Tuna Casserole, Still A Favorite!

Autumn is the best time of year to break out those old favorite recipes.  One of my old favorites is a creamy tuna casserole.With the cost of food going up, nothing beats an economical meal that satisfies everyone.  The tuna casserole is still a great family meal that works out to be economical as well as filling.  One thing I always have on hand is a few cans of tuna, so when I need a quick and easy meal for us on the run, this casserole tops my list.

• 1 box linguine (cooked tender)
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1 cup frozen green peas
• 2 (6 ounce) cans tuna, drained
• 2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1/2 (4.5 ounce) can sliced mushrooms
• 1 cup crushed potato chips

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook pasta in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes, or until al dente; drain.
2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
3. In a large bowl, thoroughly mix noodles, onion, 1 cup cheese, peas, tuna, soup and mushrooms. Transfer to a 9x13 inch baking dish, and top with potato chip crumbs and remaining 1 cup cheese.
4. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheese is bubbly.

I am still addicted to Pinterest, and I love trying the recipes I find on my favorite website.  I made the crock pot french toast this weekend for a church event and it was a real hit!  I have added the link to the recipe, so that you can also peruse this blog, it's a great place to spend a cup of coffee's time! Just click on the crock pot french toast to get there!

A blessing occurred the other day!  My little Chloe, whom is mommy to our puppies, worries me with small animals, rabbits, chickens etc.  I have spent a lot of time trying to acclimate her around the chickens and ducks.  I take her out on a leash and walk her around them all and let her spend time with them.  She is very well behaved with me.  However, I don't trust her alone with them and I never will.  I heard a puppy squeak the other day and I went outside to see what was going on with them, all out in the back playing.  I see Chloe with my sweet white hen.  She is pulling her by the back of her head as the hen is pulling back trying to resist.  The puppies are all bouncing around thinking it is just typical play time.  Why that chicken flew into the backyard is beyond me, but I don't think she will do it again!  I was so proud of Chloe though, not a feather was pulled out and the chicken was unharmed, except for her ego I imagine.  I yelled Chloes name and she let go and the hen ran off to the other side of the yard, where I quickly scooped her up and gave her a good look to make sure she was alright.  I think that Chloe was trying to play and had no intention of hurting her.  I still won't trust her alone with the birds, but I'm so happy to know that she didn't hurt this chicken when she could have, I have no idea how long that tug of war had been going on outside.  I feel blessed that my work with Chloe and the chickens is paying off.

Fall IS coming!

 The weather is changing and I get that excitement inside me that fall is fast approaching!  I know better than to give way to the thought that the wonderful weather will remain and fall is here for it's duration.  But, how can I help but love the weather lately and how it makes me feel so excited about apples, pumpkins, cool nights by a fire and all the soup and stew we can eat!  Fall IS coming and I am ready to jump on the bandwagon!

 This will be the first winter for our beautiful hens, and I am anticipating getting their house ready for the cold.  There is a lot of work ahead for us to prepare their house and get them ready to keep warm.  We had some really hot summer days here and I worried so much about my birds getting over heated.  Now, I get to worry for months about them being too cold.

Shown here, as pullets, our sweet chickens have now grown up and are giving us plenty of eggs.  I just love all of our chickens and they are adequately spoiled and come running just to the sound of my voice!

 Our baby turkeys are all grown up now, and are so big and fat!  They are so ugly they are cute!

 All of our Indian Runner ducks are growing up and have yet to start laying, but they keep the yard lively with all their laughs and conversations and they certainly are not afraid of a turkey, chicken or puppy!  They are so entertaining!

Now with the addition of the baby goats and all of our little puppies, we have quite the farm beginning.  It amazes me to see how far we have come in a year and a half since moving here.  I almost can't imagine not living on this land with all of our creatures instead of creature comforts, we have a rich life wrapped warmly in love and the basics of life.  It's been frustrating adjusting, but I think I am getting there as well as the kids.  We all had to learn how to live like this instead of  jumping in the car and being at the nearest fast food restaurant or shopping mall in a matter of minutes.  I have to admit, this life is much better for us all!

So, I am happy to say bring on Autumn, let the leaves fall and the cool nights turn into cool days too and the softness of the sun just warms your face as the cooler breezes bring chills to your skin.  Let the nights come earlier and the warmth of a glowing fire warm our hearts and our home.  Bring on apple peeling and pumpkin pie making, big pots of soups and hearty stews to feed our family night after night.  Let the greens turn to grays and browns and bring us those stunning leaves of reds and golds and yellows that brighten the dull sky landscape.  Let the pine cones drop to offer amazing garlands and fireplace mantel decorations.  I will once again drag out the jackets and sweaters and boots and another season will be upon us leading us into winter.  I am ready for fall and I am excited that it's almost here!

We have new baby goats! Yay!

 We woke up Sunday morning to quite a surprise.  I was expecting the girls to have their babies soon, but I did not expect them both to kid at the very same time over night!  Dixie, our white goat and Mama the brown goat were acquired in June and they said that one might be bred.  Well they both were bred and Mama was huge so I knew she was having at least twins.  Mama is the mother of the white goat Dixie.  They were already named when we got them.  So, not only is Mama a new mommy again she's also a grandma to Dixies first kid.  They are adorable little goats.

 Mama had a set of twins, two tan and black and white goats, one boy and one girl.

