Everything I know, I learned from a horse

It seems to be a common dream of many young girls to want to own a horse. I was one of those girls until I got bucked off! But then I met Lakota. I wrote about her a week ago when she left the Tailwind Ranch. I have to admit there is more of a sense of calm in the corrals since she left. No one is having to fight to eat and when I open the gate to let the horses go in where the feeder is, there isn't a mad dash because the first one there. I'm worried about my husbands horse, Cheyenne, because she seems depressed. Lakota was ruthless to her when I first got her, but they seemed to bond over the years. The first time I was going to ride Cheyenne, Lakota walked over as I was getting ready to ride and grabbed her halter off the fence post and carried it over to me in her mouth because she wanted me to take her for a ride instead. Oh, Lakota. As I think about her, I think about the things she taught me about people:

1. Where there's poop, there's flies.

When a person is involved in crap, the flies seem to be abundant as well. By this I mean people who are always in trouble and seem to make bad decisions. They seem to be attracted to crap.

2. If you kick a horse hard enough, they are gonna buck.

Just like with husbands and kids, if you don't ask nicely and you pester them to do something long enough.....they will finally buck and rebel.

3. The grass isn't always greener.

Without fail, I will put my horses out into the nice green pasture and after a while, they stand and stare at the small paddock next to their corrals. Too many people these days are leaving their spouse for someone else because they think it will be better, only to find out that the grass isn't greener, they just have a different set of problems.

4. Stick with a buddy, because they will always have your back.

5. Many friends make light work.

Horses will stand along side each other and swat the flies off of each others faces with their tails. The more friends they have standing by them, the less work they have to do to keep those pesky flies away.

6. There's always a reason a horse bucks. Whether it is a burr in their cinch, they get bit by a horse fly or whatever .... there is always a reason behind the action.

The same goes for people. There is always a reason why people do what they do. If you accept that, you will be less likely to be offended or hurt.

This logic has helped me to make sense of a relationship that went bad a few years ago.

I had a neighbor who was great fun to be with when I lived in Salt Lake. We traveled together on some amazing trips. Our kids were about the same ages and we have scrapbooks full of pictures of the fun times we had together. It was great until I stumbled upon the fact that she had some addiction problems. I wanted to help her and tried to show her I truely cared about her, but she had the attitude of, "I'm going to hurt you before you hurt me." I had a really hard time with this and I couldn't understand how someone would turn on a friend like she did. Then I found out she had been adopted and when she was older, she searched and found her birth mother before I met her. Amazingly her sister, who her mother had kept, lived about a mile from her. My friend was so excited to find this missing link in her life and she met with her birth family members. After she met them, she was told they didn't want to have a relationship with her. I can only imagine how hurtful this would be and I realized why she was afraid of being hurt in relationships. She made it very clear she didn't want to be friends anymore and has since moved away. I think about her often and miss her. I learned a lot from my relationship with her and she helped me to grow up in a way, which I am grateful for. She had a lot of killer salad recipes which I love to eat. So now anytime I make one her salads, I say a little prayer and ask that she be watched over.

Orange Pudding Salad

In a pan, add 1 box of orange jello, 1 box of tapioca pudding and a box of cook and serve pudding with 3C. cold water and bring to a boil. Let boil for one minute then pour into a casserole dish and let cool. Before it is completely set, add two small cans of mandarin oranges. Before serving, top with 8 oz. of whipping cream.

Muddy Buddies

I love this time of the year because it is starting to warm up enough that I can work outside without a coat on and the snow is starting to melt. The only bad part is once the snow starts to melt, it leaves mud and a winter's worth of manure! I spent a good portion of the afternoon scrapping the horse pens - which I really don't mind doing except my golden retriever puppy insisted on following behind the tractor, so she was a muddy, manure smelling mess! My American Eskimo just sat on the porch and watched all of the action from a distance where he could stay white and clean. How come she couldn't do the same?

With all this mud, I think it is appropriate to share one of my families favorite recipes that involves a little mud:

Muddy Buddies

Put 4 1/2 C. Rice, wheat or corn chex into a large bowl.

