Five on Friday - Morris Style

Happy, happy Friday y'all!  I am trying something new, which is not completely uncommon around here.  I'm participating in a li'l blog link up:

Here are five of the five million random things on my mind today.  Ready?

1.  I use eMeals to dinner plan most weeks (you know, the weeks I actually do dinner plan).  I'm not pie-in-the-sky in love with eMeals.  Sure, it makes dinner planning easy, and it creates your meals around what is actually on sale at your pre-determined grocery store.  My main complaint is that the meals still seem a little to out there for my meat and potatoes loving crew.  However, sometimes there are hits that make the must-cook, must-share list like this one below.  So I'm sharing.  You're welcome in advance.

Mexican Lasagna

1 lb ground chuck
15 oz can jalapeno ranch-style beans, drained
10 oz can tomatoes and green chilies
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper
10.5 oz can cream of celery soup
10.5 oz can cream of mushroom soup
10 oz can enchilada sauce *I used green sauce and it was heavenly good!
9 corn tortillas
3 cups fiesta blend cheese, divided
1 tomato, chopped
cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 avocado, peeled and chopped

 

Directions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees. In large skillet, brown ground chuck until done and crumbly; drain. Stir in beans, tomatoes, garlic powder, salt and pepper; set aside. In a saucepan, combine soups and enchilada sauce; stir and heat through. Spoon ⅓ of sauce in bottom of  greased 9x13 inch baking dish. Top with 3 corn tortillas; sprinkle with 1 cup cheese and spoon half of meat mixture over cheese. Repeat layers. Sprinkle with chopped tomatoes and cilantro. Bake for 30 minutes. Top with chopped
avocado before serving.

Disclaimer:  Obviously this is neither clean eating nor paleo.  I do not have nutrition information, and I don't care for this recipe.  This falls under the "everything delicious in moderation" category. 

2.  I really wish I was back at the beach right now.  Sure it rained 4 of our 7 days for part or all of the day.  Sure it was crazy chaos with all our crew.  But I love those people.  Am I a glutton for punishment?  I am also annoyed at myself that I haven't blogged about our trip yet.  Hopefully that will come soon before I completely forget all the special memories.

3.  This fall Bobby and I will celebrate 10 years of marriage.  10 years!  How is that even possible?  Bobby, if you are reading this, you know you hate it when I lie to you, so please don't ask me any questions that put me in a position to have to lie in order to stall you.  For the rest of you, I am planning a sweet surprise for my hubby.  I am so giddy about it, too!  You know when you are so excited that all you want to do is snuggle and talk to your BFF about what's on your mind?  But in this case I can't because he is the subject/recipient of my plans.  Oh, the mental turmoil!  Y'all stay tuned in October to see what I have cooked up!

4.  I am so excited about Will's upcoming The Very Hungry Caterpillar birthday party.  I love that book; I love all of Eric Carle's work and I really hope this turns out cute.  I am not terribly creative.  Rather, I just find inspiration (or PINspiration) and try my best to recreate it. 



source


5.  Jurassic Park.  Y'all, my almost 7-year-old is obsessed with this movie.  We went this summer to see it in 3D in the theater.  I was afraid he would be scared by some of the more bloody T-Rex attacks, but he took it like a pro.  Now we have discovered that AT&T U-verse has this movie on demand for free.  So every time the little kids are away that is all he wants to do.  In fact, T-Rex is eating the smarmy lawyer off the toilet as I type this.  Rob has seen JP 2 and JP 3, but he learned a lesson so obscure to Hollywood: nothing ever beats an original installment. 

That's it for today.  Except for one bit of vague personal business matters.  I know someone who is in need of prayers.  This person is having a hard time living a Christ-centered life.  I don't want to go into too many details, but this person is really at a crossroads of being tested.  If you are out there reading this and you know me personally, please just leave this vague.  I am not at liberty to share any details.  For all the rest of you, if you could just pray that God answers Emily's random prayer request, I am sure He will know what you are talking about.  Thanks!

