Black Bean Soft Tacos

When I first started my blog and told my best friend about it, I expected her to be shocked given how much I value my privacy and guard my identity.
To my surprise, her response was very enthusiastic and the actual comment she made was, "yay, I can finally find your recipes without having to nag you over and over!"
Since she made that comment, I've tried to make an effort to make a blog post for each of my frequently requested recipes.  Instead of retyping and sending to each person, I make one blog post and can easily refer anyone who asks to my blog.

I recently mentioned my black bean soft tacos on one of my favorite websites and a few asked for the recipe.  I've been asked before so I decided it was time to return to my blog and post it.

So, without further adieu, here is my recipe for black bean soft tacos.  There is a long (and in my opinion, better) version and a short version, I'll post both.

Long version-
Ingredients:
1/2 lb dry black beans
1/2 a medium onion, finely chopped
1 Tb finely chopped oregano
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
24 ounces of chicken broth
1 cup of salsa
2 cups of cooked rice
tortillas
shredded colby jack cheese


Sort and soak your beans the night before.  In the morning, drain and rinse your beans and add to Crock-Pot with chicken broth, onion, garlic, oregano, cumin and salt and simmer on low all day.

Prepare rice according to package directions.  Mix rice, drained black beans and salsa.  Fill tortillas and garnish with shredded cheese, sour cream, pico de gallo, and fresh lime juice as desired.  Enjoy!!!

Short version-
Ingredients:
2 cans of black beans, drained
1 1/2 Tb dried onion
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1 chicken bouillon cube
1 cup picante sauce
2 cups instant rice, prepared
tortillas
shredded Colby jack cheese

Drain black beans and add to pot with onion, oregano, garlic, cumin, salt, bouillon, and 2 cups water.  Simmer on low.
Prepare rice according to instructioms.
Drain black beans and combine with rice and picante.
Serve over tortillas with cheese, sour cream, pico and lime juice as desired.


Homemade tortillas recipe-
Ingredients:
3 cups all purpose flour
3 Tb lard or shortening
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 pinch of sugar
1 cup of warm water

Thoroughly mix flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Using a pastry blender or a fork, add the lard/shortening until well incorporated.
Slowly incorporate water until dough holds together.
On a floured surface, shape into a ball and knead until smooth and glossy.
Divide dough into 12 equal parts and roll into balls.  Spray with non stick spray and cover with saran wrap or a towel and let dough balls rise at LEAST 15 minutes (I usually let them rise for 30).

Use a rolling pin to flatten each ball into an 8 inch circle.
Heat a skillet to medium high and spray with non-stick spray.  Cook tortillas one at a time.  When bubbles form, flip and flatten, cooking until tortilla puffs up.  Remove from heat and keep warm until serving.

The longest part of this entire process is cooking each tortilla individually so I borrow Mr. Gems vintage waffle iron/griddle and I can cook 3 tortillas at once.

As always, measurements are approximate, have fun and explore cooking!!  Adjust it to your family's liking and keep on cooking!

Grief...

Grief, what an odd experience for human existence.
Something we will all have to go through at some point in our lives and yet, it seems to have a far greater expanse of emotional responses than say, something like love.

One simple word, grief, and yet it is felt so differently by so many that it feels like an inadequate word to use.

When we lose something or someone, we grieve.  Whether it is a job, a friend, a pet, a loved one, a cherished possession, etc, we grieve.

Today I'm focussed on losing a loved one but even that runs the gamut of emotions.

It is a far different, and I would say an easier thing, to grieve someone you were close to.  You feel sadness and a profound sense of loss.  You'll never again get to feel their touch, hear their voice.

Grieving when someone you had a contentious relationship with passes is far more difficult.
You feel anger, resentment, guilt, sadness, loss, etc.

The two really can't compare.

It's easy, or at least easier, to comfort someone going through the former, but how do you help someone dealing with the latter?

I wish I knew.

Pizza Club Bites

Here is an awesome way to use up those leftover bits after making homemade pizza.

I have to confess that this is NOT a GEM creation, this is a Mr. Gem creation, he came up with it years ago and it is great for an appetizer or after school snack for the kids.

All you need are some Club crackers, leftover pizza (or spaghetti) sauce, shredded mozzarella, and pizza toppings.

Lay your club crackers out single file on a baking sheet.  Spoon a small amount of pizza/marinara sauce on each cracker.

Add a sprinkling of shredded mozzarella to each cracker

Pile your leftover toppings on to each cracker (I only had pepperoni this time)

And stick them under the broiler (toaster oven FTW!!) for 8-10 minutes.

All done!

Make sure to spray your pan with cooking spray or you might end up with a pan looking like this (after I forgot the spray!!)

If you are in the South then you already KNOW to serve this with Ranch dipping sauce; if you aren't from the South; try it!! I promise, your life will be better!!  Ranch goes with everything!!!

