My Ma's Green Enchiladas Revamped

Dear Mom,

Don't hate me, but I changed your enchilada recipe. I really don't understand why you never told me that Velveeta is not real cheese. After all these years of thinking it was some super fancy, nutritious, gourmet,  soft cheese, I was mortified to learn that my cheese of choice is actually not cheese. Since my best recipes started with your cooking, I had to change this recipe to include more real cheese. I made it for several of my friends and they all went crazy over it and have essentially hounded me to give them the recipe. So, here it is. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me for changing it. Thanks for teaching me how to cook and how to love people by feeding them really good (cheese) food. Teehheeehhee.

Love you forever,
HB

Green Enchiladas

2 dozen soft taco or fajitas sized flour tortillas
1 large onion, chopped
1 large bell pepper, chopped
about 4-6 cups shredded colby jack
1 pound ground beef
1 pound chorizo
6 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons flour
3-4 cups whole milk or half and half
medium sized can chopped green chiles (or chopped jalapenos if you're brave)

Brown meats with onion and bell pepper. Drain. Make the cheese sauce by melting the butter on the stove, then stir in the flour to form a paste (over medium heat) and very gradually add the milk, about a cup at a time and then add about 2-3 cups cheese at the end, then add the chiles. You can tweak the sauce as you prepare it. You want it pourable, but not too soupy. It's kind of like a really simple cheese dip. Set that aside and stuff the enchiladas. Fill each tortilla with about 1/4 cup meat mixture and a 1/4 (or less) cup of cheese. Line them up in every 9x13 pan you possess and drown them in cheese sauce. Bake at 325 for thirty minutes. Serve with sour cream, just in case you need more dairy in your diet. These freeze excellently. Enjoy! Throw a party and feed your people!

Good-bye Phone and Facebook, Hello Summer

We started our Summer off right with a trip to the beach. 

My grandparents joined us and we had a lovely time. 

We came home to several weeks full of year-end activities. Brooklyn and Gramm played soccer, and Vivian finished her semester of gymnastics. 

The big kids (AKA Gramm, Vivian and Brooklyn) found this snake, named him Slither Fort Wild, and made him this "habitat" in an old box. Slither Fort Wild bit Gramm on one of his fingers the day of his piano recital. Gramm survived. 

And he made us all proud at his piano recital. 

We celebrated the one year anniversary of our baby boy's adoption. He loves strawberries and whipped cream which we had over brownies (of course!) on his special day. 

We started a very informal supper club with two other couples. We hosted the first night. I made lasagna, the other ladies brought dessert, salad, and bread.

These beautiful girls...they love me and I love them. I'm blessed. 

Front yard picnic for Gramm and his super fun and adventurous buddy, John Isaac. 

Vivian, Brooklyn, Roman and our sweet little girly friend, Caroline (John Isaac's sister), 

painted some huge boxes in our driveway. 

Do you wonder what was in those huge boxes? Our new swingset! The kids have been saving for a while for this swingset and my skilled hubby had it all set up in under 6 hours. 

Sometime after our trip to the beach, my hubby and I decided that I was just too attached to my phone. I've been putting it away during the day some and just generally trying to ignore it. I was letting my phone rule my life, steal my focus, and distract me to no end. Not having my face in my phone has been wonderful, but it's also shown me that I still spend too much time on the dad-blamed Facebook! Oh, Facebook! My big kids and my hubby all want me to get off Facebook. I want them to know I hear them and I want to show my family through my actions, that it is a joy and privilege and honor to be their wife and mother. My dear readers from Facebook, please subscribe to my blog, because I'm going to be off Facebook indefinitely. On the top right corner of this page is an area where you can subscribe to my posts by email, just enter your email address and my blog posts will come straight to your email inbox. Signing off for now, love to you all.