Melt 1/2C. semisweet chocolate chips, 1/4C. peanut butter and 1/8C. butter in the microwave on high for one minute. Stir and then microwave for another 30 seconds. Add 1 tsp. vanilla and then pour over the top of the cereal until evenly coated.

Put this into a gallon sized zip lock baggie and add 3/4C. powdered sugar. Zip up the top and shake until the cereal is well coated. Store in an air tight container.

17 and Counting!

Today is my oldest son's 17th birthday. I still remember the day he was born like it was yesterday. He truly was the most perfect baby in the whole world, (except, he reminded me, when he was volcano baby because he was allergic to his formula.) He is such a great kid and I am so proud of the amazing young man he has become!

Last night I had to go to a meeting in Roosevelt with a few of my friends so we decided to go a little early and eat dinner. The restaurant my friend Ashley took us to was called, the Round Robin. We waited for 45 minutes to get our meals because they were so busy, but it was worth it! Their sugar cookies are to die for! Before I left, I had to make dinner for some neighbors who are struggling with a family crisis as well as my family and a guy named Mark that my husband invited up for dinner. Mark is blind and has worked for us on and off over the past few years. We can all learn a thing or two from this amazing young man. He can clean gutters, weed and throw hay bales better than anyone else I know. Mark doesn't let his challenge keep him from doing anything. He is all over town and he told me a couple of weeks ago, he walked 20 miles one day. WOW! Next week he is excited to get trained for his new seeing eye dog. I can't wait to meet her! Anyway, I made the linguine from my blog on February 12th - (which I loved!) and calzones, with chocolate cream pie for dessert.

Calzones
Unroll a package of the pre-made pizza dough from the refrigerator section. Use a knife and cut it into two sections. Spoon some pre-made pizza sauce or spaghetti sauce on one half of the dough. Put your favorite toppings on the sauce and then fold over the half that is still plain. Pinch the sides and then cover with mozzarella cheese. Bake for about 35 min. or until the crust is light brown at 350*.

I wanted to make the calzone dough from scratch because the pre-made dough is full of preservatives, which my two youngest boys are allergic to, but I had to work and didn't have time so I had to improvise. Here is the recipe for the homemade dough I want to make next time.

Calzone Dough

Place 1 1/4C. water, 1t. salt, 3C. bread flour, 1tsp. dry milk powder and 2tsp. active dry yeast in the pan of a bread machine. Select the dough cycle. After the cycle ends, roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface and shape into a 16x10 in. rectangle. Move this to a lightly greased cookie sheet. Put your favorite toppings on this and brush the top with melted butter then sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Bake at 350* for 35 -45 min.

Chocolate Dream Pie

Combine one small pkg. of chocolate pudding with 1C. milk, and 1C. cool whip beat with a hand mixer until well combined. Pour into a pre-made chocolate pie crust and then top with cool whip. Let set up for 30 min. in the fridge and then serve.

Yee Haw!

The barn dance was a huge success! The kids had a great time learning how to do the boot scootin' boogie, the two step and other fun dances. In fact they were having so much fun, they didn't want to leave when the time came and I had to kick them all out!

I had worked all day and still had to get ready for the big dance, so for dinner I needed something that was really fast and easy. I decided to try out a new recipe I had found in a magazine and I am glad I did because it was yummy!

Taco Casserole

Brown two pounds of hamburger. Then add 1 pkg. of taco seasoning, 2 cans of tomato soup, 1 1/2 cans of water and 1 C. salsa. Bring to a boil and then let simmer for 2 or 3 minutes and then add a bunch of crumbled tortilla chips and 1 C. of shredded cheddar cheese. The recipe called for cutting up six flour tortilla's, but I liked the crumbled chips better. If you want it to be a little creamier, you can also add 1 C. of sour cream to the mix after it comes to a boil.

If you want to fly with eagles, don't hang out with turkeys!

