Dinner is Served: Quesadilla Casserole

Remember that awesome post that Blogger deleted back when it decided to crash a few months ago?? Guess what?!?! I found it. It just showed back up one day disguised as a draft. I decided since I didn't have nearly enough posts going on this week, to post it today. Hope y'all get to make this soon! :)

Original post date: May 17th, 2011 

I had quite a few ladies ask for the recipe for my Quesadilla Casserole. I cleverly omitted the fact that I didn't invent this. 

McCormick did...

But it's really good, so don't not try it just because I didn't come up with it. *ahem*. I got this for about $2 at Winn-Dixie. My Mama has been talking about how McCormick was coming out with these Recipe Inspirations for over a year now, but the Wal-mart in Springville doesn't have them. And Lord knows Mr. Burton isn't going to carry them. 

They're located on the spice aisle/baking aisle next to the other McCormick products. Our Winn-Dixie carries 6 different recipes. This is my favorite so far. (The Rosemary Chicken and Potatoes is really great too!) You can check out their other packets here.



Each packet comes with all of the pre-measured spices you'll need for each individual dish and a recipe card to add to your box. On the back of the package is a check-list of the other ingredients you'll need. If you don't plan on going and buying one of these, I'll go ahead and list the spices too. If any of you are like me, you don't use these spices everyday, so it's more beneficial to buy the spice packet. lol.

Ingredients

2 tsp. McCormick Chili Powder

1 tsp. McCormick Ground Cumin

1 tsp. McCormick Minced Garlic

1/2 tsp. McCormick Oregano Leaves

1/2 tsp. McCormick Crushed Red Pepper (optional)

1 lb. ground beef (you could use turkey too)

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 cans (8 oz. each) tomato sauce

1 can (15 oz.) black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can (8 3/4oz.) whole kernel corn, undrained**

1 can (4 1/2oz.) chopped green chiles, undrained

6 flour tortillas (8-inch)

2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Brown beef and onion in large skillet on medium-high heat;drain. Add tomato sauce, beans, corn and green chiles; mix well. Stir in all of the Spices except Red Pepper. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low; simmer 5 minutes. Add Red Pepper to taste, if desired.

2. Spread 1/2 cup of the beef mixture on bottom of 12x9x2-inch baking dish sprayed with no-stick cooking spray. Top with 3 of the tortillas; overlapping as needed. Layer with 1/2 of the remaining beef mixture and 1/2 of the cheese. Repeat with remaining tortillas, beef mixture and cheese.

3. Bake in preheated 350°F oven 15 minutes or until heated through. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Seriously, let it stand 5 minutes. It thickens up then and it's easier to serve. Otherwise you'll have it dripping down the side of the stove. Or maybe that's just me. I am a klutz.



**Note: I couldn't find a can of corn this small, so I just used a regular-sized can. It works just as well. So don't waste a whole lot of time searching for a smaller can.

Just call me Susie Homemaker...or just Whitney.

 Thursday I was feeling a lot better than I have been in awhile.

So I decided to get busy with some projects that have been sitting around 

the house longer than I have. *ahem*

I started out by sanding the dresser tower I found sitting out by the

dumpster one day. They didn't want it! And there was nothing

wrong with it, other than the coloring on the drawers. 

(It was obviously a children's dresser. It still had little

girl pajamas and undies in the bottom drawer.)

It also had a piece of weave in it...gross.

After sanding the top and one side, the battery to the 

sander died. So I swapped the batteries and sanded the front and

the other side. I started sanding the third drawer and that battery died.

So, I had to wait several hours for the batteries to charge before I 

could finish. I cleaned out the plastic storage drawers

in the bedroom and unpacked two more boxes of 

picture frames and J's pajama shorts.

After reorganizing the bottom of the closet some,

so I could fit the plastic drawers storage thing in there,

I ran to the Dollar General to buy a cheese grater.

Why, you ask? To make my own homemade laundry

detergent, of course!

I got the idea from my friend, and fellow blogger, Holly.

(I think we're friends. We are friends aren't we Holly?...)

