and dirt off in the sink at home.  Now the slice was quite wet, so when I tried to write on it with a sharpie, it smeared.  No problem, I thought; I'll just let it dry out, then write on the opposite side.  The next day, I carefully wrote on the back, only to have water spill on it and smear the writing.  Oh well, it will be a memento of our first Christmas anyway, and I'm almost glad it doesn't look perfect because it will remind us of our humorous endeavor.  We haven't tried drilling a hole in it to hang on the tree yet, so, meanwhile it is sitting on our dining table on display.

Greek Salad

It feels almost sacrilegious to be posting on a non-Christmas-y topic this time of year, but we ate Greek Salad last night for dinner and it was so delicious I had to share the recipe!  Yesterday, after chopping down our Christmas tree, Caleb and I went into Spokane for a shopping trip.  We hadn't been on a major grocery run for almost a month due to our November travels, so we headed out armed with lists galore and hit up Yokes, Walmart, Winco, Costco, Zales (bi-annual ring checkup), The Cozy Quilt (sewing supplies for Christmas gifts), and Michaels.  Caleb was such a help and good sport about all the shopping and we had a lot of fun together. We were so proud of ourselves for emerging from Costco with only vitamins and yeast (such a good deal there) even though we were tempted to buy more of all the delicious little treats we sampled.  :)  Lest you think we have impeccable self-control, we did buy some chocolate-covered cinnamon bears from the bulk candy section later at Winco...

Anyway, on to the recipe!  When we got home, I was so excited to have lots of fresh vegetables that I decided we must have salad for dinner.  I have no idea where I originally got this recipe, but my history with it dates back to my 4-H days when I made this recipe at the county fair for a Sandwich/Salad contest.

                                          Greek Salad
1 head romaine lettuce, washed and torn into bite-sized pieces
raw spinach leaves, washed and torn into bite-sized pieces
1/2 a red onion, peeled and sliced into half rings
1 large tomato, cut into bite-sized wedges
1 half cucumber, peeled and sliced
12 or so black olives
1/4 lb. feta cheese, crumbled

Toss the salad ingredients together in a bowl (if making ahead, I like to store the cut veggies together in a small container so they don't make the greens soggy and the onions in their own little container so they don't over-permeate the other veggies).  Then measure the following ingredients into a small canning jar:

3 Tbs. olive oil
1 Tbs. lemon juice or wine vinegar
1 tsp. Dijon mustard (or yellow if that's all you have on hand)
1 tsp. dried oregano (very important!)
Dash salt and pepper

Fasten lid and shake jar vigorously until everything is well-mixed.  Pour onto the salad and toss everything well if serving immediately to a crowd.  If serving later or in smaller portions, refrigerate dressing and salad separately, dish up salad "naked", and pour a small amount of dressing on each individual portion.  This way, the salad keeps longer in the fridge and doesn't get soggy.  By the way, the dressing doesn't look or even taste very appetizing by itself, at least to me.  But just trust me, try it on the salad mingled with pungent onions, crisp cucumbers, salty cheese - I think it is delicious!

Travel

This week, Caleb and I were gone on a road-trip to Oregon to attend the Northwest Baptist Convention in Eugene for three days then to visit with college friends at Corban (including watching my brother in the Pumpkin Smash and enjoying the Cinderella production).  It was great to attend the conference then to spend time with friends and siblings.

Leafy walk at Corban on Thursday

Throughout the trip, we marveled at the beautiful fall colors, and even fluffy clouds and sunny skies on our drive home yesterday through Eastern Washington.  The drive was sunny until we got within 70 miles or so from home:

What a contrast!  It's still fall in Salem but definitely winter in Deer Park!  We came home to four fresh inches of snow at our house.  Thank the Lord for four-wheel drive for the winter ahead.