Last night we went to a blue and gold Scout banquet for my boys. I was so proud of my youngest for being advanced two ranks and of my middle child for earning his last merit badge he needed to before he can get his eagle. My oldest already earned his eagle rank last year. At his court of honor, the advice I gave him was, "If you want to fly with the eagles, don't hang out with turkeys." (Author unknown). As I sat looking at the boys that surrounded my middle son, I realized he is truly hanging out with other eagles. Each one of those boys is different, but they all are amazing!

My husband grew up with seven friends who were the same way. They were all different. There was a football player, a couple of band players, an artist, the popular lady's man, the resource kid, the shy one who was afraid of everything and the out going obnoxious one. Together they all brought out the best of one another. They would do anything for each other and even though they are spread out across the world, they still are good friends. I'm grateful for this group of friends as well because the little sister of one of them was one of my best friends as well.

My group of five girls hung out with this group of eight guys. We all just hung out together as good friends. If one of us didn't have a date for a dance, someone would step up and go with them. Sometimes it was two girls and seven guys hanging out at a movie together. We were all just good friends blending and adding to each other's lives.

At the banquet, I mentioned to my friend Rachel Baum that I was craving some of her yummy salsa. Before the night was over I had the recipe in my hand! She told me the first day it will taste bland, so it is best to make it and let it sit for a day or two so the flavors can blend. Just like with friends, you may not always blend the first day, but every single person can add something to your life if you give them a chance.

Rachel's Salsa

In a blender, combine 2 cans of stewed tomato's, 1 small can of green chile's, 1/2 of a chopped red onion, 1 bunch of cilantro, 1 clove of garlic minced, 1/8t. cumin, the juice of one lime and salt to taste.

Wow! This is too EZ!

Good thing she's cute!

Sunday morning I woke up to a horrible smell. My four month old golden retriever, Zoe, had pooped and thrown up in her kennel during the night so the whole house reeked! When I got downstairs, I realized that my youngest had already let her outside so she had walked through the house with her poopy feet! The ironical thing was he had just finished cleaning the whole tile floor with his tooth brush the night before - (he got in major trouble, but that's another story!). Needless to say, I spent the morning giving Zoe a bath, then scrubbing out the kennel and cleaning the floor. Have you ever noticed whenever there is a job involving poop or throw up everyone disappears? Without fail, the horses need a new bale of hay and everyone is excited to help get it!
This is a picture of Zoe and my twin sister, Karrie. I got Zoe from her litter of ten puppies, so she adores her.

I still have my head cold. I'm sick of being sick! Sunday night my friend, Carrie Caldwell and her daughter Carly came over with a plate of warm chocolate chip cookies, hot spiced apple cider and a cute get well card. They were sooo.... good! She definitely knows my weakness! I have tried to catch her a couple of times to get the recipes to share on here, but I haven't had any luck. As soon as I do get them, I will post the them because they were scrumptuous!

So since I'm still sick, I still only want to eat soup. My husband taught me a fast, easy way to make egg drop soup:
Make 1 envelope of Lipton Dry Chicken Noodle Soup according to the directions. Bring to a boil and whisk in one egg until there white egg is dispersed through out the soup.


Fast, cheap and EZ....

Feelin' sorry for myself with a big plate of cookies

I never thought this day would come. I sold one of my favorite horses today. If I drank, I would probably be drowning my sorrows in something to take away my sadness. But since I don't drink, I will have to settle for a plate of chocolate chip cookies and a big, ice cold Coke instead.

Lakota is the horse I learned to ride on. She belonged to some friends of ours, Rick and Lori Johnson, who have a cabin near ours above Park City. I knew nothing about horses, in fact I hated them, but Rick made me get on and ride her and I fell in love. It is almost magical to ride through the quakies with on a beautiful horse that you love. I wasn't a good rider, I just held one for dear life. Thank goodness Lakota was lazy and didn't like to go very fast! The day after one of our longest rides ever, I went to my gynacologist for my annual exam. I was horrified when she saw the inside of my thighs and said, "Nice bruises." I tried to convince her it was from trying to hang on to a horse, but I'm not sure if she believed me or not.

