taste test proves Mexican casserole still sucks

My sister sent this email to my family today:

So now that I’m a grownup with more mature tastebuds, I read Lisa’s blog yesterday, and thought…. Hmmm Mexican casserole has potential, if you just eliminated the mayo and maybe added some seasoning to the ground beef – maybe it would be good.  So, I had all the ingredients on hand today, and whipped up an easy peasy Mexican casserole.  I added taco seasoning, jalapeno peppers and garlic to the meat, and used fresh garden tomatoes and peppers in the casserole.  Left out the mayo.  Had some homemade guacamole with it.  We even attempted the full Mexican fiesta by having cold beer with it.  Ummm, yeah, Mexican casserole is still gross.  There is no ‘fixing’ it.  Who knew that bisquick has this ability to suck all flavor out of whatever you put on top of it.  It tasted like bisquick topped with bland ground beef and sour cream.  I’m thinking bisquick just doesn’t belong near anything Mexican.

 

Now the good news – Dad, there’s half a pan left and it’s got your name all over for it dinner on Saturday – three Mexican casseroles in one year? Two in one week?!  What’s the next step up from a banner year? ;) 

-J

 

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Those new curtains I wasn't supposed to buy...

Remember my post a few days ago about wanting new curtains?  I found two Pottery Barn Audrey curtains on craigslist!  The Mister went to Brooklyn to pick them up after work last night.   And I was right, they look awesome.

I also grabbed some blue trellis fabric from my stash and reupholstered the chair cushion (see how it used to look here). I had juuuuust enough fabric for the chair seat by mere threads.

But!  I think the curtains help make the red chair, purple sofa and blue rug look a bit more cohesive.

Sadly, I only found two curtains on craigslist.  Waah. Now I just have to figure out where I can get two more for cheap.  I tried hanging the curtains on the other side of the room by the dining table:

I took the Robert Allan fabric out of the back of the bookshelf, but I think it needs something...I dunno....like a trellis stencil in the back or something.  Plus I forgot there's a hole in the back behind that red piece on the bottom.  Guess I should patch that.


The reason all my stuff looks trashed--Peter eating chocolate cake on my newly reupholstered chair:

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No Mexicans were harmed in the making of this casserole.

Yesterday I made meatloaf and mashed potatoes.  Today I made shephards pie with the leftover mashed potatoes, like a good little happy homemaker who does things like recycle leftovers into new meals. (Yet another delicious meal met with YUCK by my loving children.)  Leftovers always seem to end up as casseroles, don't they?

Which makes me think of the absolute worst meal of my childhood....the Mexican casserole.

(I should preface this with my mother is actually a pretty good cook.  She claims this meal was an inexpensive way to feed five people.  I say the cost per serving goes way up if three of the five people refuse to eat it.) 

My father LOVES this meal.  My sisters and I gag at the mere mention of it. My father asks for it every year for his birthday, and my mom makes it, but not on a day that we are visiting for his birthday, because we would leave and go out to dinner by ourselves.  Not that we had the choice to leave and go get a different dinner in 1983.  You couldn't choose to go hungry in 1983, either---it would be sitting there waiting for you until you went to bed.  And then you could eat for breakfast if you managed to sit at the table till bedtime.

I have no idea why on earth this is called "Mexican" casserole....I assure you that no Mexican has
ever seen anything remotely resembling this casserole, let alone claimed it for their national dish.

Here is the recipe, straight from the back of the 1983 Bisquick box:

1 lb ground beef
1 cup sour cream
2/3 cup mayonnaise
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 tbsp chopped onion
2 cups Bisquick baking mix
1/2 cup cold water
2 medium tomatoes, thinly sliced
3/4 cup chopped green pepper

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

1. Cook and stir ground beef until brown; drain and set aside. Mix sour cream, mayonnaise, cheese and onion, set aside.
2. Stir baking mix and water to a soft dough.
3. Pat dough in greased oblong pan, 13x9x2 inches, pressing dough 1/2 inch up sides of pan.
4. Layer ground beef, tomatoes and green pepper, spoon sour cream mixture over top. If you like, sprinkle with paprika.
5. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until edges of dough are light brown.  Makes 10 servings.

10 servings??  This explains why this always had leftovers. 

I like that the recipe suggests for the "full Mexican supper", add shredded lettuce and chopped tomatoes, fresh fruit, and cold beer.  I always think of Mexico when I consume fresh fruit and cold beer. 

