The Unfairness of It All

Life isn't fair. We all know that. We even try to prepare our children for that fact. "Can I have a a cookie?" "No, it's almost dinner time." "It's not FAIR!" "You're right, life isn't fair."

I had the rug yanked out from under me in November. I'm just now feeling like I'm back on solid ground. And then. I read Lisa's blog and she has cancer. She's 35. She has a young son, a husband. It's not fair.

Maddy's great-grandfather passed away recently. She had to death with the death of a loved one again. It's not fair.

My BFF Heather told me her mother had a heart attack over the weekend. She's going to pull through. But. It's not fair.

My friend Tara is watching her once-feisty grandmother slowly deteriorate. It's not fair.

All of us deal with the unfairness of life every day, in some measure or another. If you're lucky, and I know I am, you have a circle of friends and family and community that will be there for you, no matter what. That's what got me through my dark days - I knew that all I had to do was reach out, and someone would be there for me. Someone to hug me, help me, catch me, love me.

And that takes some of the sting from the unfairness.

Whip It Up - Week 4 - Vegetarian Style

Black Bean and Rice Enchiladas with Queso Blanco

This week's hint was vegetarian. My first thought is "no meat!? I can't do that!" (and if you are a vegetarian or vegan, I salute you. I just like my steak).

I was craving Mexican recently, and decided to come up with this concoction after looking in my pantry. I was also able to use only what I had on hand. Bonus! Also, you get two recipes in one - keep reading to see how.

I also made homemade Queso Blanco, with mixed results.


Black Bean and Rice Enchiladas (with a bonus recipe!)


1 c instant rice
2 c salsa, divided
1/2 c water
1 can black beans
8-10 6" flour tortillas
2 cups shredded pepper jack cheese, divided


Mix rice and 1/2 c salsa and 1/2 c water in a 1 1 /2 quart microwave safe dish. Microwave for 2-3 minutes until rice has absorbed most of the liquid. If you get it a little dry, add a couple of tablespoons of water. (If you stop now, you've made shortcut Mexican rice. Congratulations!).


Drain the beans in a colander and rinse them under cold water (to cut down on the salt).


Add the beans to the rice and mix until combined. Place approximately 3-4 Tof the mixture down the middle of a tortilla, add 1-2 T of cheese and roll up. This will make 8-10 enchiladas, depending on how much you stuff them.


Place seam side down in a 13x9 baking dish (lightly sprayed with Pam). Spread the remainder of the salsa evenly over the enchiladas, and sprinkle with the remaining cup of cheese.


Cover with tented foil (again, sprayed with Pam), and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until heated through.


*NOTE - Spray your food processor blade or cheese grater with Pam to help with clean-up.

Queso Blanco:

2 T butter

2 T flour
1 tsp salt
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups shredded Chihuahua cheese
4 oz can green chiles, drained
3-4 T jalepeno juice
3-4 jalepeno slices, diced


Over LOW heat, melt butter. Stir in flour, a little at a time, until fully blended, stirring constantly. Add salt and cook over LOW heat for 10-15 minutes, stirring constantly.


Slowly pour milk into the flour mixture, stirring constantly to avoid lumps. Stir mixture over LOW heat until thickened. Stir in chiles, jalepenos and juice.


Remove from heat and stir in cheese, a little at a time, until fully melted. If it gets too cool, reheat over LOW heat, stirring constantly.


Why did I keep repeating LOW? Because cheese must be melted slowly over low heat or you will wind up with a rubbery stringy mess. I know from experience.



Now the questions:


Was it easy? The enchiladas were very easy. Maddy helped me a lot, and she said she could probably make these. You don't need to turn on the stove at all.


The cheese dip - not hard, but time consuming. You must cook the butter/flour mixture for 10-15 minutes to remove the "flour" taste and texture. I only cooked it about 5-7 minutes. I should have kept cooking it but I was impatient and getting tired of stirring. Let this be a lesson to you - bulk up your arms or enlist a helper or two. Maddy stirred for about 30 seconds then collapsed from exhaustion. Rookie.


Did it taste good? The enchiladas were awesome! Craig said they were "scrumptious!"


The cheese dip wasn't bad. I kept adding jalepeno juice to spice it up. You could taste the flour but it wasn't bad, just not like what we are used to at the Mexican restaurant. Maddy ate it, but said it was just okay. I think if I'd cooked it longer it would have tasted better, or perhaps used cornstarch instead of flour.


Would I make it again? I will make the enchiladas again this way for Lent. I will also make them again and add shredded chicken or beef.


I would make the cheese dip again but I'd use pepper jack cheese instead, for some spice. And I would be patient and cook the base longer.


Flickr set here

Prayer Request

The lovely Lisa has cancer. I just made her acquaintance at our blogger meeting earlier this month. She interviewed me for the St. Louis Blogger's Guild forum. She's a fantastic person.

