Tonight, we had a great family night: enjoyed snapping ChorePacks together (that time again!), and talking, and finally Bible time. Most were expecting to head toward bed after Bible time, when it suddenly dawned on us we still had burrito things to process. Hmmm… How could we forget when we’ve been smelling beans cooking all day? I guess one can get blind to them. So, lots of the family jumped into action.

Lots of jalapenos.

Onions!

We have an old stand mixer that we use to mash the bean to a smooth consistency.

The guys are doing a walk tomorrow with weights, and Joseph was trying out something heavy. I'll stick with the lighter weight that I'm going to carry.

Lots of beans!

We’ve been making burritos for so many years–ever since I was a little girl. Can you believe I still love to wake up, on burrito making weekends, and smell the onion/jalapeno mixture that has been cooking overnight? And, I’ll tell you a secret. I still love burritos. I would eat them every day, even though we have burritos Sunday at lunch. Yummm. They’re inexpensive too. And healthy. Here’s the recipe if you want it.

Sarah

“And having food and raiment let us be therewith content” (1 Timothy 6:7-8).

Set up your grinder in preparation, or if you don’t have a grinder, skip this step.

Pull out your bucket of grain, and pour into the grinder. Then, grind the wheat.

Set out your ingredients; this helps those of us who can tend to forget an ingredient. (Recipe below.)

Pour the flour into a bowl, cupful by cupful.

Dump the salt in.

Measure the oil (your choice of canola or olive oil, melted butter may also be used).

Pour the oil in, and cut it in with a pastry cutter until the mixture is in semi-fine crumbles.

Pour the water in. It’s often wise to not pour the entire amount in, since sometimes it can be too much, and you’ll need to add more flour. The dough should be sticky, but not gooey, and definitely not firm! You will use flour later when rolling them out.

Cover with a towel and let sit.

Grab a golf-size ball of dough (approximately 2-3 ounces), and place on a well-floured surface. (Important note: We use white flour for flouring the surface and handling the dough.) I was given a large pastry mat for Christmas, and it works well (I still flour it). You can also use a pastry cloth.

Begin rolling! We no longer use a tortilla press. We prefer the outcome of the hand-rolled tortillas, and really, they don’t take that long.

If you can find a helper, things will go even faster. For this time, we set up two fry pans plus a griddle. The tortillas are cooked on a dry fry pan. I don’t have an actual time for baking them, but it probably is anywhere from 45 seconds to a minute and a half per side, depending on the thickness of the tortilla and the heat of the fry pan. If they’re cooked too long, the tortillas will be dry. You want them just past the dough stage. Use a spatula to flip the tortillas.

Then, you find a younger brother or sister (or, in my case, a delightful niece), and let them help. Abby knows how to flour the mat and roll the tortillas out. Her first project was to make a little one for her to eat and enjoy.

Go, girl!

The tortilla might not be in a perfect, round shape, but the taste is just as good.

Notice the flour? I love you, Abby (and you too, Anna).

The tortilla bakers: Aunt Sarah, Aunt Anna, and Abby

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Maxwells’ Tortillas

• 10 cups flour
• 1 TB. plus 1 tsp. salt
• 1 and 1/3 cups oil
• 4 cups water

Combine the flour and a salt in a large bowl. Cut in the oil (or butter). Using a large spoon, add the water until the dough is soft and sticky. Let the dough sit on the counter anywhere from 1-3 hours. Then, portion the dough into golf-size balls or 2 ounce size (or, just figure out what size your family wants). Flour a surface such as a pastry mat or cloth. Heat fry pans. Cook each tortilla until lightly cooked. It could be anywhere from less than a minute to a minute and a half, depending on your heat settings and the thickness of the tortilla. You don’t want the tortilla to be doughy, but you don’t want it overcooked, otherwise, the tortilla will be tough.

Use a spatula to flip the tortillas. Place the cooked tortillas on a plate and cover with a towel. ENJOY! (Refrigerate tortillas after the first use. You can also freeze tortillas to make them last longer. When ready to use tortillas that have been refrigerated, you’ll want to warm them up in the microwave for a little bit to soften them.)

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Sarah

“And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God” (Luke 4:4).