Mexican Food

Caleb and I just love Mexican food.  Caleb grew up with family Tex-Mex traditions like homemade tortillas and fajitas every Sunday night after church and queso cheese dip.  I grew up eating burritos and taco salads on a weekly basis and celebrating every Mother's Day at a Mexican restaurant, learning to appreciate my Mom's favorite ethnic cuisine dating back to the time she spent in her younger days in Costa Rica and Mexico.  We still eat Mexican food a lot, but I've been experimenting with some new recipes.  Note: The recipes in this post are not authentic Mexican food, but we still like them. :)

Below is a new favorite recipe of ours from Once-A-Month Cooking Family Favorites by Mimi Wilson and Mary Beth Lagerborg.  I’ve heard about once-a-month cooking over the years but have never actually researched it or thought about trying it until now.  I checked this book out from the library to take a look.  While I like the idea of it, I’ve decided I’m not going to try this method any time soon because the recipes in the sample menus/preparation plans I looked at in the book rely on a heavily meat-based diet and weren’t as healthy or economical as I was hoping.  Maybe sometime in the future I’ll have more time (ha!) to put together my own plan based off of some of our favorite recipes. As a side note on freezing, I do freeze meals occasionally, as it is fairly simple to prepare a double-portion and freeze half for later, especially for soups and meats.  It has become a household joke though when we run out of something for me to say “No, we’re not out of it, it’s just in the freezer!”  

Here is one of the recipes I tried from the cookbook referenced above, with my own revisions as I attempted to make a cream-based recipe healthier! 

 

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

2 Tbs. butter

1 sliced onion

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast half, cooked and shredded

2 Tbs. diced green chilies (the kind that come in the little can)

3 ounces diced cream cheese (you can use low-fat or fat-free cream cheese)

Salt to taste

1 cup (4 oz) shredded Monterey jack cheese (I used pepper jack)

4 flour tortillas

½ cup whipping cream (I used fat-free half-and-half and milk)

Melt butter in a large skillet over low heat, add onion, and saute for a few minutes. Add the chicken, chilies, and cream cheese and stir over heat until the cream cheese is melted and the mixture is thoroughly combined.  Add salt to taste. 

If freezing for later: Put the filling and cheese in separate freezer bags and freeze together.

To serve: If frozen, thaw filling and cheese.  Spoon about 1/3 cup of the filling down the center of each tortilla.  Roll and set in a greased glass baking dish.  Moisten by pouring the whipping cream over the enchiladas (once again, I used fat-free half-and-half one time, which worked great; I also used regular milk once, and that worked OK too).  Sprinkle with the cheese (I didn't measure it - just whatever amount you want).  Bake at 375°F for 20 minutes.  Makes 4 enchiladas (serves 2 if you don't have time to make other side dishes to go with it, or 4 if you are serving other dishes with it).

Crockpot Refried Beans http://realmomkitchen.com/1549/crockpot-refried-beans/
I decided not to re-type this recipe word-for-word here in my blog because I don't have much to add to this already great recipe, but I highly recommend it!  Here is why:
1. Economy (beans are cheap, why pay extra for canned refried beans when you can make your own)
2. Health (these beans are great tasting without any lard or unhealthy fats)
3. Ease of preparation (the crockpot does most of the work and then you can freeze them in the amount you need)

Mexican Rice - Elisa's way
Boil 2 cups of chicken broth (and some diced onion if you have it handy) in a covered saucepan.  Add 1 cup of brown rice (sorry folks, white rice has zero nutritional value), lower the heat and simmer, covered, for 20-30 minutes, until tender.  But first, add lots of the following spices (I don't measure for this type of thing):
Chili powder (LOTS)
Ground cumin
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Ground red cayenne pepper (just a little, unless you're used to it)
Chopped fresh cilantro (if you have it on hand and like it)

For those of you who may have been wondering like me, is it ethical or even legal to repost someone else's recipe?  I found this website (http://foodblogforum.com/1067-recipe-attribution) to be very helpful.  If you don't feel like reading it, the basic premise is that it is OK to post a recipe from another website or book without permission as long as you cite the source, don't include large quantities of recipes from the same collection, and generally avoid re-posting the recipe directions (the ingredients are fine) word-for-word by expanding the text of the recipe or including your own comments.