Enchilada Casserole

I enjoy cooking. I enjoy trying new recipes. I enjoy when people put recipes on their blogs for me to try out. Our family all enjoys this recipe so I am passing it on to my millions of fans that faithfully read my blog...

Enchilada Casserole (courtesy of Sioux Center Christian School Cookbook-1996)

2 pounds ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
4 tsp chili powder
1.5 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 can refried beans
1 cup tomato juice
2 cups taco sauce
2 cups cottage cheese
1 cup sour cream
8 oz Monterey Jack or Cheddar cheese, shredded
8 flour tortillas

Brown ground beef and onion, drain. Add cumin, garlic powder, chili powder, salt, pepper, and refried beans, simmer, set aside. Mix tomato juice and taco sauce in bowl or pitcher. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour 1/2 of sauce in 9x13 greased pan. Place 4 tortillas (I tear them into pieces) in bottom of pan. Spoon 1/2 of meat mixture on tortillas. Top with sour cream and cottage cheese. Place remaining tortillas on top. Spoon on remaining meat mixture. Pour on remaining sauce and top with shredded cheese. Bake covered for 40 minutes. Let stand at room temperature for 10 minutes before cutting.

Brouwer Happenings...

Some photos of the latest activities at our house...

*Today is an extra day off of school for Tessa. Since she and I have strep throat we are somewhat house-bound. What better thing to do than build forts! Tessa made both her and Nathan's. As I type this, roofs are being added, we will see how that turns out! In the picture, Nathan had just come out of time-out so he is chilling out in his fort and recovering. It was his first official time-out, definitely not the last!

*Nathan's new hobby (besides time-outs) is sitting on the potty. He has yet to accomplish anything but is very determined that he needs to be there. His face is dirty because this potty session "needed" to happen during supper.

*On one of our spring-like days a few weeks ago, Tessa set up a lounging station in the garage. She is sitting in an old car seat which is in a lawn chair while wearing capris, boots, and mittens. We are not sure what the umbrella was for.

*Brushing teeth has become a bonding moment at our home. The kids typically sit out in the hallway, touching each other in some way and then go to the sink to spit. Tessa spits in the sink, Nathan puts his mouth close to the counter and makes a spitting sound.

Go Chargers!

We taught Nathan the 1970's-sounding jingle for the San Diego Chargers. Here is some footage of us trying to get him to sing it. Keep in mind that singing IS one of Gerrit's talents and NOT one of mine!

Effective Discipline 101

Have I mentioned Nathan's stubborn streak? Well he has one and a temper to go with it. Kind of a "My way or the highway" guy. Now that he is old enough to understand the relationship between behavior and consequences, we decided that a form of discipine should be put into action. We chose time outs in the pack and play which is set up at the foot of our bed. As you can tell from the pictures, there is a real negative association with being in the time out crib :) It has become the latest fort. Today the Elmo chairs were added in as well as snack time. Back to the drawing board!

Winter...

Winter has arrived in Iowa! Here are some snapshots of what we have been up to...(sorry they are in reverse order)


Making the first snowman of the season.

Nathan looks thrilled, doesn't he!?

Tessa is thrilled!

Nathan and his "guys." He spends hours putting lego people on a car-type object and taking them off again. If possible, they all need to have a hat on. At one time, one guy was lacking a head but since the hat still worked, he was okay with it.

Bonding time before bed. Just pretend you don't see our almost two year old still drinking out of a bottle.

Fall

I find fall to be such an amazing season! I think that it would rank as my favorite out of the four. I really enjoy the change to cooler weather, the gorgeous colors, the comforting warm food, and the cozy inside feeling when it gets dark earlier.


Here are some of the latest fall photos from the Brouwer family...


Jumping into leaves with the neighbor. He comes over every Thursday since his mom works and Tessa does not have kindergarten that day. It is a highlight of her week to have him over.






Nathan loves Casey...Casey tolerates Nathan. It seems to work for them.

Tessa's birthday is another reason to eagerly anticipate fall. This year she had her first friend party. It was a blast!

We are amazed at how quickly Tessa is picking up on reading! One Saturday morning she woke up early and while Gerrit and I avoided getting out of bed, she did this on her own...wow!

Nathan loves to do whatever his sister does, including hair styles.

Hi, Did I scare you!?

Tessa's first day of kindergarten! She thinks that school is fun and adores her teacher.

Nathan has really gotten into books lately. Mommy loves to see her kids engrossed in a good book. The one he is reading..."No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed!" A classic.

Tessa lost her first tooth a couple of weeks ago. It was a very exciting time! Mommy is in the background showing her how to smile so that the gap is visible--attractive, isn't it!

What else have we been up to? (I am sure that your lives will not go on unless you know):

~A great trip to Lake Michigan with amazing friends at the end of July.

~A Brouwer family reunion in a gorgeous area of Colorado in August.

~School and all of the other events that start up again in the fall.

~This weekend we are going camping with good friends of ours. There is no school on Friday so the dad's took the day off and we are going to enjoy the amazing Fall weather! Give me a "s", give me a "m" give me an "o" give me a "r" give me an "e" give me a "s" What does that spell SMORES. (Have I ever confessed by strong addiction to chocolate?)