 The chickens are not quite sure of what to think of the new goats taking over the house, but they will all get along just fine!

 This is Dixies first time to have a baby, she's quite a good mommy and I love how she and Mama work together taking care of all three of the goats.

We are very excited to have our new babies.  They will be very spoiled in no time and we will be able to start working on milking the goats to start making our own cheese.  I am very excited about that!

Puppies Everywhere!

We have some adorable puppies that have finally hit 8 weeks today and are ready to look for their forever homes.  However, I am so attached to these little puppies I'm finding it hard to let them go.  Never before have I had trouble with finding puppies homes after breeding dachshunds for years.  These little babies really stole my heart!  These little puppies are a gorgeous mix from a full blood chihuahua and a Westie, they are the cutest puppies I've ever seen.  Apparently, they are considered a "designer breed" called Chesties!  I thought I would share how cute they are with everyone.  I am going to miss them terribly when I finally give in to letting them go! :(

Daddy

Mommy

The Babies

 They love to play outdoors and will play until they pass out!

My Painted Sofa!

Well, it took me longer than I wanted to, but I finished my painted sofa project.  I am very happy with the results.  I took an old faded upholstered sofa and painted it and now it looks like a brand new sofa.  It's pet smell proof and will wipe clean easily.  I can't stop staring at it, I just am amazed how different it looks.

 I am really excited and proud of how the sofa turned out!  The photo doesn't give the color its true depth, it is a very soothing sage green!

You can see close up the texture of the fabric is still there under the paint!

New Project

I came across a great vintage sofa this weekend that is going to be my new project.  Its got great "bones" but the fabric is faded from the sun, so I'm going to paint it sage green.  I plan on starting it today and will take some photos as I go.  I just did a chair not so long ago and it turned out wonderful!

This is the chair that I painted, it still needed another coat, you can see some of the old blue peeking out from the new brown.  I love how it turned out and can't wait to start my new sofa.

As you can see the cat and dog fell in love with it straight away!  They have good taste!  The next time I show a photo it will be a lovely shade of sage green.

Ole' it's a Mexican Theme!

Something smells good in my kitchen today!  I've got a chicken on, so I can de-bone it and make sour cream chicken enchiladas.  I am making apple enchiladas and a flan for dessert.  We are having a Mexican food themed lunch-in at church tomorrow to help make some money for our wonderful people going to Buenos Aries next month.  It should be fun and tasty!

Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients: 
1 lb chicken breast, diced 
1 medium onion, chopped 
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
8 flour tortillas, softened (8 inches each)
1 1/2 cups grated monterey jack cheese or 1 1/2 cups Mexican blend cheese, divided 
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
 1 (15 ounce) can chicken broth
 1 cup sour cream
 1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies 

Directions:

1. In frypan, cook chicken and onion together in oil over medium-high heat until chicken is just done.

2 Divide cooked chicken evenly between 8 tortillas; add 1 1/2 tablespoons cheese to each tortilla. 

3 Roll enchiladas and place seam-side down in 9x13" baking dish that has been lightly sprayed with no-stick cooking spray.

 4 Melt butter in a medium saucepan; stir in flour to make a roux; stir and cook until bubbly; gradually whisk in chicken broth then bring to boiling, stirring frequently.

 5 Remove from heat; stir in sour cream and green chiles; pour sauce evenly over enchiladas.

 6 Top with remaining 3/4 cup cheese (baking dish may be double-wrapped and frozen at this point) and bake at 400F for 20 minutes until cheese is melted and sauce near edges of baking dish is bubbly.


Apple Enchiladas

Ingredients

• 1 (21 ounce) can apple pie filling
• 6 (8 inch) flour tortillas
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup margarine
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup water

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Spoon fruit evenly onto all tortillas, sprinkle with cinnamon. Roll up tortillas and place seam side down on lightly greased 8x8 baking pan.
3. Bring margarine, sugars and water to a boil in a medium sauce pan. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring constantly for 3 minutes.
4. Pour sauce evenly over tortillas; sprinkle with extra cinnamon on top if desired. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes.
5. Makes 6 large tortillas; may be cut in half to serve 12.

Easy Flan:

Ingredients: 

• 1 cup and 1/2 cup sugar
• 6 large eggs
• 1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 13 oz cans evaporated milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

I use a round spring form pan, sprayed with cooking spray. Or, you can use 6 small ramekins.
 

Pour 1 cup sugar in warm pan over medium heat. Constantly stir sugar until is browns and becomes caramel. Quickly pour approximately 2-3 tablespoons of caramel in each ramekin, tilting it to swirl the caramel around the sides.  Or into the spring form pan and tilt to spread all around.  Reheat caramel if it starts to harden.

In a mixer or with a whisk, blend the eggs together. Mix in the milks then slowly mix in the 1/2 cup of sugar, then the vanilla. Blend smooth after each ingredient is added.

Pour custard into caramel greased ramekins or spring form pan.  Place ramekins or spring form pan in a large glass or ceramic baking dish and fill with about 1-2 inches of hot water. Bake for 45 minutes in the water bath and check with a knife just to the side of the center. If knife comes out clean, it's ready.

Remove and let cool. Let cool in refrigerator for 1 hour. Invert each ramekin onto a small plate,  or the spring form pan onto a large plate, the caramel sauce will flow over the custard.