{A new look...a new idea!}

Hey everyone!! You may have noticed I gave the blog a little face lift! I am SOOOOOOO excited about this, because it's something I have been praying about for a few months now!

So let me fill you in...if you don't already know, I run a blog called The Gourmet Momma. Well, Gourmet Momma just turned a year old and I realized that I didn't keep up with her as much as I would have liked to. However, I was posting lots of recipes over here! So God and I had a little chat over where I should take this, and I came to the conclusion that I will keep Gourmet Momma up, but I will not be adding new recipes. Instead, I will be posting them over here with all my tips and photos and whatnots!

SOOO EXCITING! hehe I just feel like this is the right thing to do for my time and for my blog readers. Now you don't have to jump from blog to blog to blog to find my recipes! I have so many more to share! And lots of you have requested that I do simple recipes that are cheap...I am all about that! So you will be seeing LOTS of "real" food that is easy on the pocket book, easy to make, and delish!

So I hope you like the new look, the layout may be changing a little over the next day or so also, so don't freak! :) I have it under control...after all, I am a professional at this! hehe

See you all real soon!!!!

**Oh, and I gave Gourmet Momma a PINK makeover for the blog...doesn't she look spiffy?!

{Cheese Enchilada's Recipe}

WOW, it feels good to be back! I am so happy to be here sharing again, I have missed you guys!!

So I thought I would come back with a bang and share one of my families FAVE recipes...Cheese Enchiladas! These are SOOOOO easy and fast, you will be making them all the time too!

What you need:
(for sauce)
2-3 cups chicken broth (to the consistency you like, start with 2C and add more if needed)
4 Tbs Chili Powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
2 heaping tsp. garlic powder (with no salt added)
3/4 tsp. salt
1 pinch ground cinnamon (less than 1/16 tsp.)
1/3 tsp. sugar (helps cut the bitterness of the chili powder)
5 Tbs. cold water
5 Tbs. white flour

(for enchiladas)
1 onion, chopped
2C. cheddar cheese, shredded (keep some on the side for TOPPING!)
1C. Monterrey jack cheese (this is VERY important!)
Corn Tortillas (I usually make about 8-10)

How to make it:
1.) To make sauce, mix flour and water together until there are no lumps. If there are lumps now, you will have lumpy sauce. (add the water to the flour a little at a time!) Then, combine all ingredients, except water and flour mix, in a sauce and bring up to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and cook 3 minutes.
Slowly add in the flour mix with a whisk and cook another 3 min. until thick.


2.) For Enchiladas, heat corn tortillas in the microwave, wrapped in a MOIST paper towel, about 1 1/2 minutes, just until hot.

3.) Take a tortilla and add about 1/3C cheese and a few chopped onions. Roll and place in a casserole dish sprayed with cooking spray.

4.) When all enchilada's are rolled...


cover with sauce and top with cheese.

Bake in a 350 degree oven about 15-25 minutes just until cheese on top is melted and a little brown.



We serve these with homemade re-fried beans and Spanish rice! YUM! Top with just a little bit of sour cream and some fresh chopped onions and they are PERFECT!

{Im baaaaack....I think!}

Hey Everyone! I am so excited to report that Lagan is doing SO MUCH BETTER! Thanks to all your your wonderful thoughts and prayers, she is healing! She finished her second round of meds today and her cough seems to be going away. She hasn't had any asthma attacks in 2 days! PRAISE GOD!!!

I went to her school yesterday and her wonderful teacher said that his family had been praying for her. He is such a wonderful man!! I also picked up all of her work from the week, and the amazing student she is, she finished it all today!!!!

She is very excited to go to church tomorrow and get out of this house. She hasn't left since last Sunday except for the 10 minutes she was at school on Wed. and then the doctors office! Shes really feeling stir crazy!

We will be taking it easy over the next couple of days, but I think she will be all better and ready to go back to school Monday!

Thank you all again for your amazing comments and notes! Lagan got to read all of them too and she feels very loved by mommy's "blog buddies"!

I hope you all have a great weekend because Monday I have a REALLY AWESOME QUESTION FOR YOU ALL!!!! So get ready!!

{Update on Lagan}

Hey Everyone! I thought I would come on and give you an update on Lagan. We thought she was getting better yesterday and she was all ready for school. But this morning her cough sounded different and was very violent, so we took her to the doctor and it turns out that she not only has her asthma bothering her, she still has croup, and she has pneumonia!

So we have to keep her home the rest of the week and monitor her closely! It really sucks for her because she wants to be up and playing and at school, but she's stuck here with me all day! (POOR girl! hehe)

Anyway, I just wanted to drop in and give you all an update! When she starts to improve, I will let you all know!

