Tex Mex enchiladas

I made 3 kinds of enchiladas.
Easiest is the chili enchiladas. Warm up 8 corn tortillas fill them with cheese- colby or cheddar- and onions, and place seam side down in a baking dish. Pour hot chili (any kind you like) over and bake until cheese is melted. Put some more cheese on top and melt. Serve, eat. I usually make these near the end of a pot of chili and everyone is tired of eating chili again.

Second kind is green tomatillo enchiladas. I use flour tortillas with this, but you can use corn. Again, warm up tortillas and fill with cheese (I use Monterrey jack with this one) and onions, but you can also put chicken or shrimp inside too. For the sauce I can make a tomatillo sauce, but usually I cheat and use about 1/2 lb of roasted tomatatillos that I have blended smooth and a jar of store tomatillo salsa verde. Meijer makes a great one so- lots of tomatillos, chilis, onions and garlic with a citrus zest. Pour the sauce over the tortillas , bake, when melted and oozy put some more cheese on top. You can also omit the tortillas on this- just bake chicken breasts or shrimp in the sauce and serve over rice. We used to make this for banquets at a hotel I worked for.

The last is chili gravy enchilads. I use Robb Walshs recipe for this-

Chili Gravy (from Robb Walsh)
Ingredients:
1/4 cup lard (or vegetable oil)
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
1-1/2 tsp powdered garlic
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp dried oregano (Mexican oregano is preferred if it’s available)
2 T chile powder (either homemade or a dark brand such as Gebhardt’s or Whole Foods)
2 cups chicken broth (or water)

Method:
Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.
Stir in the flour and continue stirring for 3 to 4 minutes, or until it makes a light brown roux.
Add all the dry ingredients and continue to cook for 1 minute, constantly stirring and blending ingredients.
Add chicken broth or water, mixing and stirring until the sauce thickens.
Turn heat to low and let sauce simmer for 15 minutes. Add water to adjust the thickness. Makes 2 cups.

Cheese Enchiladas
Ingredients:
1/2 cup vegetable oil
8 corn tortillas
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese (can make it with Velveeta for extra melting oomph and good ol' Tex-Mex authenticity)
One medium onion, diced
2 cups chili gravy

Method:
Preheat the oven to 450.
Pour the oil in a small skillet, and heat the tortillas one at a time. Keep them wrapped in a cloth until all 8 are heated.
Pour 1/2 cup of chili gravy in a baking pan.
Take a tortilla, put 1/4 cup of cheese and 1 tablespoon of onion in the center and roll it.
Place rolled tortilla in baking dish, seam side down.
Continue with remaining tortillas.
Take remaining chili gravy, and pour it over the rolled tortillas.
Sprinkle remaining cheese and onions on top.
Bake for 10 minutes or until sauce is bubbly and cheese is melted.
Makes 8 enchiladas.

Sunday afternoon art show- 1920 Auto trails map of Michigan

I got the map at an estate sale for a buck, the frame was purchased at a thrift store for 3.29, 12 dollars for the glass, and another 10 bucks to a friend of ours to dry mount it. - so under 27 bucks for the entire thing!

light- we have light!

There was a ceiling fan here. Actually, when we moved in,there as a horrid, cheap, brass chandelier that was supposed to hang low over a dining table. When the livingroom was built, the table was removed and they shortened the chandelier chain with bread bag ties. Really. Here are our new can lights. We had to have our friend the electrician come over on Sunday due to some funky wiring we found. Nice words-our friend the electrician. He did it for free, although I invited him to a big dinner soon.

The old soffit over the cabinets.

Beadboarded. It's primed, not painted. This is the view from the living room through the pass through.

The kitchen was getting rather white, so I removed the door from a cabinet to see if it perks it up.

Still have to finish the prime and paint, then it's on to the other side.

Sunday morning art show

I think that I am going to do some random posting about the art I have in my house. Mostly what's on the walls, but who knows.

Here is the first piece.


