Mexican Lasagna & Homemade Ice Cream

For our Sunday dinner, I wanted to try something new -- Mexican Lasagna!  Now, we have had a version of Mexican Lasagna before, when Samantha was born and a friend brought it over, but I had never made one before, so this was a fun experiment to take what we had experienced before and modify it a bit to be suited to our tastes.  What's more?  I invited my entire family over for dinner!  Yikes -- this better turn out yummy!!  It did...here's how I made it:

• 2 lbs of ground beef (was a little much, could have been fine with 1.25 - 1.5 lbs)
• I added some dried onions and Nature's Seasoning to the beef while browning, but then again, I add Nature's Seasoning to almost everything :)
• 2 - 15 oz cans of black beans (drained and rinsed - to get all the yucky stuff off of the lovely beans!)
• 1 small can of diced green chiles
• 1.5 - 2 c frozen corn (you can use canned corn too, just drain and rinse it)
• 8 oz tomato sauce
• ~ 3/4 c chunky salsa
• Taco seasoning to taste (I have the Costco size of seasoning, but if I had to guess, I think I used just over 1/3 c of the seasoning for that much ground beef)
• 1 - 16 oz can of refried beans (I use the No Fat, Zesty Salsa Rosarita Refried Beans)
• 1 can of diced tomatoes with green chiles (commonly known as Ro-tel, but there are house brands too)
• Medium cheddar and Pepper Jack cheeses, shredded (quantity is to taste)
• 1 green onion, chopped
• 12 flour tortillas (you can use corn too -- it would take a few more, but I'm not sure how many...)

Beef mixture:

• Brown the ground beef
• Drain it and rinse the beef with hot water (sounds weird if you haven't done it before, but it really eliminates a lot of the fat - depends on if your sewer/septic system can handle it too - just keep the HOT water running for a bit after you've rinsed the beef to keep the fat flowing through the pipes)
• Put the beef back in the pan over low heat (after all, it's already cooked) and add the tomato sauce, salsa, and taco seasoning
• Add the black beans, corn, and chiles and mix to create yumminess!

Assembly:

• Lightly spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray
• Lay 3 flour tortillas on the bottom of the pan covering as much of the pan as possible (yes, they will overlap)
• Spread half of the meat mixture on the tortillas
• Cover with a thin layer of shredded cheese
• Layer 3 more tortillas on the cheese
• Spread the entire can of refried beans over the tortillas (Hint: if you heat the beans, they spread better :)
• Top the refried beans with the can of diced tomatoes and green chiles (I drained and rinsed mine, because there's an awful lot of liquid and I didn't want my dish to be too soggy...up to you)
• More cheese
• Another layer of 3 tortillas
• The rest of the meat mixture
• 2-3 more tortillas
• More cheese and garnish with green onions on the top

There...you're done!  Remember, everything is cooked so the goal now is just to heat the dish all the way through.  I cooked mine at about 250 degrees for an hour and then boosted it up to 300 degrees until it was heated throughout.

Options:

• You can either serve this with sour cream on the side and people can add it to the top if they want (good idea for people like me that DO NOT like sour cream) or if you really like sour cream, you can add it to one of the layers inside.
• Add cilantro for more yumminess
• If you like black olives (yuck) - you can add those too
• For more spice, add more peppers :)

Ok, now for dessert.  We used Sarah's recipe (thank you, Sarah) and made blueberry ice cream for dessert - so good!!  Now that we're nearing (or at) the end of summer, ice cream makers are going on sale.  We picked ours up at Fred Meyer a couple of weeks ago for just $18!  You'll need to follow your ice cream maker manufacturer's specs for how long to run the mixture, but essentially, for 4 qts, we mixed together the following:

• 4.5 c chopped blueberries (we blended them in a food processor...just don't puree them...you want chunks of berries)
• 3 c sugar
• 6 c half-and-half (we used regular, but I wonder if it would work using the fat free half-and-half for 3 of the cups...hmmmm)
• 2 T lemon juice
• 3 c milk

We made it a couple hours ahead of time so we could give it time in the freezer to make sure it wasn't soft serve :)  Homemade ice cream is so yummy!  You can pick and choose what goes in it - it was definitely a crowd pleaser!

