#food #recipe #recipes #Mexican These are delicious! Beef and Bean BurritosThis burrito recipe can be made in advance without garnishes and frozen, then heated in the microwave to serve. I freeze the burritos on a cookie sheetthen wrap in foil and store ...
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"My Christian Fiction Blog" - 5 new articles

  1. Beef & Bean Burritos
  2. Grad Photos & Video
  3. A Strange Day
  4. Wintertime Reading!
  5. Cornbread
  6. More Recent Articles

Beef & Bean Burritos

#food #recipe #recipes #Mexican

These are delicious!

Beef and Bean Burritos
This burrito recipe can be made in advance without garnishes and frozen, then heated in the microwave to serve. I freeze the burritos on a cookie sheet
then wrap in foil and store in food storage bags.
List of 13 items
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon dried whole oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 can (16 ounces) refried beans
• 1 can (10 ounces) enchilada sauce, divided
• 6 flour tortillas, 8-inch size
• shredded lettuce
• Optional garnishes: shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, sour cream, salsa, sliced ripe olives, shredded cheese
list end

In a large skillet cook ground beef, onion, and garlic until ground beef is no longer pink, stirring to break up meat. Drain well.

Add chili powder, oregano, cumin, salt, and pepper; simmer for 5 minutes. Add refried beans and 1/2 cup of the enchilada sauce. Cook until heated through;
keep warm.

Wrap tortillas in foil; bake at 350° for 10 minutes, or until thoroughly heated. Spoon about 1/2 cup ground beef mixture on each warm tortilla. Roll tightly
and place seam-side down on a shredded lettuce-lined serving platter. When all burritos are made, spoon remaining enchilada sauce over the burritos. Garnish
with your choice of toppings.

Burrito recipe makes 6 servings.

       

Grad Photos & Video

I celebrated my graduation a month ago & shared photos taken by family members. I recently received the professional video & the pics! I’m sharing with all! Thanks for all the kind words, gifts, and congrats for my major accomplishment!

       

A Strange Day

I hope all of you have been enjoying the first couple of weeks in the New Year!

Thursday was a bit strange in our neck of the woods. Our power went out due to a car accident. I believe someone hit a pole or something.

I’ve been working remotely since the beginning of Covid.

Since I need internet access for my day job, I drove to my workplace – just as I pulled up to my workplace, my son texted me. He told me the power was back on!

So, I ended up returning home. My workplace is only five miles from my house, so, it wasn’t that big of a deal.

But, later, that same day, we lost our internet connection. The lost connection is only affecting our household – our neighbors still have their connection. We can’t watch TV or connect to the internet. What a drag!

We called our provider and was told that something short-circuited and that the earliest they could come out was Sunday.

We’ve been using a hot spot to connect.

It’s funny how you don’t appreciate the simple day-to-day pleasures that are taken for granted, until they are broken or gone.

Working Late & Butterscotch Bliss

My day job continues to be hectic. Yes, it’s great that I’m finally done with my Master’s Degree, but work continues to take up a lot of my free time. I’ve been working 12-hour days and I’m ready for a break!

Some of you have asked what ever happened to Butterscotch Bliss, the free story that I was working on that will only be available to newsletter subscribers. I plan on getting that done later this year. I will keep you posted.

Stress Eating!

Since things have been so hectic lately, I’ve been doing some stress eating. Since I was sick over the holidays, I didn’t get a chance to do any baking.

I made THE BEST CAKE! The cake is so buttery. The recipe calls for 4 sticks of butter – 2 for the cake – 2 for the frosting.

I wish the icing looked smoother. I might take a cake decorating class, when I have time, to learn simple decorating techniques. I googled some methods to smooth the icing – but I was too tired to try! I made this cake on a weekday!

I’m sharing the recipe. If you try it, let me know if you like it! I gobbled 4 pieces of cake in one day! I’m not kidding! This cake was so addictive!

Yellow Butter Cake:

Ingredients:

  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 4 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions:

  1. Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans or line them with parchment paper.
  2. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder until well combined.
  3. Add the softened butter to the dry ingredients and beat on medium speed with a hand mixer or in a stand mixer until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
  4. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, ensuring each egg is fully incorporated before adding the next one. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
  5. Pour in the milk and vanilla extract, then beat the batter on medium speed for about 2 minutes until smooth and well combined.
  6. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans.
  7. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean.
  8. Remove the cakes from the oven and let them cool in the pans for 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Chocolate Frosting:

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 4-6 tablespoons heavy cream or milk

Instructions:

  1. In a mixing bowl, beat the softened butter until creamy.
  2. Gradually add the powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and salt to the butter, mixing on low speed until combined.
  3. Add the vanilla extract and 4 tablespoons of heavy cream or milk, then increase the speed to medium-high and beat until smooth and fluffy. Add more cream or milk if needed to achieve the desired consistency.