Then one day, I found out that her owner, Rick, was going to sell her one day and I cried and told my husband about it. He said, "Over my dead body we are going to get a horse!" At the time we lived in Salt Lake and had no where to keep her. Being the old softy that he is, my husband surprised me and gave Lakota to me for our 15th wedding anniversary. I was sooo.... excited! I drove up to Kaysville almost every day to ride her. When we moved her to a pasture closer to home, she foundered on the apples that surrounded her paddock. So we took her back up to Kaysville to recover.

Lakota is the reason I moved to Vernal. I wanted to have her in my yard and the only way I could do that was to move to the country. Last February, we finally moved into our new home that we spent a year and a half building next to the big blue barn and I had Lakota in my back yard. I started taking riding lessons with my eleven year old. As I got better at riding, I started riding my three year old paint who can spin and side step and do all kinds of amazing things and I discovered Lakota is actually a horrible ride! I really realized this when I rode our 29 year old in the mountains by our cabin and I didn't come back tired and worn out from having to kick her to move along. WOW! What an eye opener that was. But I loved Lakota, I couldn't get rid of her! Over the past few months as I have watched her kick at the other horses every day while six of them try to eat on one side of the feeder and she has the whole side to herself I started to realize she was really a pain and my three year old paint was starting to pick up her bad habits. So I decided it is time for her to go plus I needed the money.

This morning as I brushed out her long white mane, lunged her and took my last ride, the tears wouldn't stop coming. I loved this horse and I was so grateful to her for teaching me how to ride. She truely has taught me not to be afraid of things and to enjoy life. I have some many great memories with this horse. But my favorite days were when I would walk down to the end of the pasture to bring the horses in and I would just hop on her bare back with only a halter and lead rope on and ride her up to the gate as the rest of the horses followed.
There will always be a special place in my heart for Lakota - even in all of her sassiness - I still love her.

Here is the chocolate chip cookie recipe I made to drown my sorrows in. One of our old neighbors in Salt Lake, Keith Colson, used to make these. I have never been able to master making them as good as he could. I usually just pull out the frozen Otis Spunkmeyer cookie dough from the freezer because they always turn out good.

Mr. C's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Mix and set aside: 2 1/2 C. flour sifted, 1t. salt and 1t. baking soda.
Cream together by hand with a wooden spoon: 1C. Butter flavored Crisco, 3/4C. sugar, 3/4C. brown sugar, 2 eggs and 1t. hot water.

Add the dry mix to this and then add 2C. oatmeal, 1t. vanilla and 1 bag of milk chocolate chips.
Bake at 375* for 11 min.
Eat with a big glass of milk while they are still warm.

Cheers to Lakota!

Soup's On!

It snowed last night and I woke up with a bad head cold. I think I will get some soup simmering and go back to bed!
The best soup is made from a variety of ingredients. They are all different, yet they compliment and bring out the best of one another. The same is true of real friends. They bring out the best in you and add something new to your life. Trish Ellis is one of these friends, she always lifted me up and made me feel good. She helped me out tremendously when I found out my youngest was possibly autistic. Her wisdom helped me know everything would be ok.
I hadn't ever had minestrone soup until she made this recipe for me. It is full of stuff that is good for you, so it has to be a good cold remedy. The best part about this soup is how easy it is to make! Open a can of this and a can of that and add some water!

Trish's Minestrone Soup

Heat 1/4C. olive oil over low heat. Add 3C. diced celery, 2C. diced canned Italian tomato's, 1 can green beans drained (not French style.) Then add one 15oz. can kidney beans drained, 2C. shredded cabbage (a bag of coleslaw works great,) 2t. salt, 1t. pepper, 1 1/2t. garlic powder, 3T. beef bullion, 1 1/2t. basil, 2t. oregano, 9C. water, one 8oz. can tomato sauce, 1/2C. barley, 1 can garbanzo beans, drained and 1C. macaroni uncooked.
Simmer for 45 minutes and serve. Thanks for the recipe Trish and especially for being an important ingredient in my friendship stew!