This is a large painting by my brother Grego . It's an acrylic on canvas. It was painted after his divorce. I liked it and he said I could have it when he "didn't need it anymore". It's in my dining room.

Living room pictures-before and after the apartment therapy cures!

We moved in here 5 1/2 years ago. I didn't get a chance to do much except clean when we first moved- a month after getting here I had the car accident and 3 months after moving I got news about my touch of cancer. Of course, the bigger thing was Max came along 7 months after we moved in. I didn't do anything to the interiors until we had been here 10 months. I tackled the living room first.

This before- notice little Max on th sofa...and all his stuff (it sort of scares me that there are that many bottles out- but I think this was when he was chowing down and had more than one sometimes...
Here it is now...






Before- baby gear and all....

after. This is the boys corner for his art, coloring etc..



Here is the rest of the room as it is now......

that's it. For the cure this time around I have to put up the summer white curtains and change out the pillows and rug. I also have to fix the paint job in places and fix the back door.

Next update- bedroom....

get your updates! Get your spring cure 2009 Apartment Therapy updates!

We got some done this week. Not as much as I would have liked, but the weather was against us and now the boy child is throwing up a bit. So, here it goes.....

Here is the door to the laundry from the kitchen. This is a test, to see if I would like all the trim in the house painted white. It is currently brown. I think I like it, but it would be me painting, and there is a lot of trim, so I want to make sure. The green is the color of the kitchen, the tan color is the color of the dining room- I am going to paint that wall green tonight.... Here is the new header. I have painted it the color of the cabinets. The wall to the left is the one to be painted green.



The header on the cabinet side.

This was the color of the cabinets before I painted them.

Here is the updates on the bedroom project-

BEFORE- (after I took away all the fabrics etc... from last year)

Someone asked me how I was going to use the window. I don't now really. It doesn't overlook much because it's so high- but sometimes we open it up for breezes etc... so I told the Mr. I wanted the frame put on hinges, so that I can open it up and prop it open for the fresh air...

Here is what he came up with-
Here is us checking it out. It can raise all the way to the ceiling and now I just have to design a way to hold it up securely


Here is the other side to the bedroom- stripped of all its frou frou fabrics....

Here is where we are at now....

There is still a lot to do- find new bed linens, fix the Mr bedside table. Paint the trim. Clean the rug. Design a bar for the headboard frame thing. Get a new ceiling fan and install it. Put in a new door (we have that already) and paint the closet.

There is still plenty to do, but we have gotten this far!

To late for the February Jumpstart- too early for the spring cure-

Actually, we didn't even start these projects until this past weekend. The Mr. is the king of procrastination UNTIL he wants something done.

We have two projects going right now- one for me, one for the Mr.

This is the end of the cabinets in the kitchen. This is what faces that bar table we built last year- next to the walkway between the dining room and the living room. The black area to the left is the dining room and hallway. My Mr. decided that if we put a faux header between the dining room and the kitchen it would make it seem like the kitchen was larger and an acutal room -without sacrificing the open floor plan. This might just make it feel like a 15x8 kitchen instead of a 8x8 kitchen.


Trying to find a ceiling joist to screw the header/spanner beam to. As you can see, apparently it wasn't easy.

This is the boys putting the supports for the faux header on the spanner.

Here it is on the ceiling.

I decided that I wanted it beadboarded instead of drywalled. Two reasons. 1. Mr. is not good at drywalling. 2. Mr. is not that great at building things and the beadboard "will cover up a multitude of sins" One side has been beadboareded, now the other needs to get covered up. We are placing a picture of the boy in the wall-maybe a future owner will find it many years from now!

this is the new header looking from the dining room into the kitchen. The ceiling fan is next on his list to go- he wants some pot lights over the bar table.


From the kitchen area looking into the dining room.


On the right side is the faux beam he is building and he needs to finish the beadboarding- maybe tonight>?? Then it's on the the painting.... The next pictures will have better lighting I promise- but it was raining likes Noahs time this weekend....


