Under the Arch

I love to cook, but being a single girl, it can lose it's charm when I go through all that effort for just myself. I've been trying to eat better and cut out the fast food lately, so rather than being empty like it usually is, my kitchen is full of food. I wanted to share a couple of recipes that I tried last week that worked out really well.

Daddy's "If They'da had This at the Alamo We Would'ha Won!' Texas Chili

This link will take you to the allrecipes website, where I found the recipe. What I love about this site is that you can adjust the serving size, so instead of making a recipe for 20, I can make it for 4. That makes the leftovers much easier to handle. I really don't want to eat one meal for a week.

For this recipe, I used ground hamburger instead of stew meat, and I couldn't find the flour, but it was thick enough without it. (This is a texas chili, which means without beans, but you can add them if you like, I don't.) It is pretty yummy, but HOT. I've never had chili before, so I had no idea what to put in it (cheese? crackers?). I found some shredded cheese in the fridge and I didn't have any crackers, so I used some corn chips. Yum!

Cheesy Potato Soup II

I adjusted this one to 3. I pretty much kept to the recipe, but I cooked the crap out of the onions and celery, cuz I'm weird and it freaks me out when I'm eating something soft, but it also crunches. (shudder) Oh I also added some sharp cheddar cheese cubes and crumbled bacon. It's really good, I would recommend it, especially for kids who are freaked out by vegetables. I chopped them so small and cooked them long enough that you can't tell that they're in there. Nom Nom Nom

Anyway, if you're looking for a new recipe to try, these were both good, I recommend them.

Update!!
My good friend, Sarah, emailed me today to remind me that I still haven't sent her the recipe for my Cheesy Enchiladas, and since we are talking about recipes today, I thought I would add it here too. My mom has been famous in the lives of mine and my siblings' friends for several dishes, I have used the promise of her Scotcheroos to barter favors and my sister's friends fight over the chance for leftover baked ham, I am not kidding. Cheesy Enchiladas is one of those recipes. They are just that good. If you like cheese, this is for you. Yummy, comforting, and filling...just perfect. Here's the recipe and then I'll tell you how it can be altered.....

Baked Cheesy Enchiladas
1 lb ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 cup shredded cheese
1 package flour tortillas
1 lb Mild Mexican Velveeta
1 can Cream of Mushroom
1 can of water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Brown the ground beef and onion together and drain.

Divide beef and onion mixture into flour tortillas in a baking dish (glass 9x13 pans work best). Sprinkle shredded cheese in tortillas and roll up in pan.

In the microwave or saucepan, mix together Velveeta, soup and water. Stir together until cheese is melted. Pour mixture over filled tortillas and bake in the oven for 30 minutes.

Now, to change it up....chicken in this dish is just as good. I'm not a big fan of onion, so I usually leave that out, or brown the beef with big pieces and fish them out. My Dad likes to spice things up with homemade salsa added in and on top of the enchiladas. Also, I hate mushrooms, but you can't taste them, so no worries there. This is super easy and yummy good.

There you go, Sarah, enjoy!