For The Love Of Nature

I think I've mentioned before, that I have a love for two things; nature and taking pictures of nature. 

Especially itty bitty things, which is why the macro setting on my camera is by far the most used. 

This morning I saw this little man outside my front door, and  I thought he was worth a picture because he has some amazing colors and lets face it...he has a fro.
I have no idea what he is, but based on how he looks he is probably poisonous which means that I probably shouldn't be putting my face so close to him! 

He made me think about some of the pictures I had taken recently when visiting Butterfly World for mothers day and I thought I would share.

I hope you enjoy looking at these pictures as much as I loved taking them, and maybe they will brighten your day.

Weeknight Enchiladas

There are about a million and one ways to make enchiladas (green sauce, red sauce, chicken, beef, etc. etc.) but the steps involved sometimes seem a little daunting. 

This is a simple recipe that is easy enough to make even after a long day. This week was a crazy one for me, and I even had the time to make these tasty little suckers. 

One of my favorite things about this recipe in particular is that it has lots of chili powder, which happens to be one of my personal favorites in the spice cabinet!!!!
I'm all about that smokey flavor. 

Ingredients:

1 lbs. of ground beef

1/2 cup of chopped onion

1 can (14-1/2 oz) drained diced tomatoes 

1 can (6 oz) tomato paste

1/2 cup of water

3 teaspoons of chili powder

1-1/4 teaspoons of salt 

1/4 teaspoon of pepper

Flour tortillas 

Shredded cheddar cheese

First, chop the onion and add to a pan with ground beef. 

Cook on medium heat until beef is browned on the outside.

Strain the fat out of the pan, and then add the meat and onion back in. 

Removed from the heat, add in the tomatoes, tomato paste, water, chili powder, salt and pepper. 

Next, it's time to set up your assembly line for filling your tortillas.

Set out your filling, tortillas, cheese, and lightly greased casserole dish.

I use the small tortillas for this dish, well because they are just too darn cute that way!

When filling your tortillas, keep in mind that your going to need to save some of the filling to pour over the top, so don't use it all for the tortillas.

Fill your tortillas (not too much, where you can't close it) and sprinkle with cheese.

Roll, and place seam side down in your casserole dish. 

Pour the remainder of your filling over the top. Notice that the filling isn't thin and soupy....another reason I love this recipe!!!

Top with cheese, cover with foil and bake in the oven at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. Uncover, and bake for another 3-5 minutes. 

A lot of times when I make this, I will double the recipe and keep the second casserole dish in the freezer for an even easier meal another night. 

Everyone is jealous when I bring these leftovers to work because they smell amazing! 

Plus like I said, everyone thinks they were a lot of work...shhhh don't tell them how easy it was!!!

Mother's Day Lemon Cake

My mom loves lemon, so for this Mother's Day Sunday I decided to make a lemon cake.

Perfect for spring and summer, this is a dessert with the freshness of a tart lemon.

 Plus it's one of the easiest treats you can make!

Your ingredients include: 

For the cake:

1 package of yellow cake mix

1 dry 3 oz. package of lemon Jello-O gelatin

4 eggs

3/4 cup of water 

3/4 cup of vegetable oil

For the glaze:

2 cups of powdered sugar

6 tablespoons of lemon juice or 2 juiced lemons

First, combine cake mix, gelatin powder, water, eggs, and vegetable oil in a mixing bowl, and mix well until blended. 

Pour batter into a greased 9x13 glass baking pan, and bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes until golden brown on top and an inserted toothpick comes out clean. 

After the cake is removed from the oven, use a the handle of a wooden spoon or a wooden skewer to poke holes in the cake so that when you pour the glaze over it, the cake will soak some of it inside. 

For the glaze, whisk together the powdered sugar and lemon juice until smooth. 

When the cake has slightly cooled, pour the glaze over the cake and spread it evenly. 

Refrigerate the cake to allow the glaze to harden. When completely cooled, cut the cake into cute little squares and eat!!!

Refrigerate left over cake to keep fresh. 

Crock Pot Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

I apologize in advance for the lack of preparation pictures for this blog post.
This was the first time making this recipe and I was unsure about how it would turn out but it ended up being so good that I had to post this weekend despite the absence of pictures.

I am not usually a fan of chicken noodle soup. Truth is, I am not of fan of most soups that are broth based because they never quite seem to fill me up. 

This soup is perfect because it's creamy, it's filling, and it's super easy.

This is what your going to need:

1 (10.75 oz.) can of cream of chicken soup

1 (10.75 oz.) can of cream of mushroom soup

5 cups of milk (I know it's a lot, but you could cut the recipe in half if you like)

9 oz. of mixed frozen vegetables

2 cooked chicken breasts, shredded 

2 cups of uncooked egg noodles

Salt and pepper to taste (I added a little garlic salt, because it's my favorite)

Cook the chicken ahead of time, or buy pre-cooked chicken and make your job even easier. 

To your crock pot add both cans of soup and the milk. 

Whisk together until blended. 

Add and stir frozen vegetables and chicken. 

Set crock pot to low for 5-6 hours or high for 3-4 hours.

During the last 30 minutes to an hour (depends on your heat setting) add the uncooked egg noodles, and that's it.
 Told you it was easy. 

Enjoy!!