Enchilada Sauce and Spanish Rice

I've had some requests for the homemade enchilada sauce I make.   I found the recipe and instructions here.  But to make it easy for everyone, here is what I have in my recipe box...

Enchilada Sauce
2 T vegetable oil
2 T flour
2 T chili powder
1/2 t ground cumin
1 8oz can tomato sauce
2 c water
1 t salt
1/4 t garlic pwd or granules

Heat oil in 2 qt saucepan; stir in flour and chili powder.  Cook for 1 minute.
Add remaining ingredients, bring to a boil and then simmer for 10 min.

Makes 3 cups sauce.


Here's a bonus recipe for you from one of my neighbors (he has been a chef for years).  And a special bonus - it's SUPER easy.

Spanish Rice - Ernie's version

For 2 cups of rice....

2 cups of water/enchilada sauce
1 cup rice

Put some enchilada sauce into your 2 cup measuring cup (amt depends on how strong a flavor you want in your rice).  Finish filling the measuring cup with water to 2 cups total liquid.  Pour into saucepan and bring to a boil.  Add 1 cup rice.  Stir rice.  Put on lid.  Lower temperature to simmer for 20 minutes.  Stir rice and let sit for 5 minutes.  Serve.  Yum!

Monday Meditation - Ephesians 2:20 - Cornerstone

I'm working my way through the Institute Manual for the first half of the Old Testament.  Currently, I'm reading a section on Symbolism of Christ.  I decided to go through each symbol and record in my journal how I see Christ as that symbol.  This morning, I pondered Cornerstone.  Once I got a definition of cornerstone, it was very clear and simple.

Cornerstone:  A cornerstone is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation; all other stones will be set in reference to this stone thus determining the position of the entire structure.

The Church/Gospel uses Christ as its Cornerstone - all doctrines/teachings/practices use Christ as a reference.  We also should do this in our lives - build our lives/decisions in reference to Him and His teachings, and the Gospel.

Monday Meditation - Exodus 5 - What Pharaoh taught me

In Exodus 5, Moses and Aaron ask Pharaoh to let the Israelites go sacrifice unto the Lord.  Pharaoh's response is no.  And then he tells the taskmasters to make the Israelites gather their own straw because, obviously, the Israelites must be idle since they feel they have enough time to go worship.

As I read this chapter, my first reaction was that people need time to worship and also to relax so they can rejuvenate.  Then I had an immediate weight of conviction put on me - how often do I do this with my family?  Thinking "Oh, you have time to play on your iPod?"  "How do you have time to play?"  "How can you get to do something fun while I'm always working?"  And then I normally ask/assign a family member to do a chore.  To be honest, it does seem like I'm doing all the work while everyone else is always relaxing/playing (except for the time that they are at work/school).  After seeing how I was being like Pharaoh.  I am now more conscious of the need for downtime for each member of our family, including me.  When I push for someone to do a chore, I'm striving to limit what I'm asking.  I'm also seeking to show by example that we work for a time and then relax for a time.  My girls will yell at me when I ask them to clean their room "but you're on the laptop" or "you're reading a book!".  Rather than simply telling them I'm their mother, I am pointing out to them all that I just accomplished.  Yes, they need to not talk back to me but they also need to learn that we get to relax/play after we work and they won't learn that if I don't explain it (again, and again, and again).

I'm not missing

No one has asked, but I wonder if anyone has been wondering what happened to this blog.  My family blog has also been neglected.

Throughout 2010, many of the blogs that I regularly follow have been focusing on minimizing - their homes and their lives.  This has also been one of my focuses.  I kept finding myself distracted by the computer/internet throughout the day and at times, neglecting my home, other duties, and sometimes my children.  With the start of the school year, I put myself on a schedule hoping to be able to get more things done and spend some time with my daughters.  Princess Naked Toes started Preschool for 4 half days each week.  About this same time, many other changes happened in my life.  One being I received a new calling at church (I'm now the secretary for the Relief Society in our ward).  Our Relief Society President gave a lesson on priorities and distractions based on a talk by Sis. Julie B. Beck.

All of this combined to tell me I needed to keep the computer turned off more - limiting my browsing time and even my "working" time on the computer.  I'm trying to keep the computer turned off throughout the morning, striving to only be on the computer while both girls are at school and after they've gone to bed, and even then limiting it to only 1/2 hr of browsing (facebook, blog reading and writing) during the afternoon and maybe an hour in the evening.  But this has not enough time to keep up the blogs - will try to improve upon that.  But I will say that I am liking the schedule I've established so far - as long as I stay to it.  I'm getting more things done that I need to get done - as long as I remember to look at my To Do list and prioritize it each day.