Assembly:

Once the cakes have cooled completely, place one cake layer on a serving plate. Spread a layer of chocolate frosting evenly over the top. Place the second cake layer on top and frost the top and sides of the cake with the remaining chocolate frosting.

Decorate as desired and enjoy your delicious moist buttery yellow cake with chocolate frosting!

Martin Luther King Jr. Weekend

I hope all of you enjoy your 3-day weekend. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday is so special. Take some time to relax, think and reflect on this special day.

If you have a craving for a book, keep The Candy Beach Series in mind. So many nice reviews have been posted on Amazon for this series. All of them are available in both paperback and e-book. Treat yourself, and if you’ve already read them, then purchase copies for your friends!

5-star Amazon review for Bittersweet Dreams – book 3 in the series:

This book was so good I had to read it to the end before I could stop. I even read while eating lunch and supper. This author knows how to write a fantastic story. Great job!!

Have a blessed week! Let me know if you try the cake recipe! If you’ve read The Candy Beach Series, I’d love to know which novel was your favorite! I love hearing from all of you!

       

Wintertime Reading!

I hope all of you had a wonderful New Year!

As mentioned in my last newsletter, we had cornbread, black-eyed peas, greens, and chicken for New Year’s.

Here’s a picture of our meal! It was delicious! I had purchased a huge bag of greens from the store. The bag was about twice the size of what I’d normally purchase. I don’t think I’ve ever made such a big pot of greens in my life! We were eating greens for days. They were delicious!

We cooked the chicken in the air fryer.

Now that Christmas is over, and winter is here, many of you may have time to settle down and read a good book during the cold winter months!

I wanted to share how I came up with the premise for my novella Sugar and Spice.

Have you ever known anybody who stutters? Do you know what they did to overcome their stutter?

When my son was young, between the ages of 3-7, he suffered from stuttering. His stutter was quite strong, and we had to go to speech therapy for years. We ended up seeing three different therapists for long blocks of time.

When my son was having sessions with his last therapist, I was speaking with her. I asked her if she’d ever had any male adult patients who stuttered. She told me that she had one. She said that this man had stuttered his entire life. The only reason he was seeking help was because he had a high-level corporate job and they required that he get help for his stutter. I believe she said he had to speak to many people, and his stutter caused issues.

Of course, she didn’t tell me the identity of this person. She may not have been at liberty to share the details outlined above.

After our conversation, I thought about it. I thought, how terrible for this poor man! What if he wanted to go out on a date with someone? What if he stuttered so badly that he couldn’t even ask a woman out?

That thought stayed planted in the background of my mind for years. Sometimes, I might get a kernel of an idea and it’s rooted into my head for a long time. I might not even realize I’m actually thinking of a story until years later.

My one conversation with my son’s speech therapist grew into Sugar and Spice. In Sugar and Spice, Mason is a stutterer. He’s also an identical twin. Here are more details about this amazing love story:



Sheila Parks is stunned when Mason Smith, the identical twin brother of her ex-boyfriend Reese, moves to Blue Spring and opens a bakery. Reese’s cruel breakup still bothers her and seeing somebody who looks just like him is a painful reminder of her predicament. Unemployed, Sheila needs financial help and it appears that Mason can assist her with her problem. Can she learn to trust a man who looks just like her ex?

Mason is stunned when Sheila storms into his bakery, mistakenly thinking that he’s Reese. Mason is used to comforting his womanizing brother’s ex-girlfriends. A stutterer, Mason has always had a hard time socializing with others. However, he finds himself smitten with beautiful Sheila. Can he control his stutter so that he can ask Sheila to be his date to his grandmother’s Christmas birthday party?

Both Sheila and Mason deal with past pains as they work together during the Christmas season.

Sugar and Spice is a sweet, emotional Christmas romance that you will always remember! Download now! This is a nice treat for you and all of your friends!

Have you ever known anybody who stutters? Do you know what they did to overcome their stutter?

Have a blessed week! Let me know if there’s anything exciting or troublesome going on in your life right now! I love hearing from all of you!

