03.27.07
Posted in Recipes at 9:29 pm by Susie
These are the best enchiladas you’ll ever eat — guaranteed! However, you can forget about Mexican food being fat-free. Everything is fried — from the refried beans to the salsa and the tortillas.
Ingredients: One batch of Mexican salsa (see recipe below dated 11/26/06), breast of one chicken, onion, salt, flour tortillas, shredded cheese.
To prepare: Boil the chicken breast in water with half an onion and a teaspoon or so of salt. Shred meat with your fingers or two forks. Cover the bottom of a skillet with oil and fry the tortillas for ten or fifteen seconds on each side. Dip the fried tortillas in salsa then fill with chicken and shredded cheese and fold in half. Top with more shredded cheese. You can fix each plate individually and then heat in the microwave for thirty seconds or bake the whole batch in the oven until heated through. Serve with a dollup of sour cream and refried beans on the side.
Note: I usually make the salsa pretty mild if I’m going to use it for enchilada sauce. However, if somebody in your family likes it hot you can make it mild at first then separate what you need for the enchilada sauce and add a couple more chili peppers to what’s left so you’ll have some spicier salsa to serve on the side.
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03.02.07
Posted in Recipes at 3:38 pm by Susie
This is a delicious and really easy recipe from my friend Graciela Ramirez!
Ingredients: Chicken pieces (I use legs and thighs), chopped vegetables (carrots, potatoes, and onions), butter, a 16 oz. bottle of Coke, and Knorr chicken bouillon.
To prepare: Brown chicken pieces in butter on the stove. Arrange pieces in a baking dish sprayed with Pam. Cover with chopped carrots, potatoes, and onions. Sprinkle one heaping tablespoon of Knorr chicken bouillon over the vegetables. Pour the Coke over all. Cover. Bake at 400 degrees for 60-90 minutes until vegetables and chicken are done.
Note: You may substitute other vegetables in place of the carrots and potatoes. Broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots work great with this recipe. Also, Graciela insists that the Knorr brand chicken bouillon is the best. In Mexico it’s called “Knorr Suiza”. I can’t remember what brands are available in the U.S.
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01.28.07
Posted in Recipes at 4:25 pm by Susie
Do you ever have trouble getting your kids to eat their vegetables? Well, since living in Mexico we’ve discovered that we can wrap almost anything in a tortilla and our kids will eat it. Picadillo (pronounced “pea-kah-dee-joe”) is one of our family’s favorite Mexican dishes and a great way to get the kids to eat their veggies. As is usual in Mexico, I start with fresh vegetables, but you can substitute canned or frozen green beans and carrots.
Ingredients: One pound hamburger, one onion, 2 cups green beans cut into half-inch pieces, 2 cups diced carrots, 3 cups diced potatoes, 5 cups blended fresh or canned tomatoes, 1-2 Tbs. chicken bouillon, 1 tsp. ground cumin.
To prepare: Begin by browning hamburger in a deep skillet. Dice onion and add to meat. Quarter enough fresh tomatoes to fill the blender. Add a cup of water or so and blend. You should have about five cups of liquid. Pour contents of the blender into the skillet and add diced vegetables and seasoning. Simmer until veggies are cooked through — about forty-five minutes. Serve with warm tortillas.
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01.07.07
Posted in Recipes at 4:58 pm by Susie
Did you know that Mexican children don’t wait for Santa Claus to deliver their gifts on Christmas Eve? Instead, they wait for the three wisemen or the three kings on January 6th. In fact, in Mexico, you can go downtown or to some shopping centers and have your picture made with the three kings. You won’t find them all riding camels though, as you’re accustomed to seeing them depicted. Instead, one is riding a camel, one is riding an elephant, and one is riding a horse.
Mexicans traditionally celebrate Three Kings’ Day with a special bread in the form of a ring called a “rosca”. Rolled up inside the bread are tiny doll figures representing the baby Jesus. When the ring is sliced everyone waits anxiously to see who gets the baby Jesus figure. Most Mexicans buy their “rosca” from a bakery, but I decided to try making my own this year. The following recipe serves twelve.
Ingredients for dough: 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 pkg. yeast, 2/3 cup milk, 1/3 cup butter, 1/3 cup sugar, 1/2 tsp. salt, 2 eggs.
Ingredients for filling and icing: 3 Tbsp. butter, 1/4 cup sugar, 2 tsp. cinnamon, 3/4 cup diced candied mixed fruits, 1/2 cup chopped toasted almonds, 1 cup (more or less) of sifted powdered sugar, 1/4 tsp. vanilla, 1 to 2 Tbsp. orange juice.
To prepare: Stir together half the flour and yeast. Set aside. In a small sauce pan warm milk together with butter, sugar and salt . Stir until butter is almost melted. Cool to lukewarm. Add to flour mixture with eggs. Beat with electric mixer on low thirty seconds scraping sides of bowl. Beat three minutes on high. Using a spoon stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can. Turn out on floured board and let rest ten minutes. Knead 3-5 minutes until dough is smooth. Place dough in slightly greased bowl and let rise in warm place until double — 1 to 1 and 1/2 hours.
Punch dough down. Turn out onto lightly floured surface. Let rest ten minutes or so while you prepare the filling. For filling combine 1/4 cup sugar and 2 tsp. cinnamon. Add diced mixed fruits and almonds, and toss to coat. Roll out dough into 20×12 inch rectangle and spread with melted butter. Sprinkle fruit mixture evenly over dough. Roll up like a jelly roll starting at widest side.
Place roll, seam-side down, on greased baking sheet. Bring ends together to form a ring. Moisten ends if necessary and pinch together to seal ring. Flatten slightly. Make 12 cuts around edge about 1 1/2 inches apart, cutting about two-thirds of the way to the center. Cover and let rise in warm place 30 to 40 minutes.
Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes. If bread begins to brown excessively cover with foil.
For icing combine orange juice and vanilla. Stir in powdered sugar to a drizzle consistency. Spoon over ring while warm. Sprinkle with cinnamon and grated orange peel, if desired. Serve with hot chocolate and cheese wedges.
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12.10.06
Posted in Recipes at 6:19 pm by Susie
Looking for something unique to serve at your Christmas or year-end party? This is one of our favorite Mexican recipes and is great for a group! It can be a meal in itself if your family likes fingerfood.
Ingredients: breast of one chicken, two large onions, one tsp. salt, one can chipotle chili peppers (you can find these in the Mexican section of most grocery stores—here they are called “Chipotle en Adobado”), canned or fresh tomatoes (or tomato sauce), broth reserved from chicken, 2 tbsp. sugar, and salt to taste.
To prepare salsa: first boil the chicken breast with 1/4 onion and one tsp. salt. Save the broth. Combine in blender one onion, chipotle chilies to taste (the more chilies, the spicier the salsa), and enough tomatoes to fill the blender. Add just enough chicken broth to get the blender going (if you use tomato sauce then you won’t need the broth). Blend. You should have between four and five cups after it’s blended. Shred chicken with your fingers and return to empty pot. Add the contents of the blender plus one thinly-sliced onion, salt to taste (about 1/2 tsp.) and the sugar. Simmer until the sauce is thickened — about forty-five minutes to an hour. Hint: If you’re in a hurry use tomato sauce instead of tomatoes. Since it’s already thick you won’t have to simmer the sauce for so long.
To serve: spread a spoonful of warmed refried beans on a tostada. Top with warm salsa above, shredded cheese and sour cream. If you are serving it at a party try layering the ingredients in a casserole dish and use it as a dip for tortilla chips. Enjoy!
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12.07.06
Posted in Personal at 5:28 pm by Susie
We have a bell-ringer in our neigborhood this Christmas—and not for the Salvation Army, either. It is a little boy who keeps ringing our doorbell to ask if Aaron can come out and play.
Every time he asks I reply, “No, Alberto, Aaron is still in class. Come back after two o’clock.” But Berto, as he is called for short, doesn’t have a watch and probably doesn’t know how to tell time anyway. So he just keeps hanging around our front gate until he thinks it must SURELY be two o’clock, and so he rings again.
Berto should be in school. I asked him once if he didn’t go to school and he replied that the principal wouldn’t admit him. I’m guessing that his family probably didn’t have money to buy all the things on his supply list, and so he stays home and hangs around all morning with nothing to do. I admit I sometimes feel annoyed when he rings my doorbell four times in one morning looking for a playmate, but at the same time my heart breaks for him. A couple of months ago he asked if he could spend Christmas with us “a ver que me trae Santa Claus” (to see what Santa Claus would bring him). I am certain that in his little-boy mind he was imagining that surely Santa Claus would visit these wealthy North Americans, and at the same time was realizing that he didn’t have much hope of fancy presents at his house. Shoes that are too big for him recently replaced the torn ones that showed his toes. His pants are too large and several of his teeth are blackened from lack of care and cavities. He needs so much and we would love to give him all the material things that are missing in his life. But then we remember that he has an even greater need than shoes and dental care.
Father, help us to touch Alberto with your love this Christmas. Not just with gifts or necesities that might keep him coming back “to see what Santa Claus will bring him”, but with true love and compassion that points him to you—the only One Who can give him true joy and hope for the future.
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11.26.06
Posted in Recipes at 6:43 pm by Susie
As I was saying, quicker isn’t always better — and that’s something we are learning from our Mexican friends. They spend A LOT of time in the kitchen, usually starting with fresh fruits and vegetables. And boy is the food delicious! If you like Mexican food you’ll love this salsa recipe from my friend Graciela. Mexicans eat salsa with every meal — including breakfast. It’s yummy on scrambled eggs!
Ingredients: fresh tomatoes (you can use regular red tomatoes or green tomatillos), an onion, hot chili peppers, salt, oil.
To prepare salsa: Blacken tomatoes and chili peppers on a griddle without grease. Turn until all sides are toasted or blackened and the pulp inside is starting to soften (I usually use six or seven tomatoes – or enough to fill the blender). Quarter the tomatoes and put them into the blender with half an onion and blackened chili peppers to taste (the more peppers, the hotter the salsa). Blend. Add salt to taste. Cover the bottom of a frying pan with oil and heat. 110% Price Match Guaranteed. Lotensin is used in the treatment of high blood pressure in adults and children 7 to 17 years old. Generic Lotensin Lotensin (benazepril) is used to treat high blood pressure (hypertension) Lotensin could cause birth defects in the baby if you take the medication duringLotensin information from Drugs. Order Today. When the oil is hot, pour the salsa from the blender into the frying pan. Stir. Lower the heat and simmer for fifteen minutes or so stirring occasionally. May be refrigerated for several days, or frozen in small containers to be thawed as needed.
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11.25.06
Posted in Personal at 2:09 pm by Susie
Thank you, God, for turkey-size oven bags and for my 1960’s Betty Crocker cookbook. Am I being shallow? Well, maybe a little, but I believe in being thankful for the little things. Being the “traditional wife” that I am (thanks, Bob), I LOVE to cook. And, being a missionary wife, I HAVE to cook — from scratch. So, when there’s no shortcut available, I CAN make my turkey gravy without a gravy packet and my stuffing without a box. But baking a turkey without an oven bag — well, I haven’t learned to do that yet.
Lord, help me to remember that quicker isn’t always better, especially in regard to my relationship with you. Knowing you takes time and hard work. Help me to take the time and do the work, and save the shortcuts for the kitchen.
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