New Recipes

I think I have a nice arsenal of great recipes.  And then, I find something I really want to try.  And since I subscribe to several food blogs, I keep finding more.  Many of them are dessert recipes and I already have a recipes I'm looking at trying soon!

Caramel Apple Muffins

One-Bowl Pumpkin Bread (made with honey)

Baked Potato Soup

Lite Pasta

What recipes are you trying?

Monday Meditation - Who sold Joseph into Egypt?

Last week, if you had asked me to tell the story of Joseph being sold into Egypt, I probably would have said...  Joseph's had 11 brothers.  Many of them (probably not Benjamin) didn't like that he was their father's favorite.  So one day, when he came to visit them while they were tending the flocks, they desired to be rid of him and threw him into a pit.  While they were eating, the decided that instead of leaving him there to die, they would sell him to a group of Ishmeelites who were passing by.  They took him out of the pit and sold him and the Ishmeelites then took him to Egypt and sold him to Potiphar.

Friday, as I was reading in Genesis, I discovered a major difference in the facts of this story.  Joseph's brothers came up with the plan to sell him but when they went to get him out of the pit, he wasn't there.  While they had been eating, a group of Midianites came along and found him in the pit.  They had the same idea as Joseph's brothers and sold him to the Ishmeelites.

Yesterday, I was still pondering this and thinking of how many times I've read that verse (Genesis 37:28) and yet never caught that piece of information.  Then I had the reminder pop into my head that the intent to sin is a sin.  We've been taught that you commit the sin in your heart before you commit it in action.  Joseph's brothers did not commit the sin in action but they had in their hearts (and would have committed it in action if given the opportunity).  And yet, probably most people would tell the story similar to the way I would have last week.  Joseph's brothers have the reputation of having committed this sin thousands of years later!

What does that teach us?  Not only do we need to be careful of our actions, we need to be careful of our thoughts and intents to do evil.  When new in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we tend to focus on our actions, not committing sins.  As we progress in our testimonies, we are taught to control our thoughts.  This story has reminded me that as much as Satan can tell us that no one will know our sins, others not only can not our sins, but they can know our intent to sin.  It is so important to give a wide berth to that cliff!  Or we may gain a reputation that we do not desire.

Update:  A friend just let me know that her version of the Bible (waiting to hear which one) says that the brothers pulled Joseph out of the pit when the Midianites passed by.  Maybe later today, I'll try to find the different versions and see how they compare, including some translating from the original Hebrew.

WFMW - Coupon Organization Part 1

I love coupons!  With a little effort, I'm able to save quite a bit... well I don't save any money, I get more food than I would with my food budget otherwise.  With that thought, maybe I need to stop couponing so we have less food in the house so I eat less.  Hmm, have to think on that one.

Thinking is done.  Nope!  Going to keep on couponing!

Finding the coupons I need to match up with a sale could be quite difficult with my coupon stash if they weren't organized.  There are several options for organizing coupons.  One is to immediately cut out the ones you will use and discard the rest.  Another filing system using baseball card organizers in a binder - you cut out ALL the coupons and put them in the binder and take it with you shopping.  Neither of those work for me.  So here's my system.

First, I sort my coupons.  Since I usually have 5-6 sets of each insert (coupon insert sources is another topic), I take each insert and put all identical pages together and staple it.  I go through each stapled group and cut out the coupons I know I'll use and set them aside to put in my coupon pouch that goes to the store with me.

The stapled groups are then filed in a file folder with the date on the tab (in pencil because I reuse the folders over and over).  The file folder is then put in a hanging file with all the other coupon insert files.

Why do I do these steps?

So many of the blogs that I follow will give coupon match ups for items on sale, listing the coupons by date and insert.  For example $1/2 Peter Pan Peanut Butter 8/1 SS (Smart Source).  If I like the final price, I then go to my coupon file and pull out that date. I flip through the stapled groups until I find the peanut butter coupon.  Sometimes, though, that coupon wasn't put in my paper (it's done by regions).  Fortunately, by having them organized by date, I'm not looking through the entire 3 inch stack.  (Yes it's probably that big but no, I haven't measured it.  Okay, okay, now you've got me curious.  I'm getting the ruler....  Well, what do you know?  It was 2 1/2 inches.)

If I'm looking for a coupon on a specific product, there are several free coupon databases out there.  I've used Coupon Mom and I believe Stretching a Buck now has one too.

Hope that gives you an idea for how to organize your coupon stash.  This method definitely works for me!  For more Works for Me Wednesday, check out We Are THAT Family.