       

Cornbread

This blog post was sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing LLC. If you like stories featuring food and recipes then you must read Loving Luke by Cecelia Dowdy. Loving Luke is about a reunion between Luke and Kim, two childhood sweethearts. It’s a Christmas novel full of love, regrets, and second chances. There’s also a bakery and plenty of delicious desserts wrapped within this amazing story. Can Luke and Kim find the courage to overcome their hang-ups and learn to love again? Loving Luke has been an Amazon bestselling novel with several 5-star reviews! Purchase today and tell your friends by sharing this blog post! The purchase link for Loving Luke is ceceliadowdy.com/loving-luke. The purchase link is also at the end of this blog post.

Do you know of a cornbread recipe that tastes better than cornbread mix?

This blog post is about cornbread. Recently, I decided to make some cornbread from scratch. I normally use a mix, but since I didn’t have one on hand, I used the recipe on the back of the Indian Head Yellow Corn Meal. (The only reason I keep cornmeal on hand is because I use it to dust my pizza peel when making my homemade sourdough pizza.)

Anyhow, when I made the Indian Head recipe, I was highly disappointed. The cornbread was crumbly, not fluffy at all, and it was so bland!

Determined to make a good pan of cornbread from scratch, I decided to try a recipe from one of my cookbooks.

The cookbook recipe differed from the Indian Head recipe – the major difference was that flour was not used. Instead of a cup of flour & a cup of corn meal, this recipe called for 2 ¼ cups of cornmeal. I found the texture for this recipe to be crumbly, as well. It was also bland!

My experimenting with cornbread recipes caused me to think about my childhood. We ate cornbread quite often. Since we had cornbread so much, I never gave it much thought when I was a child. I do recall that we’d crumble up the leftover cornbread and eat it in cold milk – kind of like a cornbread cereal. As I think about it, it’s possible that the cornbread that I ate as a child may have been bland. Since we mostly ate it with chili, or with a pot of beans, the taste and texture may not have bothered me.

If my mom were still living, I’d ask her how she made our cornbread. I don’t recall watching her make it. I was thinking about it, and wondered if cornbread has somehow evolved into the moist, fluffy, sometimes sweet concoction that we enjoy today. In other words, I wonder if cornbread has changed over the years, just as muffins have changed.

Decades ago, my sister was visiting me for the weekend at my apartment. She had a taste for some blueberry muffins. We had some fresh blueberries on hand. So, she cracked open my Betty Crocker cookbook and made the muffins. She was so disappointed. We agreed that the muffins were bland, and they weren’t sweet at all. I looked at some other muffin recipes in old cookbooks. I noticed that long ago, muffins were not the sweet, fluffy concoctions that we enjoy nowadays. Muffins were a quickbread that you ate along with your eggs and bacon – sort of like a substitute for toast – so they weren’t overloaded with sugar. The muffins we enjoy nowadays are just a few steps away from being a cupcake, in my opinion. I’ve actually seen muffin recipes that use cake mix as a base, which emphasizes my point.

Regarding cornbread morphing into a dessert-like concoction – I remember eating at a café with my family about ten years ago while visiting a museum. One of my sisters mentioned that the café served cornbread that was sweet and that it had a glaze. I don’t recall trying this cornbread. I thought that the glazed cornbread sound too dessert-like to eat with my meal. I would have rather eaten it afterwards – as if it were a piece of cake!

Regarding cornbread mixes, this is one of my favorites.

I love this cornbread mix! It tastes so much better than the recipes mentioned earlier.

Coincidentally, my sister texted me about Dolly Parton’s Cornbread Mix the other day. I decided to purchase a box. I haven’t tried it yet – so I don’t know how it compares to Krusteaz’s mix.

I wonder if there’s a cornbread recipe that tastes better than cornbread mix?

If you know of such a recipe, be sure to let me know! I’d love to try it!

This blog post was sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing LLC. If you like stories featuring food and recipes then you must read Loving Luke by Cecelia Dowdy. Loving Luke is about a reunion between Luke and Kim, two childhood sweethearts. It’s a Christmas novel full of love, regrets, and second chances. There’s also a bakery and plenty of delicious desserts wrapped within this amazing story. Can Luke and Kim find the courage to overcome their hang-ups and learn to love again? Loving Luke has been an Amazon bestselling novel with several 5-star reviews! Purchase today and tell your friends by sharing this blog post! The purchase link for Loving Luke is ceceliadowdy.com/loving-luke. The purchase link is also at the end of this blog post.

AMAZON PURCHASE LINK FOR LOVING LUKE by CECELIA DOWDY.

       

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