Enchiladas

Ingredients

Grapeseed oil (or another high smoke-point oil such as peanut or canola oil)
12 corn tortillas
1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 cup of salsa (Mild prepared salsa or make your own using cooked or canned tomatoes, roasted green chiles, onions, cilantro, oil and vinegar. Do not use salsa made with fresh, uncooked tomatoes for this dish.)
3 Tbsp of tomato paste
1 cup water
1 cup of canned crushed tomatoes (preferably fire roasted)
Olive oil
1 lb of jack cheese, mild cheddar or longhorn or any mild yellow cheese, grated
A handful of cilantro
1 cup of sour cream
Half a head of iceberg lettuce

Directions

1 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2 In a large fry pan at high heat add 3 Tbsp of grapeseed oil. Add a tortilla to the pan. Cook for 2-3 seconds, lift up the tortilla with a spatula, add another tortilla underneath. Cook for 2-3 seconds, lift again, both tortillas, and add another tortilla underneath. Repeat the process with all the tortillas, adding a little more oil if needed. This way you can brown and soften the tortillas without using a lot of fat. You do this process to develop the flavor of the tortillas. As the tortillas brown a little, remove from the pan one by one to rest on a paper towel, which absorbs any excess fat.
2 Sauté up the chopped onion and garlic, then turn off the heat. Add 1 cup of salsa. Dissolve 3 Tbsp of tomato paste into 1 cup of water, add to pan. Add 1 cup of crushed fire roasted canned tomatoes. Taste. If the sauce tastes too vinegary, add a teaspoon of sugar.
3 Put some olive oil on the bottom of a large casserole pan. Take a tortilla, cover 2/3 of it lightly with the shredded cheese, then roll up the tortilla and place it in the casserole pan. Continue until all tortillas are filled and rolled. Add sauce to the top of the tortillas in the the casserole pan. Make sure all are covered with the sauce. If not, add a little water. Cover the whole thing with the rest of the grated cheese. Put the casserole in the oven for 10 minutes or until the cheese melts.
4 Garnish with cilantro and sour cream. Serve with sliced iceberg lettuce that has been dressed only with vinegar and salt.

Celebate Cinde de Mayo

Fresh Tomato Salsa

Ingredients

2-3 medium sized fresh tomatoes (from 1 lb to 1 1/2 lb), stems removed, finely diced
1/2 red onion, finely diced
1 jalapeño chili pepper (stems, ribs, seeds removed), finely diced
1 serano chili pepper (stems, ribs, seeds removed), finely diced
Juice of one lime
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional: oregano and or cumin to taste

Directions

1 Start with chopping up 2 medium sized fresh tomatoes. Prepare the chilies. Be very careful while handling these hot peppers. If you can, avoid touching them with your hands. Use a fork to cut up the chilies over a small plate, or use a paper towel to protect your hands. Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and hot water after handling and avoid touching your eyes for several hours. Set aside some of the seeds from the peppers. If the salsa isn't hot enough, you can add a few for heat.

2 Combine all of the ingredients in a medium sized bowl.

Taste. If the chilies make the salsa too hot, add some more chopped tomato. If not hot enough, carefully add a few of the seeds from the chilies, or add some ground cumin.
Let sit for an hour for the flavors to combine.
Makes approximately 3-4 cups.

Serve with chips, tortillas, tacos, burritos, tostadas, quesadillas, pinto or black beans.

Bubble Paper Mother's Day Card

What you'll need:

For bubble paper
White cardstock cut to 5" x 4 ½"
Shallow pan, such as 9" x 13" casserole dish
Dish soap
Food coloring
Water
Straw
Wire baking rack (optional)
For the card
Pink cardstock, about 5 ½" x 10"
3 scraps of patterned paper, about 3" square; or ink and stamps
Adhesive such as double-sided sticky tape, glue stick, liquid glue or mini glue dots
Paper trimmer
Scissors

How to make it:
Put a small amount of dish soap and a few drops of food coloring into the shallow pan. Add about an inch of water.
Use the straw to blow bubbles until the pan is covered with a fairly even layer of bubbles.
Hold the white cardstock by the edges and gently press it against the bubbles. The bubbles will pop, leaving a colored design behind. Repeat until you get the design you want.
Place the cardstock on the baking rack to dry.
Trace, stamp or print off two letter "M"s and a heart. Use your scissors to cut them out. The Ms should be about 3 inches high and 2 1/2" wide and the heart should be about 1".
Glue the "M"s onto the bubble paper. Glue the heart in between, overlapping each "M" slightly.
Glue the bubble paper to the pink cardstock.
Write, stamp or glue your Mother's Day greeting inside.

Tips:
To get an even layer of bubbles, use the straw in a zig-zag pattern, going from left to right to left while blowing.
If the cardstock has curled up a bit once it's dry, place under a heavy book for a few hours to flatten.
For a multicolor look, allow the bubble paper to dry, then repeat using another color of bubbles.
Don't use regular printer paper for the bubble paper, as it absorbs the bubble liquid and gets floppy.
White cardstock seems show off the bubbles the best. If you're using pastel cardstock, you'll probably need to use more food coloring to intensify the color of the bubbles.
If you're pressed for time, just use a patterned paper instead of bubble paper.
Keep mom's interets in mind. Try replacing the "O" with a large round flower sticker or hockey puck cutout instead of a heart.
Choose mom's favorite colors!