A New Swing!

I have mentioned it before, Samantha loves being on the swings at playgrounds!  If she's not ready to get out of the swing, she lets you know!  So, we just had to go and buy her a swing!  We found one at Lowe's for a pretty good price, brought it home and within 30 minutes, Ed had secured it to the underside of the back deck and wiped it clean so it was ready for use.

It was love at first sight!  When she saw this new swing, her eyes lit up!  Huge smiles, ear-to-ear, as we secured her in the swing and prepared for take off! 

After a few minutes of swinging, the sun was getting in her eyes, so I thought, "No problem!  I'll just unhook the entire swing and turn her around facing the other way."  Yes, that worked, but Samantha thought I was going to take her out - she did not like that idea and she told me as much.  Of course, once I got her re-secured facing the other direction, she was happy again!

Oh my, sometimes it's just the simple, little things.  Like the commercial goes: kiddie-swing - $25, hardware to install the kiddie-swing - $7, seeing our beautiful little girl that happy - PRICELESS!

I Love to See the Temple!

One sunny afternoon, Samantha and I were on our way to pick up Eddie...but we were running early (I know, that never happens with me!).  Anyway, Ed's office is just a few miles from the Seattle Temple so I decided to take Samantha there to wander the grounds. 

It was a beautiful, sunny day.  We walked all around the temple, looked at the fountain, the flowers, and talked (ok, I did most of the talking) about when we all were inside the temple in April 2011 being sealed as a family!

The sun - right in her eyes - but a smile, nevertheless!

I remember one of the Apostles mentioning in General Conference (I think Oct 2010) that a picture of the Temple should be in every child's room.  After our visit to the Temple, we went down the hill to Deseret Book and promptly picked up a picture of the Seattle Temple for Samantha's room!

I love to see the Temple!  I hope Samantha will love to see the Temple too!

Swimming Lessons

Samantha started swimming lessons at the YMCA this morning.  She was the youngest of the group, but so active!  She had a great time.  The class started with trying to help the babies feel comfortable reaching on their tummies, to simulate the swimming motion.  Samantha and I would throw a toy and she'd have to reach forward after it.

Practicing reaching forward

Then we worked on getting her comfortable floating on her back.  She resisted at first, but then loosened up a bit as she started to get more comfortable with the position. 

Learning to float on her back

Lastly, the goal was to try to get her to not be afraid of the water so I sat her up on the side of the pool and had her fall forward into my arms in the water. 

Jumping to mom!

She is doing so well!!  The other bonus is that Ed is allowed to come watch the swim lessons so it's a fun family activity.  We're so proud of our little swimmer!

Just swimming!

Loving swim time!

Good-bye, Harry Potter

So, the title of this post is a double meaning.  Sarah, Kurt, Ed and I went to see the 11:35AM showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.  It's the last in a series of 8 movies, so kind of a farewell to Harry.  But, it was also our last day in Alaska, so a farewell to our friends as well...for now.

If you're a Harry Potter fan, you may have mixed feelings on the final cinematic chapter.  There was so much build up from the other movies on the final battle between Harry and Voldemort...yet it was somewhat disappointing.  Still good, but not quite what I expected of the final battle.  My favorite part was Snape's memory - made me cry!


Following the movie, we made our way back to North Pole, picked up all the kids and our bags and headed for the airport. :'(  It's always sad leaving such good friends and such a good vacation, but I guess we all have to get back to work, you know, gotta pay the bills!  At any rate, we're saving up our Alaska Airlines miles for another trip next year!  By the way, if anyone is looking for good birthday or Christmas presents for either me or Ed, you could gift us some Alaska Airlines miles! :)


Leaving on a jet plane!



Thanks, Sarah, Kurt and family!  We had so much fun, hope you did too!  See you next year! ;)

Angel Rocks

The themes of the week so far have been:

1. Have fun with friends
2. Select things that don't put too much strain on our pocketbook
3. Experience the beauty of Alaska, and
4. Get some exercise while doing it!!