Anywho. She has 5 beautiful kiddos and she made 

her own laundry detergent. I figure if it's good enough for Holly's 

sweet babies, it's gotta be good enough for the Hubby and I.

I had already bought the supplies at Wally World (Holly bought hers at 

Pub-lick's for around $8.) on the Laundry detergent aisle, but when I got

home to make it, I didn't have a cheese grater! I don't know how that

happened. We've been married almost 3 years and we both love

 cheese. I know I've even bought block cheese before. Apparently,

we just ate the block whole...

SO...I keep getting side-tracked... When I got back from the DG,

the batteries were charged, so I finished sanding and then wiped

off the dust so I could paint. I laid out my drop-cloth and 

set out my paint. Conveniently enough, the brush was just a smidgen 

too big for the paint-can mouth, so I had to have a tray.

Instead of running out to buy one, I improvised and used the plastic,

albeit reusable tray from Hormel's Refrigerated Entrees.

Heck yeah, these are awesome.

And Jeremy scoffed at me when I emptied and then washed the tray

to reuse it. I knew it would come in handy for something. lol. It was perfect!

I painted the dresser and then the drawers. Then I put a second coat on.

Surprisingly, the paint we bought at Lowe's dries really quickly!

Valspar's with primer included. It's really awesome

and totally worth the extra bucks. A quart cost us about $14.

Luckily, that's all we needed for the dresser. 

                                                            *Note: The knobs we bought didn't fit...so we have to get new ones.

After I finished painting...and stepping in the paint,

I started grating my block of Fels Naptha soap.

I grated all the way down to this tiny piece:

I may or may not have grated some of my nail...

so one of us quite possibly, may have a piece of nail

scratch us when we put on our clothes...

And a few Special K flakes may or may not have

been raked into the container when I was cleaning up 

spilled soap crumbles. Oh well. I forgot to clean the counter

this morning after making a bowl of cereal.

Anywho, so y'all can make your own homemade laundry detergent,

here are the ingredients and instructions:

1 bar of Fels Naptha soap, shaved (97¢/bar)

2 C of Borax($2.98 for 4lb. 12 oz. box)

2 C of Arm and Hammer Soda Wash (not to be confused with baking soda) 

($2.77 for 3lb. 7 oz. box)

(That's $6.72 for all the supplies!)

I really like the way the soap smells. I think there is another

recipe out there that calls for Ivory, but Ivory makes my skin itchy

and dry, so I'm using Fels Naptha instead. If you want to use the Ivory bar

of soap, you may have to use more, since the bar is smaller.

When you wash laundry, you only use 1-3 Tbsp. depending on how

large your load is and how dirty they are. Regular detergents bubble up,

but this does NOT, so don't just keep adding the stuff. Bubbles

don't necessarily mean your clothes will be clean!!

I'm storing mine in a plastic container I bought at The Dollar Tree.

A buck for storage? Sure!!!

I'll letcha know how the detergent works out! And I'll post pics of 

the finished dresser when I have the knobs. :) 

Hope y'all have a great weekend!

Happy Mil-Spouse Appreciation Day!

Wooden Picture Frame Makeover

I was feeling a little sluggish yesterday, but had promised myself that I was going to do something with all the stuff I have been buying. So here is a short tutorial with horrible pictures.  {I need an assistant to help me take pictures. The lighting is horrible in the room I craft in and so this is what you get.}

{I got these cute XOXOs at Hobby Lobby for $2 each. Cute huh?}

Supplies I used:

1. wooden frame (from Michael's)

2. felt in any colors you like

3. red paint, white paint

4. small paint brush and sponge brush and 

something to put paint in.

5. thread to match felt

6. pins to hold roses together before sewing
7. glue-gun

First I painted the frame red, using the sponge brush.

(I started the project several days in advance 

before I started taking pictures. So, the paint had a lot 
of time to dry.) Don't forget the sides of the frame!

Also, I painted the stand on the  back. Don't forget it   

if you used the same kind of frame I did. I used a 
clothespin to hold it, so I wouldn't get paint
all over my hands. {I did anyway.} You don't
have to necessarily paint the part under the 
clothespin, since it will be inside the peg-hole.