Give mom a break on mothers day

Ingredients -Gourmet Chicken Sandwich

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - pounded to 1/4 inch thickness
ground black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 teaspoons prepared Dijon-style mustard
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
8 slices garlic and rosemary focaccia bread

Cooking Instructions

Sprinkle pepper on one side of each chicken cutlet. Heat oil in a large skillet; brown garlic in oil, then add chicken, pepper-side-down. Saute chicken until cooked through and juices run clear, about 12 to 15 minutes.
In a small bowl combine the mayonnaise, mustard and rosemary. Mix together and spread mixture on 4 slices focaccia bread. Place 1 chicken cutlet on each of these slices, then top each with another bread slice.

How about a niece breakfast for mom.

French Toast, Baked Eggs, and Breakfast Parfait.

Ingredients- French toast
2 eggs
2/3 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (optional)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
salt to taste
6 thick slices bread

Cooking Instructions
Beat together egg, milk, salt, desired spices and vanilla.
Heat a lightly oiled griddle of skillet over medium-high flame.
Dunk each slice of bread in egg mixture, soaking both sides. Place in pan, and cook on both sides until golden. Serve hot.


Ingredients -Baked Eggs
1 slice bacon
1 teaspoon melted butter
1 egg
1/4 slice Cheddar cheese

Cooking Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown, but still flexible. Wrap bacon slice around the inside of a muffin cup. Place a teaspoon of butter (or bacon grease) in the bottom of muffin cup. Drop in egg.
Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes. Place 1/4 slice of cheese over egg, and continue cooking until cheese is melted and egg is cooked.



Ingredients - Parfait

1 cup (250 mL) fresh fruit or berries (see list below)
1/2 cup (125 mL) plain or vanilla-flavored yogurt
1/2 cup (125 mL) granola or other whole-grain cereal
1 tbsp. (15 mL) honey or your favourite fruit jam

Cooking Instructions

Spoon half of the fruit or berries into the bottom of a parfait glass or other ice cream sundae-type dish. Top with half of the yogurt, and sprinkle with half of the cereal.
Repeat with remaining fruit and remaining yogurt.
Add a decorative drizzle of honey or a dollop of jam and sprinkle the top with the rest of the cereal.

For a finishing touch decorate with a single, perfect berry or slice of fruit. Beautiful!
Choose one or more of the following fruits and berries to create your Breakfast Sundae. Use fresh fruit when it's available; otherwise unsweetened frozen or canned fruit is perfectly acceptable:

StrawberriesRaspberriesBlueberriesPeachesPearsCherriesApplesNectarinesPineapple MangoPapaya KiwiBanana

Mother day is just around the coner !!!

Mother's Day
This is an article of the history of mothers day..


Mother's Day holiday was created by Anna Jarvis as a day for each family to honor its mother and it's now celebrated on various days in many places around the world. It complements Father's Day, the celebration honoring fathers.

This holiday is relatively modern, being created at the start of the 20th century, and should not be confused with the early pagan and Christian traditions honoring mothers, or with the 16th century celebration of Mothering Sunday, which is also known as Mother's Day in the UK.

In most countries the Mother's Day celebration is a recent holiday derived from the original US celebration. Exceptions are, for example, the Mothering Sunday holiday in the UK.

Different countries celebrate Mother's Day on various days of the year because the day has a number of different origins


The ancient Romans also had another holiday, Matronalia, that was dedicated to Juno, though mothers were usually given gifts on this day.
In addition to Mother's Day, International Women's Day is celebrated in many countries on March 8

In 1912, Anna Jarvis trademarked the phrases "second Sunday in May" and "Mother's Day", and created the Mother's Day International Association.
"She was specific about the location of the apostrophe; it was to be a singular possessive, for each family to honour their mother, not a plural possessive commemorating all mothers in the world."

This is also the spelling used by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson in the law making official the holiday in the U.S., by the U.S. Congress on bills,and by other U.S. presidents on their declarations.
Common usage in English language also dictates that the ostensibly singular possessive "Mother's Day" is the preferred spelling.

Mother's Day is celebrated on different days throughout the world. Examining the trends in
Google searches for the term "mother's day" shows two primary results, the smaller one on the fourth Sunday in Lent, from the British tradition of Mothering Sunday (it is also called ladies day and women's day), and the larger one on the second Sunday in May.

The extent of the celebrations varies greatly. In some countries, it is potentially offensive to one's mother not to mark Mother's Day. In others, it is a little-known festival celebrated mainly by immigrants, or covered by the media as a taste of foreign culture (compare the celebrations of Diwali in the UK and the United States).

To my LOVE

Together

That very first night we talked on the phone,I never knew then I'd never be alone.

You're always with me even when we're apart,Because you take up so much room inside my heart.

You look past all my flaws as if they were not there,You've helped me through so much because you truly care,When I start to wonder what fate has in store for me,I look into your eyes, where the future I can see.

Even as we grow old, one thing will remain the same,All the love we share will still burn a passionate flame.

We've had our ups and downs, yet our love proves strong, As long as we have each other, nothing can go wrong.

When I close my eyes, I see your loving face,And when I go to sleep, I dream of your embrace.

When things look bad and life goes astray,You always know just what to say.

When we pull each other close and hold each other tight,You tell me that you love me and make everything all right.