sleepy girl

image diary 4.20.09

Blessings

Warmer weather at last, and rain! Things are starting to get pretty green around here. The kids are able to play outside more and more, and Cori has started investigating golf courses. We even put our seedlings outside a few days this week. I'm rather looking forward to not having our garden in our kitchen.

A permanent nursery leader was called in our ward today. As she stood up to be sustained, Cori and I looked at each other and in unison whispered, That poor woman!  Grant did better today. He cried for a little while, but calmed  down after about 20 minutes. Cori and I stayed far away and got reports from other people who stuck their heads in for us.

Grant's growing vocabulary. It is making everyone a little happier.

My Cori who takes care of me in every way. He is currently unloading the dishwasher whilst I dabble about on the computer. He has a lot on his plate yet always looks for ways to help me with my load. I'm so happy being married to this man.

two of a kind

Except that in Grant's case, I finally became a parent and put kids books in reach.

Grant, yesterday

Gracie, 10 months old

Enchurritos

This is a family favorite that I find myself making often. So, for posterity's sake I'm making a record of my method.

One of the best things about Mexican food is that it is a handful of ingredients that can be put together in any number of combinations. My family lived in So. California during my pre-adolescent years. There is a heavenly fast foodish Mexican place there called Miguel Jr's. When Cori and I were living in LA and my mom came to visit us, we spent 2 1/2 hours crawling in traffic along the 91 to get to Corona just to eat at Miguel's. It is really that good. Anyway, at Miguel's they have what is called the 'garbage burrito'. It is pretty much everything on their menu wrapped into a tortilla, then drenched in enchilada sauce and cheese. It would take me a week to eat it.

I can't really compare what follows to a Miguel's garbage burrito, nor to anything from any of our other favorite Mexi places. But it is a fun burrito/enchilada thingy that is kind of turned inside out and that my kids think is fun and that gets them to eat some vegetables. 

Enchurritos

1 lb ground meat I made this last night with turkey and no one seemed to notice...

1 packet taco seasoning We like Taco Bell

1 14.5 oz. can beans I usually use refried but regular pintos or black beans work too

1 19 oz. can red enchilada sauce. We like Old El Paso

4-6 flour tortillas, depending on their size

2 cups grated cheese

produce to garnish- lettuce, cilantro, peppers, tomatoes, lime, whatever your kids will eat

hot sauce and sour cream

1. Cook meat and prepare according to taco seasoning directions.
2. Add beans, heat through and stir until evenly combined.
3. Pour a portion of the enchilada sauce onto a large plate or dish. Cover the bottom of a square baking with some sauce as well. 
4. Using the sauce on the plate, cover both sides of a tortilla with enchilada sauce.
5. Spoon in some of the meat and bean mixture

6. Add in some cheese
7. Roll tightly and place in the square baking dish
8. Repeat until you run out of the meat and bean mix, or until you run out of room in your baking dish. If you are smart, these two things will happen at the same time. I almost always have some meat and bean stuff leftover.

9. Pour the rest of the enchilada sauce over the rolled burritos. If you have any cheese left over, you can sprinkle that on top too.
10. At this point, you can either throw it into a 350* oven for about 20 minutes or until the cheese in the center burrito is melted, OR you can put it into the fridge for a while. I love this meal for busy days. I make it in the morning and then have a worry free evening. From a refrigerated state, it takes an extra 10 minutes or so in the oven of course. 
11. While it is heating through, prepare a plate of toppings. 
12. Serve up some hot burrito on everyone's plate and let them top it as they will. It will make 6-8 servings. 

time for bigger pants, or gracie's bright future in plumbing

grant attack

A little glimpse of life with Grantigus lately.

Grant always gets super grumpy when he is on the brink of development. He's been using more words lately and now I think he is to the point where he knows exactly what he wants and he almost knows exactly how to tell me about it. It's the 'almost' that gets him frustrated. Instead of trying and doing it wrong, he will just point and whine. In the pictures above he was trying to ask me for his fire truck box. I was trying to make him use his words. 

A sampling of his favorite words lately:

Daddy

truck

watch

couch

touch

amen

book

a host of sound effects for his toys

yeah

no (he just shakes his head. I'm glad he hasn't started saying the word.)

ball

He doesn't use them all the time, but we hear him use these and other new words in correct context often. I need to be better about not reading his body language all the time and helping him ask. He is just so good at whining... not to mention that when he gets what he wants he instantly transforms from what you see above to this:

Who could resist?

Things that make him really happy lately:

playing with his dad

cars, especially trucks

pasta

cucumbers

his blanket

being outside

following Grace around all day

snuggles and songs before bed

giving big kisses

books

The Wiggles