Valentine

Just a little Valentine to show how sweet you are!

Happy Valentine's Day!

( Just a big paper heart valentine with chocolate hearts inside and hand sewn with love.)

Comfort Food

 Love, love, love to eat Mexican food. So good! Of course you can't have one dish without all of the others. They just go together so beautifully. When I make enchiladas I always make two pans, enough for a few meals. One pan is usually wrapped in corn tortillas and the other in flour tortillas. Sometimes they are chicken enchiladas and other times beef enchiladas. I always make a side of Mexican rice and homemade refried beans.  If you haven't made refried beans before, and you are still eating them out of the can, then you just might want to try this recipe. Because, it is so yum. And once you make them you won't want to be eating beans out of a can again.

  Mom's Refried Beans

3 lbs. dry pinto or black beans

Water

1 pkg. bacon

3 tsp. salt

1 large onion diced

3/4 c. butter flavored shortening

1T. cumin

1 T. garlic powder

*Rinse, cover beans with water and soak overnight. Drain. Put the beans in the crock pot along with the sliced uncooked bacon, diced onions, salt, cumin, garlic and shortening. Cover with fresh water. Cook on high for 3-5 hours until tender. Once the beans are fully cooked and tender, transfer them to your mixer and beat on medium low until they are mashed and thick. Be careful! These beans are hot! This recipe will make a lot of refried beans. You may want to freeze half for another meal. If you want to make less then adjust the recipe accordingly. Great for tostadas, burritos, nachos or just as a side. Great for potlucks.

Valentine Carryall

  Just a little something fun for Valentine's day. Made out of cereal boxes, scrapbook paper, glitter and yarn. The larger one is a cereal box and the smaller one is a cracker box. Each carryall has 4 sides plus a bottom. I used a plate for a circular template for the top.Traced the shape I wanted and then cut out the top. I then cut out the holes for the handles.(This is the only cutting to the box that I did.) I then used the boxes as templates to trace their shape onto the scrapbook paper. I did this to all four sides and the bottom of the box. For the front of the box I traced the front plus the sides as one piece to have a neater look once it was adhered to the box. After adhering all of the paper with glue I then wound the yarn around the handles and secured it with hot glue. I used variegated yarn for the larger to get that rainbow of color look. I then proceeded to decorate the boxes. I added some crocheted flowers, glittered hearts and pipe cleaners twisted by winding around a pencil. They turned out like a little purse. Too cute. Luv it! Now all it needs are some chocolates!