Well, true to all four themes, we spent Thursday hiking at Angel Rocks, followed by a dip in the pool at Chena Hot Springs (about 2 hours from North Pole - see my 'Nome Creek' post for my theory on the 2-hour thing :)

Yeah, we hiked up to the top of that!

Sarah and Kurt have a baby backpack for hiking that they let us borrow for Samantha.  Thinking I would be too exhausted later, I volunteered to start off carrying her, while Ed carried our backpack loaded down with things we might need for her.  The first part of the hike - no problem!  A few ups and downs, right along the river, and a few mosquitoes to contend with - again, no problem, I'm feeling pretty good about this.  Little did I know, the "hike" hadn't yet started.  About halfway to our goal, the trail trended...up!  I enjoy hiking, but this was my first experience carrying an extra 30 pounds on my back.  Stubborn as I am, I did not give up (although I must admit, I was grateful for Kurt and Sarah's youngest two children who required a few breaks along the way...great excuse for me to take a break too! :)  Then there was Emma - I'm sure she could have run all the way to the top without stopping, except she had all the rest of us slowing her down ;)  Ah, to have that kind of energy...



Ok, I'm ready!



Mindee, Samantha and Emma

Anyway, we made our way to the top - it was breathtaking!  The mountains, the trees, the water, the clear view - absolutely beautiful!  We paused at the top to eat lunch before heading back down.  We opted for a different trail down.  Next time, we stick to the original trail.  The way back was somewhat steep, had lots of slippery pebbles, and at one point. swarms of mosquitoes.  Even Samantha was swatting off the mosquitoes.  We ended up trying to jog through one section that was close to a marsh and therefore infested with mosquitoes!  

One of the many lookout points on the way up



King of the mountain!



On our way down
(Dieter looks mighty comfortable!)

It was 3.5 miles of fun; I'd do it again!  Samantha enjoyed it too.  She even fell asleep in the carrier at one point on the way down - go figure!



Samantha snoozing on the trek back!

After Angel Rocks we drove out to Chena Hot Springs.  It's a naturally occurring hot springs nestled into beautiful tree and mountain surroundings.  They also had an indoor pool though, which is where we spent the majority of our time, since kids are not allowed in the hot springs.  This was Samantha's first time in a swimming pool.  That girl loves water!  She had a terrific time!  I think all of us enjoyed our time there and it was a great way to follow up a hike - soaking in a pool (the adults taking turns going out to the hot springs :)  The next day I expected to be a bit sore but no, I was just fine!

We headed home to our enchiladas just waiting to be warmed up for dinner...mmmm, enchiladas!  Ed made some Mexican rice (so good) and we ate dinner...at 9:30pm (oops!).  It was great!

Again, got the kids off to bed, this time Kurt too - he had to carry 2 kids down the mountain, I can understand why he was tired - and Sarah, Ed and I watched, 'The Adjustment Bureau.'  It was a good movie - not a theatre movie, but a good movie!!  Another fun ending to a fantastic day!

Pioneer Park

Wednesday, Sarah and I started off the day with another bike ride, this time just to Safeway and back (just about 4 miles or so).  I love how easy it is to ride bikes where you need to go there.  Yes, bike riding is big here in the Seattle area, but there are also quite a few bike snobs around here - you know, those people who give you dirty looks if you don't know all of the bike-riding etiquette and such!!  Also, I don't know about you, but I don't feel comfortable or confident riding down to Safeway (even though it's SO close) because I don't want to ride my bike on Bothell-Everett Hwy by myself, let alone with Samantha either in a bike seat or trailing behind me in a bicycle stroller.  Of course, it doesn't help that the other day on the way to work, Ed and I passed a car/bike accident on Bothell-Everett Hwy...hmmm.  Anyway, so bike riding in North Pole = big thumbs up!

After we got back home and made sure everyone had breakfast, we packed up and headed out to Pioneer Park.  This is a huge park in Fairbanks with some local history museums, playgrounds, historic houses, and shops.  It's a lot of fun!!  We even toured the train car that President Warren G. Harding used when he visited Fairbanks. 


Just chillin' out!




Gretta, Elana, Emma, Dieter - their annual picture spot!  So cute!



So happy!