How to choose Prince Charming

The good news is, the big blue barn is clean. The bad news is, I have to try to keep it that way until next Wednesday when we have the barn dance!

I thought it was supposed to be last night, but it is NEXT Wednesday. Obviously I have too much on my plate!

I got a call from my son about 2:30PM and he broke the news to me. So that meant I had four hours to put together a Daddy Daughter party for my Laurels centered around the theme of, "How to choose your Prince Charming." Thank goodness I already had some idea of what I wanted to do, I just had to put it all together!
I made lime green sherbert frogs sitting on green lilly pad plates and decorated with green frog princes on a stick. It was a really fun night! We played a version of the Newly Wed game - but Daddy Daughter style and then the Dad's all offered some advice to the girls about how to choose a future mate. Hopefully the girls will remember that advice and set their standards high so they can get the cream of the crop!

Speaking of cream, I found another pasta recipe I can't wait to try!

Creamy Pasta with Bacon

Cook one 9 oz. pkg. refrigerated linguine according to the directions.

In a large skillet, saute 1 med. onion, chopped in 1T. Canola oil until tender. Add 2 cloves of garlic, minced and cook for another minute.

In a small bowl, whisk together 2T. flour, and 1 1/2C. heavy whipping cream. Add this to the onions and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce the heat and stir for another minute or until it thickens. Remove from the heat.

In a small bowl, beat 3 eggs then add to the whipping cream mixture - stirring constantly, bring to a boil and cook for 2 more minutes.

Drain the linguine and add this to the pan. Then stir in 8 cooked pieces of bacon that have been chopped up into small pieces and 1/2C. grated Parmesan cheese - heat for a few minutes and serve.

Fast and easy on the Tailwind Ranch!

Pumpkin Pie Pancakes anyone?

Yesterday, I had the honor of being Darren's mom, Kay's, escort to go through the Jordan River Temple. My husband, Darren, did her brother, Don's, work at the same time. What an exciting day!

We spent the weekend at our cabin since the kids didn't have school on Monday or Tuesday. Our neighbors, the Baum's came up with their family and we had a great time playing the Great Dalmuti, snowmobiling, watching the Olympics and eatting! Rachel is a fabulous cook - except when it comes to microwave popcorn, but that's

another story!
I put her in charge of breakfast because we were hoping she would make us her famous, "French Toast Casserole," but instead she made pumpkin pie pancakes with apple cider syrup and they were sooo..... good! She said she got this recipe from another one of our neighbors, Julie Peterson, but I give her the credit for this recipe because she was the one who made it for me!

Pumpkin Pie Pancakes
Combine 2C. flour, 1t. cinnamon, 1/8t. nutmeg, 1 1/2C. canned pumpkin, 1C. milk (or more to thin,) 1/2t. vanilla, 4t. baking powder, 1/8r. cinnamon, 1/8t. nutmeg, 3/4C. sugar, 3 eggs and 3/4C. oil. Then pour onto a hot griddle. Rachel had us put a spoonful of whipping cream on top and then pour warm Apple Cider Syrup over the top. Yummy!!
Apple Cider Syrup
Combine 1/2C. sugar, 1T. pumpkin pie spice, 1C. apple juice or cider, 1t. lemon juice, 1/4C. butter.

To top this off, Rachel made us the BEST tortilla soup I have ever had for lunch! She can come to the cabin anytime and cook for me ....as long as she doesn't put the snowmobile helmets so close to the raging fire.... again, this is another story for another time! She said she got this recipe from another one of our neighbors, Raelynn McCormick who got it from another neighbor, Holly Jones - but they didn't make it for me, so Rachel gets the credit!