24 vanilla wafers
3 pkgs. of 8 oz. cream cheese (room temperature)
1 cup of sugar
5 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla

Combine the above ingredients with mixer until mixed well. Place muffin liners in pans. Then, place a vanilla wafer in the bottom of a muffin tin. Fill each muffin tin 3/4 full. Bake at 325 degrees for 25 minutes. While baking prepare sour cream topping.

Topping:
1 pint sour cream
4 TB. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Combine topping together in a bowl with mixing spoon. Once the bites are baked for the 25 minutes, take out of oven and place sour cream topping on top of each muffin; then bake for an additional 5 minutes. Place on top of each bite 2 Comstock cherries. Refrigerate for 12 hours.

Enjoy!

“. . . Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness” (Ezekiel 3:3).

Uncle John was helping Abby roll the tortillas out. Notice all the flour on Abby?!

Oh, but they're good to eat.

“And having food and raiment let us be therewith content” (1 Timothy 6:8).

Tortilla Recipe for those who may want it

10 cups whole wheat flour
1 TB. plus 1 tsp. salt
1 c. melted butter
4 cups water

Mix the flour and salt together. Melt butter and add to the flour/salt mixture, stirring until the butter is in small pieces. Add water slowly, until a nice consistency. If it’s too sticky, you’ll have trouble rolling the dough out, but if it’s too thick, you’ll have trouble too. It might take a little more water or more flour. Let the dough (in a bowl) sit on the counter for an hour or two, covered by a towel. When you’re ready to cook them, pre-heat fry pans (dry) as you’re ready to start rolling the dough out. Portion the dough into golf-size balls as you need them. We no longer use a tortilla press but a good rolling pin and flour-covered pastry cloth. Roll dough into a nice circle but not too thin. Then, cook on a dry griddle, letting each side cook only 1-2 minutes, being careful not to overcook (which happens quickly: you want a nice, soft tortilla, but if cooked too long, you’ll find it leathery!). Enjoy!

• 1 pan cornbread (I like sweet cornbread, but regular is what the original recipe calls for! I use the family size Martha White Sweet cornbread, it makes a 9×13″ pan)
• 4 cooked chicken breast (I use boneless/skinless – easier! – but boned is ok too! Also, we like a lot of chicken in our casseroles, so I usually use enough chicken that when cubed it equals 4 cups.)
• 1 can cream of mushroom
• 1 can cream of chicken
• 2 cans broth from chicken (I just pour the broth into one of the cream of … cans, I have made the mistake in the past to use canned chicken broth and 2 cans that size is too much)
• 2 tsp. sage
• 2 tsp. poultry seasoning
• 1 stick butter – melted

**  Boil chicken for 1 hour (if frozen – until cooked through if not) and cut into bite size pieces.

**  While chicken is boiling, bake pan of cornbread – the more cornbread you use the dryer the consistency will be, so bake enough for your liking (I use the full 9×13″ pan.).

**  Crumble up cornbread and mix together with sage, poultry seasoning, and melted butter.

**  In another bowl whisk together broth, cream of mushroom, and cream of chicken.

**  In a greased casserole dish layer 1/3 of the cornbread, then 1/2 of the chicken, then pour on 1/2 of the liquid mixture.

**  Again layer 1/3 of the cornbread, the rest of the chicken, and the rest of the liquid mixture.

**  Top with the remaining 1/3 of the cornbread,

**  Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes until top is brown and bubbly,

Hope you like it! This recipe usually will make two small casseroles, and they freeze really well too! The small casserole is enough for the three of us, but any more people and I go for a large casserole.

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We had this delicious casserole on our trip last fall. I have recipes queuing up that I need to post, so enjoy. The notes are not our notes but rather from the kind lady who sent it to us at our request.

Sarah

“The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the Lord that seek him: your heart shall live for ever” (Psalms 22:26).

1 cup butter
1  1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups oatmeal
1/4 tsp. baking soda

Mix into a crumble. Pat 3/4 of it into a greased 9×13, saving the remaining 1/4 for top.

Melt: 1/2 cup margarine
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 cup chocolate chips

Pour over bottom crust, then sprinkle remaining crumbs on top of the chocolate mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

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A family gave us a platter of these delicious bars on the trip–yummy; we thought ya’ll might enjoy them too.

Sarah

“My son, eat thou honey, because it is good; and the honeycomb, which is sweet to thy taste” (Proverbs 24:13).