Touring the train

With all of the flowers in bloom, we took advantage of some photo opportunities with Samantha and then headed over to the playground.  Oh my word, Samantha loves the swings!!  She cried when I took her out of the swing the first time - I had to put her back until she had her fill!  Big smiles, ear-to-ear the whole time she was there!






On the way home, we stopped at an ice cream hot spot called Hot Licks for some local, homemade ice cream.  True to himself, Ed got the strawberry ice cream, his favorite.  Sarah and I branched out and got the Aurora Borealis  flavor.  It was a vanilla base with swirls of blueberry and cranberry!!  It could have used some more swirls, but no complaints here - it was yuuuuu-mmy!  Samantha loved it too! ;)



Here's lookin' at you!



We had to get back early because Kurt had a meeting for church so while he was out, Sarah, Ed and I finished dinner: Buffalo Ribs and Moose!  It was mine and Ed's first experience with moose meat.  Ed liked it but as for me, well, moose is not my favorite.  A bit "gamey" for my tastes.  Oh well, it was fun to try something new.

Again, we got all of the kids off to bed and while Ed and Kurt watched 'Tron: Legacy,' Sarah and I got dinner ready for the following night: my recipe for chicken enchiladas with homemade tortillas (again, yuuuu-mmy!).  We knew the next day was going to be crazy-busy so we wanted to at least check dinner prep off our list!

We sat down and watched the rest of the movie with the guys, ate more homemade cherry ice cream, and reflected on a beautiful, fun, full day!  :)

Christmas in July!

Santa's house at North Pole

Did you know Santa Claus really does live in North Pole?  That's right, we went to his house!  It's Christmas year-round there and since this is the real Santa Claus, of course we had to get Samantha a picture with Santa!  We brought a dress for her and introduced her to Santa.  He even personalized and signed a copy of "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" for her.  Outside Santa's house, we even visited with a couple of the reindeer.


Signing a book for Samantha



I've been good all year!

 

Our little angel!

Next stop, heading out to Fairbanks to the Botanical Gardens at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.  Even though it started to rain a little bit, big deal - we're from Seattle, the gardens were absolutely phenomenal!  Beautiful flowers, huge vegetables, a kiddie area being built, and some fantastic water structures.  These are the times that I wish Samantha was able to walk because she would have had so much fun running through the garden trails!  As it was though, she had huge smiles at the flowers and wanted to smell, touch and taste everything.

Playing with the pretty peonies!

Say cheese!



Gretta, Dieter, Emma, Mindee and Samantha




Sarah, Mindee and Samantha




So pretty!


We weathered the drizzle at the gardens for a little bit and then it was off to dinner!  Sarah and Kurt took us to this delicious Italian restaurant in Fairbanks, Gambardella's.  If you're ever in the area, I highly recommend Gambardella's.  Samantha got her first taste of lasagna - loved it - lasagna and Cheerio's, what a dinner! :)

After dinner, we had to rush home to get Emma to Activity Days (I can't believe she's old enough for Activity Days!).  While she was gone, Sarah and Kurt made cherry ice cream - so good!!!  It inspired us - when Ed and I got home, we found an ice cream maker on sale at Fred Meyer (yup, they've already given up on summer here in Washington, all of the summer stuff was on sale!) so we picked that up.  We have yet to make ice cream in it, but the good news is, our strawberries in our back yard are doing fantastic...we may be able to make homemade strawberry ice cream with fresh, homegrown strawberries!! :)

Once the kids were settled in bed, the four of us stayed up late again playing board games!  I tell you, Eddie is a natural at Hearts.  He kicked our booties both times we played!  I'll have to practice up a bit I guess, or Sarah and I can just teach Kurt and Eddie how to play Pinochle - what do you think, Sarah? :)

Chena Lakes

Since we've returned from Alaska, I've joked that we had to go to Alaska to find the sun.  Yep, in North Pole we not only found a beautiful, warm, sunny day, but a beautiful lake with sandy beaches too. 

Sarah and I started off the day with a 10-mile bike ride around North Pole.  I had forgotten how fun bike riding is!  After we got back and everyone ate breakfast, we packed a picnic lunch and headed out to Chena Lakes. 