My mother now modifies the recipe, putting in much less sour cream and mayo, and substitutes yogurt (as if this dish could get any worse).  I think she also now uses ground chicken instead of ground beef, for even less flavor.  But!  She said its healthier now that she tops it with crumbled Lime Tostitos.  (That's a direct quote--I can't make this stuff up.) 

I can't bring myself to make this in order to take a picture of it.  Its just too gross.  So I had my mother make it and take a picture.

My father, upon hearing my request, said "its only October, its not my birthday yet!" Tonight after eating it, he said, "its a banner year! I get to eat it twice in one year!"  You're welcome, Daddy. 

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pictures from last week

Princess has been giving Peter a hard time lately...basically, if Peter is doing something, Princess is right there two seconds later to rip it out of his hands or push him out of the way.  She is completely undistractable---she MUST do whatever Peter is doing at that very moment.  Peter is probably the best kid I've ever seen in terms of sharing---he just lets her have it and says "Princess's turn!"  He is such a sweetie.

I have no idea what is so exciting back there:

Princess likes to put on her socks:

Nonno puts the kids to work:

Princess says, I don't do manual labor, thankyouverymuch.

Lastly, Greg's favorite part of the soccer game....the ice cream truck after the game.

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a few things tangentially related to AC Moore

On my way to AC Moore (a craft store) today, I was singing along to "Band of Gold," and got to thinking about the lyrics.


We kissed after taking vows
That night on our honeymoon
We stayed in separate rooms
I wait in the darkness of my lonely room
Filled with sadness filled with gloom
Hoping soon
That you'll walk back through that door
And love me like you tried before


Um...why did he leave? Was he impotent--"love me like you tried before"?  Why were they in separate rooms after getting married? Can someone explain this song to me? (I have a long history of misinterpreting song lyrics, so feel free to tell me if I'm totally missing an obvious point. My sisters can refrain from mocking me, I'm only taking taunting from internet strangers today.) 


We walked into AC Moore and I jumped about a foot, because I thought this was real:

There may have been some girlish shrieking. And then some feeling self-conscious. Cuz I'm all about feeling like an idiot this week.  

I was at AC Moore looking for a....cricut, I think?  A little thingy that punches a shape out of paper?  Except I don't want girly butterflies. I want something manly, like trains.  I would like to do this project for the boys room (ergo, the trains, not butterflies).  (This looks so easy, go check it out on Sixty-Fifth Avenue's blog.)

AC Moore only has girly flowers and butterflies in their cricut section.   Ideas or online sources on where I can find a train?  There are zero crafty stores around here. 

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what a great day!

This morning I went to the dentist to have my teeth cleaned.  I have a wee bit of a dentist phobia.  I cannot stand the sonic scaler. Its like listening to nails on a chalkboard continuously an inch from my ear, it makes me feel like this:

I left the dentist's office a limp, sweaty mess.

This evening I nursed the Princess, put her down and took two steps toward the phone when I heard a choking noise.  She swallowed a sticker.  Vomiting ensued, but no sticker came up. She kept trying to stick her hand down her throat to get the sticker, but just gagged. She finally gagged up a piece.  We went to the ER, she's fine, it will all come out in the end.

I'm now huddled on the sofa devouring a large pecan danish ring. 

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new curtains, and do you use your nice stuff?

So, repeat after me.....I  do NOT need new curtains, I do NOT need new curtains....even though I REALLY WANT THEM.

I am so...meh...over my living room.  I have a stupid purple sofa that I hate, a red leather club chair that is quite nice but seems to dictate the entire design, and a light blue FLOR tile rug that is...eh, ok.  Not quite what I wanted. 

Our old living room decor had very warm tones, with rusty orange drapes and tables, and a purple/red/orange rug from Crate and Barrel that tied it all together.  In our old house, I liked it.  In this house, I didn't.

So I changed it up a bit.  Out went the orange and in came lots of white (repainted all our furniture, added white drapes.) I added in turquoise blue accents, and used a Robert Allan floral fabric in places around the room.  Its definitely a lighter, brighter look....but I just hate the sofa and rug.  Hate them.  Want to burn them. 

Then I added the red vinyl to the dining chairs, and the red to my desk chairs....and now I feel like there's WAY TOO MUCH RED in here. 

I thought, hmm, maybe if I take away that bright Robert Allan fabric and instead go with curtains that are paler blue and red it would tie things in more.