After the red paint dries, mix your white

with water to make it go on more smoothly. Then,

using quick strokes, brush the white on with your 

small brush, to make the frame look weathered. 

{Around the edges and on the inside edge where the frame

would get the most wear.} If you mess up, you can

just cover it up with another coat of red.

While the paint is drying, you can make your

roses. Cut your felt into a strip about 6 inches long

and 1-2 inches wide. Depending on how large you want

the rose to be. Then fold your felt strip in half

lengthwise. (hotdog style!)

Start at one end and roll the felt around into a coil.

On the larger roses, you can twist the felt 

periodically to make extra petals.

 When you get to the end, use a pin to hold 
the rose together in a few places. Then, thread 
your needle with the thread that matches the 
felt the best.

{I doubled my thread to make sure it didn't break

through the felt easily when tugged.}

 After pushing the needle through the rose

a few times in different locations, tie off

the end of your thread and remove the pins.

Your rose is done! 

After making several roses {if you plan to use more

than one.}, your paint should be dried. Using your

glue-gun, attach the roses in one corner of the frame.

Your frame is done! {Be sure to attach the dowel

in the back to help it stand up.} Stick in a picture

and add it to your Valentine's Day decorations! 

{If you have any questions about this project

or anything else, feel free to email me!}

While making this frame, I had a little helper 
come to visit. You might recognize her as The Princess.

  ♥

Cardboard Picture-frame Makeover

 Since Valentine's Day is just around the corner,

and I had a few cardboard picture-frames lying around,

I thought I would makeover one for V-day. 

(holy run-on sentence Batman!)

The supplies I used:  

• Cardboard picture frame with heart cut-out 
• scrapbook paper 
• seam-binding lace (or whatever lace you might have on hand)
• tacky glue
• Zots
• Hot-glue gun
• Scissors (duh)
• X-Acto Knife 

First, I tried to take out the insert from

the picture frame so I could see how big the inner

picture was, and the cheap thing fell apart!

 

(Good thing too; there's no way I could

have done it with the back on it.)

 

After the frame was apart, I flipped my scrapbook

paper over to the back, laid the frame front on it, 

and traced around the frame and inside the heart.

Then, I cut out about 1/2-in around the trace of

the frame.

Next, I cut an 'X' from one side of the heart

to the other and cut up the inside into 1/2-in

"flaps"--to be folded into the frame.

I placed the frame on top and folded the pieces

inward and glued them down using the tacky glue.

Then, I glued the outer edges of the paper.

The next thing I did, I can't show you... LOL.

I had to hold the frame and the lace at the same time,

so I couldn't take pics.

I took my X-Acto knife and cut my 

Zots (sticky circles used to adhere

pictures/paper) into smaller pieces. Then I 

stuck one small piece just on the inside edge of the

heart. I overlapped the lace, using my nail

to push it into the Zot. Then I moved on about

1/4 inch and placed another Zot and overlapped

the lace the other way; creating a ruffled effect.

I continued doing this until I reached my starting point.

Then, using the hot-glue gun, I put a tiny bead in

a few places on the outside of the heart, to make 

the lace lay down.

After letting the paper on the back dry some,

I super-glued around the bottom and the two sides

to attach the front to the back. (This frame

also had a piece of string attached between the front 

and back, to hold the "leg-thing" up in the back. Yes

that is the technical term that I'm using...)

Here is the finished product with a picture of 

"The Princess", my niece.

I hope y'all like this. :) I think it is super-cute

and can be used not only for Valentine's Day,

but all year long. Especially since I put

this sweet picture in it! ☺

Don't you love the frame on the right too? I got 

it at TJ Maxx for $4.00. I made the heart inside

out of felt, which I sewed on in a zig-zag

pattern. (It didn't turn out the way I had planned,

but that was the first time using my sewing machine.)

 

************************

 

Also, you may have noticed my glue-gun:

 I'm sure all you crafters out there have heard

of  Hot Glue Gun Helpers. I would love to have one, 

but since I don't have much money for

stuff like that, I had to improvise. That CD you see

is actually one of those old AOL discs everyone

used to get in the mail that offered free hours

of AOL. I knew keeping it would come in handy! :)