We also borrowed a canoe that belongs to a friend of Sarah and Kurt's.  Since there is no boat launch area near the "kiddie beach" where we spent our day, it was either drop the canoe and row it around to the beach, or carry the heavy canoe quite a distance from the parking lot to the kiddie beach.  We took the first option.  Ed, Emma and I climbed into the canoe and rowed a short distance around to the kiddie beach.  It was only about 15 minutes but boy, what a workout!

Sarah, Kurt, Elana and Dieter out on the lake

In the meantime, Sarah, Kurt and the rest drove over to the kiddie beach and got us all set up for the day.  This was Samantha's first time actually in water, other than a bath/shower.  She loved it!  Yes, she kept trying to eat the sand and pebbles, Sarah even tried to convince me that a little sand never hurt her kids and though that's true, I still tried to dissuade Samantha from eating it.  She sat in the sand in the water, walked--with help--in the water a bit and played in the sand!!  Samantha had a blast--grinning ear-to-ear the entire time!


Beach time!

 

Samantha loved playing in the water!



Big smiles!

After about an hour and a half of playing and her first PB & J, minus the PB, Samantha was all tuckerd out - she fell asleep in Daddy's arms on the beach in a camp chair.  When it came time for us to leave, Ed and I again rowed the canoe around to the launch while Sarah, Kurt and all the kids played in the park for a few minutes, packed up the car and then came to pick us up at the boat launch.



Getting out of the sun for a little nap

We went home, had dinner and then I made a birthday cake because...

7/11 IS SARAH'S BIRTHDAY! 

Happy Birthday, Sarah!

We ate some yummy chocolate cake, if I do say so myself, got the kids to bed and then the four of us stayed up playing board games! 

What a wonderful, fun, sunny, exhausting, yummy, happy day!

Nome Creek




The scenery on the way to Nome Creek

Last week, Eddie, Samantha and I went to North Pole (Fairbanks area), Alaska to spend the week with our friends, Sarah and Kurt, and their 4 terrific kids: Emma, Gretta, Elana and Dieter.  We arrived early, early Saturday morning (like 1:30am early)...and it was still light outside!  Yup, we were in the "Land of the Midnight Sun."  We had such a good time, we're already saving our airline miles to do this again next year! :)

The first day, we just kind of relaxed, planned the week, did some grocery shopping and went out for Chinese dinner (mmmmmm, Pagoda, mmmmmm).  Then on Sunday, we went to church and then packed up the car and headed to Nome Creek.  It's about 2 hours outside of North Pole.  But then again, as I was talking to Sarah, seems like most everything we had planned that week was just about 2 hours outside of North Pole.  (Reminds me of, "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" ... "a geographical phenomenon!  Two weeks from everywhere!"  Ok, if you haven't seen the movie, that won't make any sense.  But I digress, back to Nome Creek.)

Nome Creek

Driving anywhere in Alaska in the summertime is a beautiful drive!  The fireweed was in bloom, there are mountains and green everywhere--it's truly breathtaking!  When we arrived at Nome Creek, we made a fire pit so we could get the charcoal started for our foil dinners.  I love foil dinners, Samantha even had her own foil dinner! :)  After dinner, Kurt and Sarah built up the fire and we had s'mores!

In between all the yummy food, Ed and Kurt went gold panning and...we're millionaires!!!  Not really - I think they just found a little gold dust, that was it, but Eddie had fun!  Gold panning was on his wish list for this trip to Alaska. 

As for wildlife, the "Alaska state bird" was everywhere up there...the mosquito!  Not just little pesky mosquitoes like we have here in Washington, these are mosquitoes on steroids!  They're huge!  A bit more impressive was the beaver we saw.  He was busy building his dam - it was fun to watch him scouting out new pieces and bringing them back up out of the water, placing them and securing them to his home.



The beaver building his dam

Elana, Gretta, Emma and Dieter

Is this what Dr. Seuss meant by, "Hop on Pop?"
Kurt carrying Elana, Dieter and Gretta, with Emma to the right.

Tiptoe through the tulips...er, fireweed!

On the way home, we stopped in a field of fireweed for some pictures.  What a wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon/evening; with family and friends!!!

What a cute family, if I do say so myself! :)