Green Chile Vegetable Enchaladas

Green Chile Sauce

the ratios
1 lb meat
2 lbs chopped fresh or frozen green chile
1 finely chopped onion
1 clover garlic
1 tsp salt
1 small can diced tomatoes
1 cup of water or broth  if using broth don't add as much salt

I usually do 6 lbs chile  3 lbs chicken or pork and the giant size can of tomatoes, as this is what fits in the crock pot.  I usually use frozen green chile as it is readily available and cheaper. canned green chile will work too if only option.  you can do this with out the meat substitute 2 tbs olive oil per pound of meat.  the chile needs some fats to cook properly.

Place in pot everything but the tomatoes. in crock pot cook on low over night.  on stove simmer 2-3 hours.  after the meat starts to fall apart shread the meat and add the tomatoes.  cook in crock pot an additional hour or two, on stove an additional 30 minutes.



The Enchaladas

this will fill a large Family lasagna pan ( about 12-16 servings)  the assortment of veggies is optional and you can go with seasonally avalible)

30-45 corn tortillas
1.5 lbs cheddar cheese grated
2 onions finely chopped
3 summer squash  (yellow italian mexican or zuchninni)  cut in to bite size chunks
1/2 lb corn
1/2 lb sliced bell peppers.
green chile sauce

saute 1 of the onions, the summer squash the corn and the bell peppers over medium heat. you are sweating out some of the water in the veggies.

in the lasagna pan  layer two layers of corn tortillas.  spread a layer of green chile sauce (go heavy on the sauce) half of  veggies and 1/3 of the cheese and 1/3 of the other onion.  layer two more layers of the corn tortillas. repeat the filling process with the rest of the veggies  more chile an cheese and onions.  Put two more layers of tortillas on top on the top put more chile sauce, cheese and onions.  cover with foil and bake in oven at 350 for hour and a half or when the internal temp reaches 160 degrees,  remove the foil and bake another 15-20 minutes till the cheese is golden brown.

remove from the oven let cool 10-15 minutes (really it makes serving alot easier).

We usually eat the first round for dinner and then freeze the rest in single serving portions to take for lunches.

Fairy swoon

I havn't written anything in ages cause well I didn't have much to say. and then the holidays came and went and vacation to italy came and went. some tops got completed, and more quilty ideas than I can shake a stick at. seriously I need more hours in the day to get them all done. it would be ok if I completed a top and got an idea for a new quilt. instead it is well you have done one quilt top now are six more ideas. fully formed ones complete with the color choices and everything else fully formed. eventually I will go back and show pictures of what I have completed in the past 5 months.

Ok ok here is one finished top.  It is for bebegirls, as if you couldn't tell by the horses.

instead of dealing with that now I am going to start again and here is a new project.

fairy swoon quilt.

I didn't believe how much background yardage this quilt would actually use till I completed block one. I knew these blocks are large going into it. but wow they are big blocks when you finish them. and this one is pretty spectacular. I am going to keep the same center fairy star with a different fairy in each one. I have 8 more pinks, purples, peaches and whites for the flowery part of the swoon block.

Bug!

Last week was a rough week with long days, missing the bebegirls, and what was probably a sinus infection.  My mom called up and said hey want to go to Santa Fe.  I decided getting up and going would be better than sitting on the couch with a headache.  At least it was doing something.  The trip was mostly just to go some where.  We got to Santa Fe and saw signs for a clay sale.  As my mom is a potter we went.  It was a nice find.  We did a lot of our usual stops up there, Santa Fe Clay, Looking Glass yarn, Santa Fe Quilting.   With out the bebegirls we didn't do our other stops like the fabulous park or Whole Foods for lunch.  I didn't find what I was looking for at SF quilting but I found something even better.  I found these.

I picked out some fat quarters to go with it and then started with the free andover pattern using these fabrics and heavily modified it.  in the end you will be able to see it is related but only kinda sorta.

I got through the cutting funk!!!! I actually cut out all of the pieces and got to the piecing stage.

and here is the pile of sewing pieces ready to be ironed.  I don't know if the funk will continue on the other quilts but it felt good to be back at the sewing machine.  might not be as awesome tonight as I have to iron all of those pieces.  ah who cares.  the quilt is going to be awesome.

On other Quilty news.  I finally got the fish quilt on our bed.  on my side I have the throw size and then the big quilt over it.  it is so warm and cozy and wrapped in bright and cheery fish. it is so lovely. 

Trying to Break out of my quilting funk

So I am trying to break the funk. Really it isn't a quilting funk it is a cutting funk.  At the moment to get momentum on any of the current project it requires cutting.  So  I pulled out a panel out of the stash to make an advent/nativity wall hanging for the bebegirls.  Really now is the time to do it, ya know say oh before advent which is why it has been in the stash for a year cause I missed advent last year.  it is a good free motion practice because so far it involved I think two cuts.  one to cut animals and people off the bottom of the panel  and then to cut the backing fabric to roughly the right size.  I will have to square it up after I finish quilting. and then cut out all of the animals and people but that is scissor work not rotary cutter work.  As it is it is just a sit down and sew now project, it is moving faster than the non existent movement on the cutting.  Bebegirls is off visiting her Texas grandparents until Thanksgiving so I have some extra time so I got to break this funk.

Stalled out

so I have some wips in progress on my table. I have half several tops sewn. and I am at the stage where I need to cut out the second half of the blocks and I am just stalled out.  I just don't know how to find my motivation to sit at the cutting table and cut.  the blocks seem to take 5 times longer cut rather than sew.  This has been about 6 weeks that I have been sitting and staring at it.  it is hard to blog about being quilty when I keep going to cut and then I just sit and stare at it with out actually accomplishing anything.  it is much easier to pick up the knitting and just do that.

Flower Fairies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

can you tell I am really excited.

I am so going to have to get some. I want some now, like right now now now, just to pet.  I love flower fairies.  

My Needle Box - The Bebegirls Volcano

I found the kit to make these awesome needle boxes last weekend at Santa Fe Quilting.  I probably would have walked past them as I was on a mission to find binding fabric and not be distracted my oooooohh pretty and oooooh shiny, cause the last thing I really need is a new project.  My bebegirls found them and was totally enthralled.  I picked up the pyramid needle box kit cause the top is small enough for her to get her hands around to close.  In retrospect I maybe shouldn't have made the out side white but it came out quite nicely.  I made my first in case I screwed it up.  my is much more multicolored than the pattern called for but I was using scraps I had in my bin.  Bebegirls is going to be out of safari prints that she picked out while we were up there.  She is playing with my "volcano" until till I finish hers.