C's 2nd Birthday Party and Some Appetizer Recipes

So, today we got the family and closest friends together for Caroline's birthday party.  Some were missing due to on-the-road working and/or stomach viruses, but most of C's family was represented.  In case you may have missed it, Caroline is totally smitten with Elmo.  He seems to have come out of nowhere!  So what's a mommy to do?  Throw a "Melmo" (Carolinese) party!  First, check out the invitations I created:

Now, no birthday party would be complete without cake.  FYI, Publix informed me that unless I had a signed copyright release from Sesame Street, they could not freehand create my vision of an Elmo cake.  So I promptly took my business to another popular, national chain who did a truly beautiful job!

Here are some snapshots from the day.  You can see genuine happiness and glee on her face in most of the pictures.  Somehow she just knew it was "her" day.

Caroline playing "Where's Waldo" in the foreground.  Smiling are C's Nona and Godmother/cousin Stephanie

"Look how big and strong I am!"

C's sweet "Khaki".  Kylee was missed today!

In typical Morris family photo tradition, everyone is looking a different way.  (Usually my direction of choice is at the camera!)

As a bonus to you, I am offering a couple of fantastic recipes that were such a hit!  First, I made a delicacy (using that word generously) called "White Trash".  I found it through the magic of Pinterest, but here is the actual link to Cooking With K's post.  Let me just tell you, people were asking me to move the White Trash because they couldn't keep their hands out of it!  It is that good!

Also, I made a dip that I used to make a lot, but for some reason it got almost forgotten.  It's a hot Swiss and bacon dip that was completely eaten in just a few hours.

Hot Swiss Cheese and Bacon Dip

1 cup Swiss cheese, grated

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1 cup mayo

1 tbsp chopped green onions

Mix the above ingredients and spread into a Pyrex dish.  Top with the following:

1/2 stick butter or margarine, melted

1 sleeve Ritz crackers, crushed

6-7 sliced cooked, crispy bacon bits

(Melt your butter and pour over Ritz before spreading onto dip.)

Once the dip is assembled, bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until bubbly.  Serve with assorted crackers.  You will want to double this recipe if it's for more than a few people.  I doubled it today and it still got gone.

Well, we had a great birthday party today, followed by the announcement that Alabama will play in the National Championship game -- an LSU rematch!  Whoop Whoop!  What a great day!

Later gators,

Play Time, Pilgrims and Pinterest Success!

Kind of a random array of topics today, but I wanted to tell y'all about some things that have all been a raging success:

Last night was our first installment of nightly family time.  For one hour each night after dinner we have decided to turn off the TV, etc. and just spend quality time together.  Rob chose our activity... Candyland. 

Tonight we played with Legos.  Li'l less productive, but still very much togetherness.  I must say I'm loving this new addition to our daily routine.  It seems like the "right" thing to do, you know?

Today was the Fall Festival at Prince of Peace.  The 3's dressed as Indians and the 4's were Pilgrims.  As you may know this is Rob's 2nd year in the 4's and we still do not regret that decision.  It's funny to participate in class / do this program as a repeat and see how Rob is handling the nerves better with a year's maturity. 

POP Fall Program 2010

POP Fall Program 2011

Okay, wow, he has grown a foot!  He's several inches taller than the 2nd tallest in his class.  But also, look how wide open his mouth is this year.  He is far less timid; rather he relishes activity and attention.  You've just gotta check this out:

Lastly, I am so addicted to Pinterest!  What, you haven't heard of it?  Well, come out from under your rock and request an invitation.  Then follow my boards.  Anyhoo, I "pinned" this scrumptious sounding dinner recently.  Guess what we had for dinner tonight?

Crockpot Italian Chicken (source)

It was every bit as good as I predicted.  Some of you have blogged about your curiosity of successful pins.  Trust me, this was great.  The only change I would make is to the sauce.  To me, serving it over pasta calls for more sauce.  So the next time I make it, I may double the cheese and soup requirements, while adding an additional Italian spice packet to retain the flavor.  But I would classify this with you all in your "Pinterest Success" columns.