Tortilla Soup
Boil 2C. chicken and then shred and put into a large pan. Saute 1 chopped onion and 3 cloves of garlic, then add this to the chicken. Add 3 - 14 oz. cans of chicken broth, 2 cans tomato soup, 1/2C. green salsa, 1 lime juiced, 1 can of corn - drained, 1 can black beans - drained, and 1 bunch of cilantro - chopped. Heat throughly and serve with tortilla chips and a sprinkle of cheese.

While Rachel was making this recipe I watched her put a lime in the microwave for about 10 seconds. I just had to ask, "What in the world are you doing?" because I had never seen anyone cook a lime. She told me it makes it easier to get the juice from a lime if you microwave it for a few seconds. Sure enough, after she cut the lime in half and started squeezing it, the juice just flowed from the lime. Thanks for the tip Rachel!

I'm so excited to have these new recipes to add to my collection of "Fast and Easy Recipes." We are having a barn dance in the big blue barn tonight for a bunch of the youth from our church, so I will be spending my day sweeping dirt, scooping poop and setting hay bales out for the party!

Amazin'!

There is always an adventure at the Tailwind Ranch. This morning my husband was headed up to the barn and noticed his horse, Cheyenne, swinging around a bag of horse treats. She LOVES treats! The day we went to look at her to buy, she had somehow broken into the barn so she could get some sweet feed. She will do anything for treats so my husband figured she had managed to get the gate open so she could get them.

So he walked over to see which gate she had opened to get into them. As he got closer, he saw that all of the gates were still closed and chained shut. (This is the "amazin'" part) - Inside the closed, locked, gates was our three year old gelding, Sancho Juan Pablo. I've seen him go over a fence, but these gates are too high for him to jump. As Dar started to investigate, he noticed that some dirt had been scratched up in the dirt and that's when he realized Sancho had somehow crawled under the gate and got the treat bag, which he kindly handed off to the rest of his horse buddies! He was happily eatting the from the big hay bales and very proud of himself! There was poop all over the place inside the gate so we assume he spent most of the night in there. Now that is a good friend! - Sneak under the gate and give the treats to the other horses! I'm sure he is the king of the pack now!

Last night for our Bunco party, I ended up making a recipe that I got from my friend, Mindy Speirs because I was afraid I wouldn't have enough food, and it was the hit of the party! So for everyone who was asking for this recipe, here it is:

Saute four diced chicken breasts in 2T. butter. Add 1 1/2C. sliced mushrooms, 2 cloves of minced garlic, and 1/3C. sun dried tomatos cut up into little pieces. Add 2C. heavy cream and 2C. chicken broth. Cook 5-7 min. While this is cooking prepare 1pkg of angel hair pasta according to the directions. Add 1C. parmaesean cheese and 1/2 pkg. Knorr's Alfredo sauce. Stir quickly into the sauce to thicken. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve over the pasta.

As usual when it comes to my cooking, fast and easy!

That's Amore!

Since February is the month of love, I have a whole list of things I love:

My husband, (who asked me to marry him 20 years ago).

My three boys, I may be prejudiced, but I think they are just amazing!

My life on the Tailwind Ranch - who knew shoveling manure and caring for big old dirty horses would make me so happy! My Salt Lake family and friends can't understand this passion I have and it is hard for me to explain it to them. The best therapy in the world is riding through the quaking aspens with my husband and friends in the warm sunshine on a horse. I think it was Winston Churchill who said, "The is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man." This is so true!

Another thing I love is pasta! Tonight a group of my neighbors are coming over for dinner and our monthly Bunco game. I am going to have a pasta bar with several different kinds of pasta to choose from. I decided to serve this mostly for selfish reasons, but also because it is soooo.... easy! One of my favorite things I am going to make is this recipe.

Chicken Alfredo

Grill three chicken breasts, dice and set aside.

In a sauce pan, over medium-low heat, melt 1/2C. butter, then add 1 pint heavy whipping cream, 1t. garlic powder, 1/2 pkg. Knorr's Alfredo sauce, and then salt and pepper. Then add the secret ingredient: a dash of cayenne pepper. Simmer for 20 min. stirring frequently until the sauce thickens.

