Very Good Taco Salad

Great recipe for those busy summer nights or camping trip. For camping I make the meat ahead of time and re-heat at camp.


Frito Taco Salad


1 lb ground beef
1 med onion chopped
2(8 oz) cans tomato sauce
1 can water
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp chili powder
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp garlic powder
½ cup raw rice

Brown ground beef and onion together. Drain. Add all other ingredients and simmer covered for 30 minutes. Serve over frito chips, top with cheese and salad of your choice.

Hey All!

I don't know about anyone else, but does summer involve alot of refereeing? I am so tired of breaking up fight after fight. They fight then they say there bored. Mike went 4-wheeling on Saturday so no relief there. I was acctually looking forward to church on Sunday to get so kind of relief. On Sunday we got a call from my cousin Chad and we were happy to have his family come out for a visit. His wife Ann is a sweetheart. I love how she decorates her home and wish I had her talent. After they left we went for a walk . I love the weather out here, there is this nice canyon breeze that cools everything down at night If anyone has sugesstions about activities for my children please let me know.

Weekend Fun

We had a great fathers day weekend. Except for the fact they had us speak in sacrement. I definetly could have done without that. We all surprised Mike with a Darth Vader card that the boys picked out. He loved it. He enjoyed French Toast in the morning. And loved his dinner in the evening. If you try any of the recipes I posted, please try the banana pudding. I have even used those sandies cookies instead of the chessmen cookies. VERY GOOD. I am so grateful for Mike, he is a great husband and father. I hope everyone had a great weekend.

Fathers Day Menu

Hawaiian Chicken Kabobs

INGREDIENTS:
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons pineapple juice
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder 8 skinless, boneless chicken
breast halves - cut into 2 inch
pieces
1 (20 ounce) can pineapple
chunks, drained
Whole Mushroome(optional)
skewers

DIRECTIONS:
1. In a shallow glass dish, mix the soy sauce, brown sugar, pineapple juice, sesame oil, ginger, and garlic powder. Stir the chicken pieces into the marinade until well coated. Cover, and marinate in the refrigerator at least 2 hours.
2. Preheat grill to medium-high heat.
3. Lightly oil the grill grate. Thread chicken, pineapple, and mushrooms alternately onto skewers. Grill 15 to 20 minutes, turning occasionally, or until chicken juices run clear. If using bamboo skewers, soak over night. So they won't burn.


Homemade Rice Pilaf

In large sklillet melt 3-4 TBS butter or margerine. Add 1/2 cup broken angel hair pasta noodles and brown. Add 1/2 tsp garlic powder and 1 cup rice. Add 1 chicken boulion cube and 2 1/4 cups water. Cover and cook for 25 minutes.

Dessert
Not Yo' Mama's Banana Pudding

Ingredients:
2 bags Pepperidge Farm Chessmen cookies
6-8 bananas, sliced
2 cup milk
1 5-ounce box instant French vanilla pudding
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 12-ounce container frozen whipped topping thawed, or equal amount sweetened whip

Directions:
Line the bottom of a 13x9x2-inch dish with 1 bag of cookies and layer bananas on top.

In a bowl, combine the milk and pudding mix and blend well using a handheld electric mixer. Using another bowl, combine the cream cheese and condensed milk together and mix until smooth. Fold the whipped topping into the cream cheese mixture. Add the cream cheese mixture to the pudding mixture and stir until well blended. Pour the mixture over the cookies and bananas and cover with the remaining cookies. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Yield: 12 servings
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Ease of preparation: easy

Recipe courtesy Paula Deen

FUN TIMES

We have had a fun week this week. Well maybe a little crazy. The first week of no school is always a challenge, but this being the second has proven to be more challenging. I am trying to find activities for the kids to do and work around Shelby's nap schedule. Hunter's Birthday was Saturday and he had a great time with his friends. We had a movie party, they watched Indiana Jone's, ate popcorn, and many other treats. It was a lot of fun. We are also in our second week of swim lessons. This weeks activity that we did was go to the Benson Grist Mill. The kids had so much fun and they learned a thing or two which is always great.Here are a few pictures of our fun times.

Summer??

I thought I would post some pictures from our week of yard work, or I guess I should say Mike's. It all looks so great. I am really proud of all the hard work he has done. This morning we woke up to a lot of rain and a lake in our back yard. I hope this doesn't effect the seed Mike planted. I hope the pictures will show you how much was done. I am doing the slide show in order of all the work.