Please visit her and leave some support for her and her family while they fight through this. Believe me, cyber-hugs and support really do help. I know firsthand.

Thanks.

Meme with a Twist

I found this on Raquita's site and thought I'd give it a try. If you do it, post a link in the comments - I'd like to see what you come up with! Enjoy!

Here are the rules:

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.

b. Using only the first page, pick an image.

c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into Mosaic Maker.

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1. What is your first name? Kim (Kelli used to call me Kim Possible)

2. What is your favorite food? Steak/Filet (Doesn't that look heavenly?)

3. What high school did you go to? Camdenton High (couldn't find the school but Ha Ha Tonka was a big part of high school)

4. What is your favorite color? Pink (Isn't that gorgeous?)

5. Who is your celebrity crush? Tony Romo (*sigh*)

6. Favorite drink? Malibu Rum (rum yum!)

7. Dream vacation? Bora Bora (*le sigh*)

8. Favorite dessert? Key Lime Pie (mmmm good with rum!)

9. What do you want to be when you grow up? Happy (Don't we all?)

10. What do you love most in life? MaddyBoBaddy (My kid is awesome!)

11. One word to describe you. Multi-faceted (Aren't we all?)

12. Your Flickr name: Parachuting Without A Net (That's Me!)

Monday Musings...

The weekend projects went okay. Of course, I didn't get all of it accomplished, but I did get a major project started, and I'm very excited about finishing it in the next couple of weeks. The deck needed more than a washing, if that gives you a hint. Has there ever, in the history of home improvement, been a weekend project that actually took a weekend? Damn you, HGTV and your promise of "how hard could it be?"

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I did buy patio furniture, but not what I originally wanted. Two meltdowns and four stores later, I finally found a set at Garden Ridge, of all places. I never thought to go there (thanks for the tip, Kristen!) Yesterday, I found a chaise lounge with cushion at WalMart, marked down to $98 from $228. Score!

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In one week, I'll be headed to this little slice of heaven. Here's hoping and praying for safe travel, good weather and that my luggage makes it there and back in one piece, preferably as originally packed.

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While I'm gone next week, you will be treated to the stylistic rantings of Kellyolgy, Roaring Through My Twenties, Little Bald Doctors, CookieBitch and FrogDancer. Please to enjoy.

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Twitter needs to get itself in order. Not that I need another time suck at work. Just saying.

What Are Your Weekend Plans?

My to do list for this weekend:

*cleaning out the crap under the deck

*fixing the deck

*power washing the deck

*staining the deck

*installing lattice boards to keep crap from going back under the deck

* moving a pile of bricks back where they were before Fence Build 2008

*buying new patio furniture

*cleaning off my front porch

*weeding the front flower bed

*power-washing my a/c units

*whatever else I can think of while I'm outside wielding a hammer and a power washer

Originally this list included pulling out the grape vines from my day lily bed and trimming an obnoxious bush, but Maddy helped me by doing that last night. I gave her $5. She is an awesome child.

What are you going to do?

Whip It Up - Week 3

This week's Whip It Up suggestion was old favorites.


My good friend makes awesome Italian Beef. However, her recipe called for browning a beef roast in olive oil and garlic, slow cooking it all day, shredding it and finally simmering it in the juices for another hour. Fantastic stuff, but I didn't have that kind of time, considering I decided at 4:30pm that we were having it for dinner. And Maddy had a softball game that night.



I decided to substitute sliced deli roast beef instead. Genius! Also, I could put it in the crock pot on high for a couple of hours while Maddy played ball, and it would be hot and ready when we got home! Double genius!


So, this week's receipe is Shortcut Italian Beef. Enjoy!


1 1/2 pounds deli sliced roast beef
2 c beef broth
1 tsp italian seasoning
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper
1 T juice from jarred pepperonicini peppers




In a crock pot, place half the beef, then pour half the broth over it. Repeat with the remaining beef and broth. Sprinkle seasonings over meat, add pepper juice and toss beef to coat.

Turn crock-pot to high and let cook for 1-2 hours or until hot.

Serve on toasted rolls (brushed with butter and sprinkled with garlic) with provelone cheeese. We put extra broth in a small bowl for au jus dipping.

(Also pictured - Ritz Toasted Chips in Parmesan Garlic - delish!)

*Note - If you don't have a crock pot, or don't want to wait a couple of hours, I would suggest simmering the beef in the broth and spices for 10-15 minutes or until heated through.

Now the questions:

Was it easy? Very easy. Much less labor intensive than the original recipe of browning the roast, waiting for it to slow cook, then shredding it.

Did it taste good? Surprisingly good, for using deli meat. It didn't have a fast food/processed meat taste to it.


Would I make it again? Heck yeah! When Maddy starts soccer, I will probably make this occasionally for a quick dinner.