Origins...

If you've read my last several posts since I've started my blog again, you've probably come to realize just how much my life has changed.

I'm busy right now trying to compile pics and notes of everything we have done in the past few years but I thought it important enough to first give you a brief backstory/ disclaimer.

I helped my parents build this house in 1993.  I grew up in it, graduated high school while living here, got married in the living room in front of the Christmas tree here!

Then my husband and I set about building our own life.
In 2009, my grandfather was diagnosed with Alzheimer's.  It didn't take long for the family to realize that he couldn't live on his own anymore but we wanted to keep him in his native environment for as long as possible.

Right after Christmas my parents made the decision to move into my grandfathers home but they didn't want their house sitting empty.

Mr. Gem and I had owned our first home for a few years at that point and we had two little ones.

My parents knew that we were planning on selling our starter home and getting something bigger so they asked if we would consider living in their home so it wouldn't sit vacant.

Fast forward a few years and we've all come to realize how terrible that situation truly was.

My grandfather constantly treated my parents as guests who had overstayed their welcome; he never realized they were living with him.  If they would have moved him to their home, I'm fairly certain the results would have been just as bad, if not worse.

We ALL realized that we would never want to go through that again if given the choice.

So, a decision was made; I would buy my childhood home from my parents (they didn't need so much space anymore as empty nesters) and build a mother in law quarters on the property for them.

That way we would be close, I could care for them and when the time comes that they need daily/constant care, it won't seem out of place to them for me to be there all the time.

There was just one problem with this.  My mother and I have almost polar opposite tastes.

She likes light woods, I like dark.  She likes to have tchotkes everywhere and I prefer a minimalist look.  She likes a country rustic look, I like more sleek and modern.

The biggest issue by far though was her kitchen.  The kitchen I grew up in.  Even as a teenager (who loved cooking) I HATED that kitchen.

I hated the way it looked, I hated the way it was laid out, I basically hated everything about it.

Since we were going to be building a new living space for her and my dad and she loved her kitchen, it only made sense to take her kitchen out, use it in her new space and spend the money we would have spent constructing a new kitchen for the MIL quarters to get the kitchen I want.

So started the cataclysm which resulted in not just a kitchen remodel but truly, a whole house remodel!

My own mother now says that this house looks nothing like "her" house (the original one built) because we have changed it so much.

Stay tuned for the reveal....

Dining Room

My amazing mother in law decided that, after spending two years remodeling our entire house, we couldn't just bring our old table and chairs back in, so as an early Christmas present, she bought us a new dining set.

Of course now that I have a new dining room and a new dining room set, I need new table decorations.  Hubby and I went shopping today and got the new fall decor for the table.

The milk glass pedestal bowl in the center is actually a piece I have had my eye on for two years at a local antique mall.

I told Mr. Gem that I'm lucky others don't have the same taste for vintage things as I do because this is the second time I've seen something, checked on it every time I'm there, and then bought it a year or two later.

Seriously though!!!  Isn't this an awesome bowl?!?!

A perfect end to a great birthday week.  

Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas

My birthday was a few days ago and I got a craving for these.

I came up with this recipe a few years ago.  I'll warn you, it's hard to stop eating and you WILL want to lick the pan clean!!

Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas

1 pound chicken breast

1 medium sweet onion

1 bell pepper

2 cloves garlic

3 Tb olive oil

2 Tb butter

1/4 cup flour

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup sour cream

1-4 oz can green chilies

1 cup shredded Colby jack

8 flour tortillas

Heat up olive oil in a skillet and add chicken. Mince garlic over chicken. As chicken is cooking, chop up onion and bell pepper and add to the oil. Stirring and tossing until cooked. Remove chicken and chop or shred then return to pan and remove from heat.

In a small saucepan, melt butter and stir in flour (making a roux). Add chicken broth and stir constantly until it is boiling, boil for one minute and remove from heat. Stir in sour cream and green chilies.

Now time to assemble! Preheat oven to 350°F

Spray a 9x13 dish with cooking spray. Take a flour tortilla, add some chicken mixture and shredded cheese and roll up. Place seam down in pan. When they are all rolled, pour your sour cream sauce over the top and sprinkle any remaining shredded cheese over it.

Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes.

Stick to your ribs delicious!!!

The effect of children...

Anyone who is older than I am and has already experienced parenthood is probably well aware of the profound effect your children can have on you.

Your parents, friends, spouse, etc could want you to make a life change (eat healthier, get in shape, quit smoking, less drinking, etc) and you listen with one ear.

Your child comes to you and says something and man; it REALLY makes you evaluate things.

What kind of example do you want to be?  They look up to you and look to you to be their guide and first clue as to how to act, behave, simply BE in this crazy world we call home.

When you become truly and profoundly aware of just how much your child looks to you as an example, you realize just how much you want to be THAT example for them.