Monday Morning's Weekend Update

Very little fun has happened around the Courtney household over the past view days.  Jay has a big test in his machinery class, and I've got to take the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination on Saturday, so, needless to say, we've actually been studying.  I've also been walking nearly three miles per day with a friend of mine, so even my 'fun' time that I've been using for sewing projects has been taken up with work this week.  The blocks for my quilted sewing machine cover are still lying on the kitchen table, just waiting to be paired up with some batting and stitched.  They'll just have to wait a little longer.

However, cooking is still a great pleasure of mine, and since we have to eat, some tasty bites did happen this weekend.  I made my dear friend Melony's famous enchiladas for a party Friday, cooked chicken on a bed of carrots, onions, and celery Saturday, and made pear-raspberry pies with butter that I MADE MYSELF (thanks to http://www.rostitchery.com/2009/06/attention-internet-i-made-butter.html !) and Jay's grandmother's ('Grandma') Green Rice on Sunday.  And there are plenty of leftovers so that we have lunch this week, which is far better than spending $10 a day on lunch or buying fast food.  Anyway, here is the Green Rice recipe for any who want it.  I nearly swooned when Grandma opened up her little recipe box, plucked out the card, and let me copy it.  Enjoy!

Green Rice

Ingredients:
1 package frozen spinach thawed (I used a big bag a fresh spinach, chopped off the stems, and cooked it down)
2 small cans cream of mushroom soup (you can use cream of chicken or any other kind that you prefer)
2 small cans mushrooms
1 onion, diced
1 small can evaporated milk
2 eggs
2/3 cup vegetable oil
4 cups cooked rice
1 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Put the spinach, eggs, evaporated milk, and vegetable oil in a blender/food processor.  Blend until it looks green.  Mix rice, soup, mushrooms, onion, and cheese in a separate bowl and then add the blended ingredients.  Butter one large or two medium sized casseroles and pour the mixture into it.  Bake at 350 for one hour. 

I'm not crazy about spinach, especially cooked spinach, and this is a great way to get picky eaters (like I am) to eat it.  Enjoy!

Mexican Ravioli Casserole

Jay, David, Mama, Nina, and I all attended the 10th birthday party of a friend's little boy this weekend.  His name is Noah, and he wasn't supposed to live a few minutes after birth, much less the ten spongebob and happiness filled years he's had so far.  Among a few other less life-threatening issues, he's got hydrocephalus and only makes it every day because of the shunt in his head, so, needless to say, every birthday is a Big Deal.  So what does this have to do with food?  Well, what's a good party without plenty of good food!  This year his mom had the party at her apartment complex's clubhouse, and we were expecting a pretty good crowd, which we ended up having.  Noah's mom brought stuff for a taco bar, another friend of our brought her famous enchiladas, and I decided to bring some kind of mexican casserole.  I love to make this Mexican lasagna type stuff with layered corn tortillas and various fillings, but I also have a great recipe for Mexican Ravioli that I got out of a Lake Magazine (and modified to my tastes) a couple of years ago.

For a 7x11 dish (a weird size, I know) you need:
1 9 oz. packaged refrigerated  cheese ravioli
1 lb. ground beef with a little taco seasoning dashed in after cooking
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can black beans
1/2 medium red onion, diced
Fresh cilantro to taste, I like about a quarter cup fresh, chopped cilantro
2 cans enchilada sauce, I prefer medium, but you can get it mild or hot
1 package shredded cheese, I use the Mexican four cheese blend.

Cook the ground beef and dash in the taco seasoning.
Drain your tomatoes and black beans.  Mix together in a bowl with the onions and fresh cilantro.
Pour enough enchilada sauce into your baking dish to cover the bottom of it.
Layer, from bottom to top, one layer ravioli, half your ground beef, half your tomato/bean/onion mixture, and half your remaining enchilada sauce.  Repeat for your second layer, using the rest of your ingredients.
Bake at 400 degree for about 25 minutes, then take out, cover it with as much or as little cheese as you like, and bake until the cheese is melty enough for you.  (I like it just melted, but others like it a little more browned.)

I hope you like it as much as my family does, and you can always change and swap ingredients for those that your family prefers.  When I found this recipe, it called for chicken instead of ground beef, green onion instead of red onion, and a tablespoon of cumin, which I never put in because, though I love it, I associate it with delicious Indian food and don't know how I feel about it in a Mexican casserole.  I liked it just fine with the chicken and green onions, but my eaters weren't as crazy about it, so I changed it up.  Voila!  A one dish meal everyone can get behind.

And because I know you, just as everyone else, wants to see a picture of our dear Noah, here he is:

This is Noah and I playing the game where I kiss his hand and make loud smacky noise and he gets all giggly and happy.  It's one of my favorites because it's an almost surefire way to get him to smile, laugh, and hug you.