Here is my project. This is our old bedroom that I redid 2 years ago.
> I grew tired of it. I have taken down all the curtains and tried out a few new paint colors. I think I might stick with the blue, but I am changing the fabrics and the feel of the place. Here is it stripped down.....
here is the back of the new "headboard" I am building. It's Ikea fabric stretched over a wooden frame. Here is the back.....

Part 2 in a few days! Wish me luck!!!

poor mans kitchen renovation-spring mini cure

This is my kitchen, and it's a kind-of after. You see, I am not done with the painting. But, right now, I can't go further either. It was -11F last night. It's way to cold to paint (I have to do it in the garage) so that job is put off until spring.
I can't find the original "before" picture. It may be gone, or it may be on the ebook. Where ever it is, I can't locate it- so you will have to close your eyes and picture the kitchen as I first saw it. Avocado green dishwasher. Dark fake wood cabinets with black hardware. Carpet that was supposed to look like mexican tile-main color was brown, but there was some cruddy yellow in there too. Wallpaper with tiny little flowers on one wall, and some hideous faux painting on the other- it was some sort of "ragging" technique-done poorly- in shades of blue. It sort of looked like mold. It was sort of country crap meets spanish faux crap. Here is what we did.

Here is my almost after pictures. This is the south side, from the dining room into the living room. The boxes hide the phone jack and cords. The butcher block thing is a rolling cart from Ikea.


These are the south side of the kitchen. I have 3 2ft sections of counter top. 2 on the south side, and one on the north. There is also a new additional 1 ft section of counter top on the north side now. This is the counter I want to replace. It may look white- but it's actually a white PAISLEY print laminate. It's actually in good condition, so replacement is a low priority- but I still would like it gone once I decide what I DO want.

art by my brother- grego

Below is the south side 2 ft countertop. We bought this butcher block at a garage sale for 5 bucks. Planed it down and used it for this and the 1 ft countertop on the other side of the stove. We are putting beadboard on the the backsplash on this side too- this summer.

You may be thinking- where has she NOT painted? Well, the upper cabinets. I am repainting the cabinets the same color- just in a semi gloss paint this time- to help in the cleanliness department. I liked how satin looked, but it was a bear to clean. So, I am changing the sheen more than the color. So it was an easy choice to stop painting until the weather got better.

A better view of the north side of the kitchen. Still have the almond stove that came with the house. It works fine. I know it would look better with white- but I am not going to replace a perfectly functioning stove because of the color. The microwave though, is another story. That behemoth is history -asap. It doesn't work some of the time, it's HUGE, the fan doesn't work that well. It's going to have to go this summer too....

Below is the view from the kitchen into the "reclaimed" space that used to be the old dining room. The bar was built last Christmas- yes, I see that black thing with cords under the bar on the left. It's not there anymore. It was temporary and I didn't get it out of view before taking this picture. Shoot me. The counter on the far side of the stove was installed this Christmas. It still needs to be painted, along with the upper cabinets.

So, what we did was-
1. new floor- (about 125.00- new subfloor too)
2. painted cabinets (30.00)
3. I removed the upper cabinets middle wood part and replaced them with copper screen. (5.00)
4. new butcher block countertops on north side (5.00)
5. new , white, dishwasher. (129.00)
6. new light fixtures (62.00)
7. new hardware (24.00)
8. new sink faucet (60.00)
9. new bar table (200.00 ish )
10 new 1ft cabinet (20.00)
11. beadboard for backsplash (60.00)
total so far- 720.00 ish. We used a lot of AX reward certificates for Home Depot on these items so really, it was a lot less out of pocket...

what we still need to do-
1. faux ceiling beam
2. paint upper cabinets
3. beadboard other backsplash
4. new microwave

Eventually-
5. new countertop
6. new sink (when I get a new countertop)

It's still a one person kitchen- but at least it's clean (relatively) and organized!