That evening we had been invited to another church for Steve preach the message and our family to do some music. They planned a Mexican food potluck before the service, which allowed us some extra fellowship time. Many of the families at the church had been to our Tucson conference two years ago and then to this one as well. When we left that evening, we felt we had many new friends in Christ. As we pulled out to head for Phoenix, lots of the children and some of the parents gathered outside the front door to send us off. As they waited for us to leave, the children sang, Jesus Loves Me, for us.

“I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, 4 Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, 5 For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now.” Philippians 1:3-5

Singing

Christopher and a little friend!

John showing the onlookers his banjo.

The load out was very easy do to with all the help!

Teri

I  had the idea of making chocolate chip cookies in the fry pan so we bought some refrigerated cookie dough. Because of using the electric fry pan, I had to flip the cookies after one side had cooked to get the other side done as well! These cookies were voted better as dough – if you get what the family politely thought of the cooked cookies. Nevertheless, we are working at trying out different things in our crock pot and electric fry pan! Last night for John’s birthday dinner, we had chili cheese dip made in the crockpot served with tortilla chips. Another day we made boxed au gratin potatoes in the crockpot.

Joseph makes great grilled cheese sandwiches.

Anna

“My son, eat thou honey, because it is good; and the honeycomb, which is sweet to thy taste” (Proverbs 24:13).

Snickerdoodles
from the R. Family

2 3/4 cups flour (half whole wheat/half white flour)
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1 cup softened unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla

Topping
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Pre-heat oven to 400. Combine flour, salt, and baking powder in sifter. In mixer, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs on at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Add flour mixture to mixer, beat just until incorporated. Shape dough into balls and roll entire thing in cinnamon sugar topping. *If dough is too soft to form balls, cover and refrigerate until firm enough to form balls. Bake 8-10 minutes.

“My son, eat thou honey, because it is good; and the honeycomb, which is sweet to thy taste” (Proverbs 24:13).

Christmas Eve day, as is our tradition, we had a special time of giving gifts to each other. We like to set aside Christmas afternoon to visit the nursing home, and the rest of the day fills in .

Jesse's guinea pig died Wednesday afternoon. Mitch had been his little friend for quite a few years. Mary surprised Jesse that evening with a new little guy!

Decorations for the girls' room.

For those of you are grandparents, you probably had a discussion as to what you wanted the new little one to call you. A little over a year ago, we tossed around some names, and most of us had opinions, because we were picturing our children eventually calling Dad and Mom by their "grandparent" names. Well, it came down to not being very original: Mom was going to be Grandma, and Dad was going to be Grandpa. Well, Abby decided differently. Lately, she's been calling Dad "Pa," and Mom "MeMaw," which we think is cute, so I guess it'll stay!

Waiting for Anna to get her new Leatherman to open my box ... (Guess who gave it to her? You don't have to guess very long, if you've paid attention to posts and to whom she helps a lot.)

Abby received a toy fiddle, which even plays songs. Anna demonstrated how a fiddle is to be played, and Abby watched intently. You could almost "see" her thinking.

A new family from Fort Leavenworth joined us at the nursing home on Christmas Day. They have four children, and our dear friends loved hearing them sing.

As I mentioned earlier, we had snow on Christmas morning. The roads were a bit interesting when we went out, and although the splendid combination of Dad's expertise in snow driving and the new tires on the Civic helped, it didn't negate the fact that the Civic isn't a snow plow. When we came to the last turn (which is generally cleared nicely) before the nursing home, we found out too late that it hadn't been plowed properly, so the Civic became temporarily stuck in the deep snow. Our car only had the girls, Dad and Mom, so we girls and Dad piled out (which made me very grateful I had decided against wearing nicer shoes), and with Dad instructing Mom, after several tries and us pushing, the Civic made it up the small incline. I had my camera with me, but sorry for not having a picture--I was needed to push ...

Christmas evening. Mark, our cousin, is in the middle between Jesse and Grandma.

Uncle Rob and Aunt Tami gave us cards with money, and just like last year, each card contained a letter, which was part of two words for us to figure out. We finally decided it said "Road Treat." Yummm.... We'll be sure to enjoy it sometime on the next trip.

“For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations” (Psalms 100:5).