I thought these Pottery Barn Audrey curtains would do the trick:

except they are all sold out.  Waaah.  Plus the Mister's eyebrows shot up at the amount of money they would have cost. 

If I could sew, which I can't, I could get this Covington Wilmington multi fabric and make my own:

But we've already established I can't sew.  

We hope to move next summer anyway, so I should probably just live with what I have. Since obviously when you get a new place you throw away all your old stuff and buy all new stuff! Whee! 

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Here's a slightly related question: if you have kids, do you use your nice stuff, or are you living with stuff you don't like but you don't care if it gets beat up until they are older?

Up until recently, I've been a proponent of using nice stuff, even though I have kids.  (I'm not talking priceless heirlooms handed down for generations.)  I like pretty things, and I have pretty things, and they are out where the kids can see them and touch them.  I have a gallery wall hung in my dining room, and the bottom row is at eye level with my three year old.  The bookshelves in the dining room have breakable items on the lower levels.  I have pretty pillows on the sofa that weren't cheap.

Recently, however, my three year old has become a destructive force of terror.  My gallery wall is always crooked.  My pretty pillows have chocolate smears on them.   He has single-handedly trashed the upholstery on four dining chairs, all of my throw pillows, the playroom rug, and two sofas.  My bedding is safe so far only because I keep my bedroom door shut during the day so the kids don't play in there.   

We have a very nice dining table, which is currently sitting out in the garage.  We replaced it with a beat up table from Craigslist, which has worked fine until now.  My newly reupholstered dining chairs are too big to go around the table comfortably.  My old table is bigger, but has a high end finish and I had put it in the garage because I was tired of using it only with elasticized oilcloth tablecloths, like your grandma used on her patio table. 

I really want a new sofa, but this purple thing has been through the Great Vomiting Illness of 2009, the potty training of 2008 and 2010 (and projected potty training of 2012), has incurred rips in four different moves, and a few weeks ago I watched my oldest son wipe his runny nose by planting his face on the arm of the sofa and walking from one end to other.  Am I crazy to want a new sofa, knowing what will happen to it? Does my new sofa also need to be a very dark color?

Do you use nice stuff with your young kids, and accept that it might get beat up?  Or has it all been packed away until they are out of the messy phase?  My youngest is almost 15 months....do I have to wait another 5 years before I can bring the pretty stuff back?

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Buzz Lightyear, without the other stuff

You might have seen the first version of a post I did today, one that had a mildly funny story about Buzz Lightyear and a picture of poop on my carpet....but apparently pictures of poop are declasse and some people get offended by that sort of thing (who knew?), so I took it down.  One more reason to feel self-conscious this week!

To make amends, I give you Buzz Lightyear.  Peter is thrilled with himself in this outfit and has repeatedly asked that I go to Target and buy him the wings so he can fly.  I am afraid he is taking that literally. 

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stuff my kids are doing lately

1.  Peter just told me "You're wearing a very pretty costume."  I'm wearing a sundress and we are not British.  Based on yesterday's criticisms, I'm debating changing my outfit.

2. The fourteen month old Princess now has an opinion on what is good tv.  Super Why and Word World--good. Thomas the Train---sucks. Thomas involves screaming and hand-flapping until the channel is changed.  Peter and Greg each get to pick a show, usually based expressly on what the other is screaming he does NOT want to watch. Now I have to add Princess to the mix?  She hasn't quite gotten the concept of taking turns for a 22 minute show yet. 

3. Greg has started off every morning this week with "Four more days till I can stay home?  Three more days till I can stay home? Two more days till I can stay home?" Five years old seems a little young to be thinking about working for the weekend.

4. I think Princess needs a purse:

She loves to carry stuff around in baskets.

5.  There was previously a story and a picture about Buzz Lightyear and poop here, but the management has demanded its removal.

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a room of my own

In the next house, I hope to have a home office in its own room.  Right now I have a desk tucked under an eave in my living/dining room, and while it serves its purpose, I'd love to have a pretty room of my own. 

Two rooms in my inspiration file are Kristen's office from 6th Street Design School:

Its just such a delightful space---the floral curtains with the trim on the roman shade, the parsons desk with the ghost chair, the glam chandelier--even the cube unit is functional but pretty at the same time. 