Remove from the heat and add the chopped chicken and 1C. Parmesean cheese. Serve over hot fettucinni noodles or my favorite, angel hair pasta.

Fiesta Time!

It is a whopping zero degrees outside right now in paradise on the Tailwind Ranch and it is supposed to snow tonight! I am dreaming of sitting on a beach with my toes in the sand as the hot sun bakes me. We were going to try to go to Mexico with some friends at the end of this month, but it's just not going to happen. So I can only dream as I am breaking the ice off of the horses water trough and shoveling the manure out of the stalls.

This afternoon I am going to take two of my boys to get their passports so we can take them to my father-in-laws house on the Mexican Baja in April. All of this talk of Mexico makes me hungry for some good Mexican food, so I think tonight we will have chicken enchilada's for dinner.

I got this recipe from my friend, Michele Fitt. She made this for us on one of our trips to Lake Powell. We went the first week in October, and it snowed on us while we were there so this warmed us right up!

Michele is an amazing Mom! One year she decided to use her family as the testers, and try a few new recipes each week. A lot of my favorite recipes I make are from her and the year of her experimenting. So I am grateful to her family for trying all the bad stuff so I could benefit and get some great recipes!

Michele's Chicken Enchiladas

Combine 3C. chicken breasts cut up with 1C. sour cream, 1/2C. chopped gren peppers, 1/2C. chopped black olives, 1/4C. chopped green onions, 1/2C. mild salsa, 2t. chili powder, a sprinkle of garlic powder, 1 can of cream of chicken soup, 1 1/2C. shredded cheddar cheese and 1 1/2C. monteray jack cheese. Refrigerate this mixture for a few hours. (It tastes even better if you leave it in the fridge over night.)

Preheat oven to 375*. Put a spoonful of this mixture in the center of a tortilla and top with 1T. of Monteray Jack cheese. Roll and place in a pan. Sprinkle Monteray Jack cheese over the top then cover with foil and bake for 1/2 hour. Remove the foil and bake for 5 - 10 min. more. Serve with sour cream, salsa and guacamole.

P.S. As usual, I messed up the soup recipe last night. I added a little bit too much rice to the chicken and rice soup so it was pretty thick, but my boys didn't care! My oldest grabbed a bag of grated cheddar cheese and sprinkled some into the soup. Naturally everyone else followed as he raved about how good it was. My husbands motto is: If you add enough cheese, butter or salt, anything will taste better. So now we have a new favorite family recipe - Cheesy Chicken and Rice Soup!

What's Cookin'?

It was -6 below zero this morning as I was trying to unthaw the water spiket with a welder so I could give seven thirsty horses a drink. Even though I was wearing my thermal underware, a heavy coat, hat and gloves, the cold was still going right through me!
Once the pipe began to unthaw, I quickly realized the hose wasn't attached right because the water started spraying me in the face. With the cold temperature, the water immediately turned to ice. I tried to pull my turtle neck up over my face to wipe the water off but it had gotten wet and was frozen as well. Ahhh.... life in the freezer section of Utah! Our temperature didn't get above 18 degree's today, even with the sun shining!

I spent most of the day helping my son, who was home sick, write a ten page report on the Anasazi Indians. I was tired and still cold from my experience earlier in the day, so I something warm and easy was what we should have for
dinner. What could be warmer and easier than soup?
My motto has always been, "If it ain't easy, I won't make it!"

Chicken and Rice soup ~ I made this recipe up after eatting some yummy chicken and rice soup at a dive called, The Soup Kitchen. I would meet my husband and one of his friends there for lunch when we lived in Salt Lake and this soup, along with the chicken noodle was my favorite!

In a 5 Quart pot boil 4 chicken breasts in 6 C. of water. Remove the chicken and shred it then add it back into the boiling chicken broth. Add 2 C. white rice, 1 C. sliced carrots and 1 C. sliced celery. Add 2 chicken bullion cubes, 2t. onion salt, then salt and pepper to taste. Simmer until the veggies are soft.

Fast, cheap and easy!