Chile Colorado Burritos

Favorite new dish :) And it's soooo easy! Thanks Food Pusher

Chile Colorado Burritos

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 to 2 pounds stew meat or other beef cubed (top sirloin is great)
• 1 large can mild enchilada sauce* (at least 19 oz.)
• 2 beef bouillon cubes
• 1/2 can refried beans (optional)
• 5-7 burrito size flour tortillas
• 1 cup or so of shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
Put beef, bouillon, and enchilada sauce into a crock pot and cook on low for 7-8 hours**, or until meat is very tender. (Can also cook on high for maybe 3-4 hours.)  I've also cooked it in a dutch oven for about 4 hours at 325 degrees.  More meat, more time.  A third option is to cook it in a large heavy saucepan--bring it to a boil on high heat, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until the meat is tender.  If you go with a method other than the crock pot, make sure the pot is covered and pretty well sealed to minimize evaporation of the liquid.

When beef is done (very tender and flakes off when stirred), taste and add more salt, if desired. Heat up refried beans in the microwave (covered and in a microwave-proof dish, of course)and put your oven on broil. On an oven-proof plate, or cookie sheet even, lay out a tortilla.  Place on tortilla about 1/2 cup of the meat, drained by using a slotted spoon, and a spoonful or two of beans. Roll into a burrito (hopefully you know how to roll these). Pour some of the remaining enchilada sauce from the crock pot over the burrito to cover it. Sprinkle with some cheddar cheese. Broil until cheese is bubbly, about 2-4 minutes.


Serve.
Makes 5-7 burritos, depending on how full you make them.

The Unknown Love

A friend of mine was over a few weeks ago to see Emma. As she held Emma, she commented how amazing it is to think about everyone who is holding and loving Emma now.  And if you think about it, Emma will probably never know a majority of the people who have held/loved her these past few months.

It got me thinking about all the people my parents talked about who held me when I was a baby. A lot of those people I have only ever known by reputation and old photos. But it's kind of cool to think about how much I was loved...and I didn't even really know it.

And the same for my daughter. How she is so loved by people who she will probably never know. And that's pretty cool.

I Side With

So I've always been a fan of quizzes you can take that tell you all about yourself. It's fun to see how right or wrong they are. Anyways...a friend passed this along on facebook and I found it quite fascinating (I Side With). It's a quiz that attempts to show you which of the various Presidential candidates you are most aligned to based on their political positions. I most appreciated the "choose another stance" option because "yes" and "no" didn't always fit my thinking.

Anyways...I was surprised to find out that I'm most aligned to the Green Party. And my response to that was sadly..."Wait, what?...there's a Green Party?" I didn't even know one existed.

Now I'm not about to run out and join the Green Party, but it made me realize I may not be as aligned to the political party of choice as I think I am. And that's probably good for me to know.

Beloit College Mindset

Is it just me...or does this list keep getting scarier? Or maybe I'm just getting older. These are my favorites from this year's list:

1.  The Biblical sources of terms such as “Forbidden Fruit,” “The writing on the wall,” “Good Samaritan,” and “The Promised Land” are unknown to most of them.
2.  They have never seen an airplane “ticket.”
3.  A significant percentage of them will enter college already displaying some hearing loss.
4.  Outdated icons with images of floppy discs for “save,” a telephone for “phone,” and a snail mail envelope for “mail” have oddly decorated their tablets and smart phone screens.

If anything this list is a great insight into the college student we serve,http://www.beloit.edu/mindset/2016/

Summer Babies

Had a crazy explosion of squash this year.
Luckily I found a squash recipe my husband will eat:

Spicy Zucchini Casserole

1-2 medium zucchini or summer squash cut into cubes
1 lb of spicy Italian sausage (I used sweet)
1 package of Spanish rice
2 small sweet or hot peppers
1 bell pepper
2-3 tomatoes cubed/sliced
1 large onion
1 can of Hunts Meatloaf tomato sauce
1/4 lb of Pepper Jack cheese (I used mozzarella)

Cut zucchini/squash in cubes. Cook Spanish rice according to package. At the same time brown Italian sausage. Add to sausage: chopped peppers, rice, onion and tomatoes. Add to squash cubes. Mix well. Preheat oven to 350.  Spread tomato sauce on top. Top with shredded cheese. Bake at 350 for 45 min.

Naaman

A few weeks ago at church, the sermon started out looking at the life of Naaman. It's been a really long time since I've heard Naaman's story and I forgot how great it is. Where else in the Bible do you have someone "arriving in style" at a prophet's house (according to the NIV)?

The basic gist of the story is that Naaman is from a different country than Israel and gets sick. He is told he should go see Elisha to get healed and so he goes to Israel and takes with him a bunch of money to both impress Elisha and to compensate Elisha for the healing. When he gets there Elisha doesn't even come out to see Naaman and instead sends his servant out with the instructions on how to be healed. Naaman get's furious and storms off. And I'll let you look up the story to see how it ends.

But what stood out to me was how Naaman ignored the instructions and almost missed being healed all because he dismissed the messenger. It made me wonder how often I do the same. It's sad to say, but I probably dismiss what might be words from God based on the appearance, social standing, age, or status of a person more often than I should.

I shouldn't be surprised by that. Biblically, it's often the unexpected people who God chooses to use. And while I've been taught that and clearly see that in the Bible, it's sad that I often don't apply that to my own life. I guess it's good reason to pause the next time I feel ruffled by Godly advice and ask the question and I'm ruffled because of the message or the messenger?