Here's another beautiful office, from Emily A. Clark (you should click over and read the whole office makeover):

 So gorgeous, love this room, especially the campaign dresser.  I've been hunting craigslist for months since seeing this picture, but no dice. 

Hmm...now that I'm looking at them side by side, I guess my office is going to have floral curtains, an Expedit bookshelf and a West Elm parsons desk.

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flashback to the 7th grade

This morning I dressed in a long-ish flowy black skirt with a maroon sleeveless top.  I think I look normal and nondescript, kind of mom-ish. I see nothing out of the ordinary in my appearance. 

Greg and I walk to school on a picturesque footpath between neighbhorhoods.  Its a nice walk,it meanders through a small park, and there are usually lots of kids walking to school and commuters headed to the bridge.  

This morning, as we walked through the park, two older ladies out for a brisk morning constitutional cut around us, and both glanced back at me as they cut around. I heard "skirt looks like some kind of jersey material" as they kept going.  They both glanced back again twice as they kept going.  I think they were looking at my skirt? Maybe?

They kept walking, and at the end of the block, crossed the street and turned back, walking towards us but on the opposite side of the block.  They stared at me the whole time.

Uh....?

Whatever. I dropped Greg off at school. No one stared at me. I walked back home the same way I came.

At almost exactly the same spot in the park, I passed a group of four women.  Two of them facing me glanced up, did a "oh!" sort of double-take, then started laughing and giggling, and all of them turned and stared at me as I walked by. There was a flurry of conversation.  Since I don't speak Korean (a major impediment to making friends in this town), I have no idea what they were laughing about.

What the hell? I have snot on my shirt from where Greg used my shirt as a hanky to wipe his tears at school, but other than that I do not see anything out of the ordinary about my appearance.  My hair looks fine, there's no spinach in my teeth, I did not become disfigured between the front door and the park. 

I feel a bit self-conscious.  And I'm thinking of changing my outfit before I go pick Greg up. 

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Watch out, Pele.

We signed Greg up for in-town soccer this year. I had my doubts about this---last year when we moved here I signed him up for karate, and that was a fiasco of epic proportions. Plus, the whole going to kindergarten thing has been a bit stressful and this is yet another new activity.  I wasn't sure he was ready for another sport, but we decided to try.

It has been ok.  The coach is a nice guy, the team is small, and Greg likes to kick the ball. Greg is not so much excited about the whole "take your turn" thing, he likes to be the one kicking the ball all the time (not a team player, hmm, wonder where he gets that from?), but all in all, it seems like a success. 

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Want to know what I do all day?

Ever wonder what stay at home moms do?  Sit around and eat bonbons?  Put the crap in scrapbooking? Whip up organic gourmet meals that their children eat with gusto? (Hint: that's not my life. Especially not the cooking part.)

I'm guest blogging today over at The Domestic Wannabe for Ashley's "Day in the Life" series....check out my minute by minute account of a typical day in my life.  (Very few bonbons included. I prefer cookies.)

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Denise in her exersaucer

Is my niece not the cutest baby you've ever seen? (Besides mine, of course.)

;l

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craigslist bamboo dining chairs (second set)

I have finally gotten around to refinishing my the chinoiserie chairs I got off craigslist a few months ago.

Here is one of the chairs in all its dingy yellow glory.  It was a weird paint treatment...not quite glazed, but sort of a yellow wash over white paint....almost like the color something would get if it sat in the home of a smoker for forty years.

Now they are bright shiny white.  I love love love the lines of these chairs.

I also recovered the seats.

My old dining seats were covered in a pretty blue trellis material.  Big mistake.  My three year old singlehandedly trashed the upholstery.  Its pretty disgusting. So, while I would much prefer a pretty fabric on the seat cushions, I went with red vinyl instead.  Its a tough material that can be wiped down and won't stain easily.

This was not an easy material to work with. I've recovered dozens of dining chairs, but this vinyl was so thick that it was very difficult to get good corners on them.  The red vinyl also kind of gives it a bit of chinoiserie meets pizzeria look, but I really wanted a material that would wipe off rather than get destroyed, and vinyl seems to have limited color options.  There was actually some vinyl with crocodile treatment on it, but it was only in a very ugly brown.

You'll note that apparently six chairs is too many for this table.  There's always something.  Take two chairs away? Build my own farmhouse table? Bring back the expensive table and let it get beat up?  Use the ugly, non-paintable matchy-matchy table that came with the chairs?

I had a helper:

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