{What a night...}

**UPDATE: Hey Guys! Its Tuesday morning and Lagan is doing much better. She is staying home today because she was upset that she wouldn't be able to participate in P.E. or W.O.W. or recess, so she's hanging with momma today! But she should be back at school tomorrow. She is doing her breathing treatments much better today and isn't coughing nearly as much! PRAISE GOD!!! I want to thank you all, you have no idea how much your prayers mean to us. We are truly blessed to have so many amazing friends, both in real life and in blog land! :)

Hey Everyone! I just wanted you all to know that I might not post for a few days. We had a long night...


Yesterday after church we went to visit some family out by the lake. On our way home around 6:30, Lagan started coughing and wheezing really bad, so we figured she was having an asthma attack. I didn't have an inhaler with me, so we stopped at a fire station close by and they put her on their nebulizer. They called an ambulance to come check her out.

The paramedics gave her 3 breathing treatments and didn't notice her getting much better so they took Lagan and I to the hospital in the ambulance (which Lagan thought was pretty cool, and I thought was REALLY scary!). We arrived at the Hospital around 7:00 and had a flood of nurses checking on Lagan. Her breathing was getting better but her heart rate was really high, so they kept a close watch on her.

We saw two doctors throughout the night that said she was having a really bad asthma attack and they think she has croup. So she got a dose of steroids and some Tylenol and albuterol to get her fever down, control her cough, and stop the wheezing. We left the hospital about 11:00 and got home around 11:30 to find that our dog had broken out of his cage and was running free! (Just what we needed!) So after eating something and getting the dog settled and getting Lagan comfortable we went to bed around 2:30am!

Lagan is doing a little better this morning, we already had to check with the doctor because she was having some new symptoms this morning, but her voice is coming back and she isn't coughing as much. I am getting ready to go pick up all of her prescriptions from the pharmacy and tend to her today! Thank the Good Lord that it's a Holiday!

Anyway, I just wanted everyone to know why I wasn't here, not to worry, I will be back soon! Thank you to everyone who has already called, texted, and emailed with your prayers for Lagan!! See you real soon!!

{BBQ Chicken Pizza and Spaghetti Sauce Recipes}

Hey Chicadees! So, Ashley left me a comment and asked if I would share a couple more recipes, so I am more than happy to do that. But I want you all to stay tuned because next week I have a BIG QUESTION for you all that I am really excited about!! So don't forget to check in next week!!

So, Ashley, here you go! My recipes for BBQ Chicken Pizza and my Homemade Spaghetti Sauce!


BBQ Chicken Pizza:
What you need:
1 pizza crust (I use Pillsbury)
1/2 bottle BBQ sauce (what ever is cheap! lol)
1/2 whole shredded chicken (I use the other half from the chicken and dumplings)
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced in 1/2 moons
cilantro, chopped
2C shredded cheddar cheese
(1C Pineapple - Optional)

how you make it:
1.) Pre heat your oven according to your pizza crust directions.
On a pizza pan or a baking sheet, roll out your pizza crust. Poke holes in the middle of the crust with a fork..everywhere you don't want the crust to rise up then put it in the oven about 3-5 minutes, just to start cooking.

2.) Take crust out of oven and spread BBQ sauce over the top. Next put on chicken, red onion, cilantro, and cheese. (and pineapple if your using it)

3.) Put pizza back in oven and bake according to the directions on your pizza crust. (This is usually around 15-20min. on 350)

4.) If you want the pie to look extra special, you can fill up a squirt bottle with BBQ sauce and a little water and drizzle it over the top when it comes out of the oven!

SOOOOO SIMPLE! :)


Next...Pasta Sauce!
Now, I get my ing. for this at SAM's because it's cheaper! But if you don't get it at a warehouse store, then just get as close to the measurements as you can from the grocery store.

Here is what you need:
102oz. can diced tomatoes
102oz. can crushed tomatoes
2 cans muir glen fire roasted tomatoes
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1lb. mushrooms, sliced (optional)
4 cloves garlic, sliced
1 small can tomato paste
2Tbsp. Italian seasoning
1Tbsp. onion powder
1Tbsp. garlic powder
2tsp. salt
1tsp. pepper
2Tbsp. Olive Oil
Water as needed for consistency

how to make it:
1.) In a large stock pan, saute your onion, garlic, and bell pepper (and mushrooms if using) in the olive oil. DO NOT BROWN as this will cause a bitter taste.

2.) Add in tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly about 1 minute. This will eliminate the need for sugar!

3.) Add in all of your other ingredients and bring up to a light simmer, stirring occasionally. Cook on a low simmer about 10 minutes then turn off heat and enjoy! (add water if needed to make it the constancy your family enjoys)
**If you want a less chunky sauce, you can use a hand blender after it is cooked to mix everything up and eliminate any large chunks of veggies or tomatoes!

This sauce makes a ton, I can usually make dinner plus about 5 gallon size baggies to freeze. I have frozen it up to 5 months and it's still perfect! To freeze it, cool it down over night in the fridge, then ladle into baggies and lay flat to freeze. To thaw, just stick the frozen sauce back into a sauce pan and bring up to heat!