Road Trippin'!

Omg!! Am I really blogging more than once a year??

My husband and I took a few road trips last year and hopefully will be taking a few more in the coming year. I've been taking pics of what I've found to make our hotel stays a little more like home and our drives a little less tedious. I'll try to share what has worked and some pics from the road as well.

The first one comes from our trip to Sulphur Springs, Tx.

Ever noticed that musty hotel smell? No matter how clean they are...some hotel rooms just smell funky. Yeah, that's rights... I'm starting this post off with hotel funk. Well, that is an easier and cheaper (under $4) fix than travelling with your Scentsy and waiting for the wax to cool because you forgot to unplug it until right before you are checking out. What is it? It's your car vent clip!!

It's super inexpensive, they are easy to pick up pretty much anywhere and if you forget to put it back in the car... no big loss. 

Travel hack #2... is also under $4. It's an LED night light.

If you are travelling with another person, this will keep you from either tripping over a piece of furniture or startling the bejeezus out of them when you have to turn on a lamp to keep from accidentally killing yourself on the way to the bathroom at 4am. If you have kids (we don't) it will probably be a comfort to them when they wake up in the middle of the night. There are some that double as a flashlight in a power outage. They cost a little more, but if you don't have a flashlight in your travel kit like we do, it might be good to spring for the upgrade.

#3 is a Food Hack

We are trying to make an effort to eat less junk food when we travel. So when we are travelling for more than 48hrs, we try to book hotels with a fridge and a microwave. Also, I take my Rice Cooker!

These are available at grocery and at everything-under-the-sun-marts for less than $24. If you are trying to eat healthier this is how you keep that up when you travel.

This spaghetti dinner was 1 small bag of thin spaghetti (broken in half), and one jar of chunky pasta sauce. I made 5 servings for a couple of dollars each. Since my husband has to have protein with each meal, I browned up 1 lb of ground beef (3 servings) and froze it for the trip. Plus, it was an extra "ice pack" in the cooler.

#4 is also a rice cooker hack. CORNBREAD!!

I hate to tease you with this one... but I'm going to have to do it. The photos of the ingredients and step by step, didn't happen. I was so excited to try it that I forgot to take the pictures!! I'll take those on another road trip. 

Speaking of road trip, it was a loooong one!! 356 miles and almost 7hrs.

If you're from Texas you know that anywhere worth going means you're going to travel at least 100 miles.. if not more.. and you're going to make some stops along the way. 

And last but not least.. anywhere you drive... you are bound to find road construction. Which is what inspired this selfie. 

Don't get used to it... they don't happen often. 

Blog Diggity Blog!!

Hey y'all!! .. and Happy New Year!! I can't believe it's 2015 already. It seems like just a week ago it was 2014. I'm excited about the start of a new year. I have some stuff I want to accomplish for 2015. Hopefully I won't procrastinate too badly and actually get some of them accomplished. This year I hope to finally make the time to take some metalsmithing lessons at the Southwest School of Art ( https://www.swschool.org/communityclasses/adult ). I'm also hoping to branch out into vintage/antique/junk shows with the bullet and key jewelry.. and maybe get back to doing some gun shows again. Fear, as in fear of rejection, is what has mostly kept me from expanding my horizons. I took November and December off from shows. Probably not my best move.. but it was necessary. I haven't really made anything new over the last few months and if you haven't noticed.. the website is down until I decide what I want to do with it. Google will probably penalize me for it, and since I don't know which animal is running the zoo (penguin, panda, or a cyclops), I'll worry about that later. There is much to ponder for now.. in the meantime... how about some Mexican food!? 

One of my husband's favorite meals is Entomatadas. Think Enchiladas without the kick. They are super easy to make and easy on the purse strings too. But I will be honest... my favorite part is... leftovers!!

Cheese Entomatadas 
12 corn tortillas (do NOT substitute flour tortillas because they get gummy and that's kinda gross)

2 1/2c of grated Panela cheese

1 1/2c of grated Colby Jack cheese

1c of canned Tomato soup

1/2c of water

2Tbsp olive oil 

2 tsp paprika

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

Begin by heating up the condensed tomato soup, 1/2c water, and the dry ingredients in a hot skillet. Stir periodically and simmer until the sauce coats the back of a spoon. While that is getting started, in a second skillet, heat up the olive oil (do not let it smoke) and dredge the corn tortillas through the oil and stack them on a plate. 

This will keep them from breaking later. I usually let the sauce cool for a couple of minutes before getting rolling. Don't forget to mix your cheeses and set them aside.  

Once your sauce is done and your tortillas pliable, begin by coating your baking dish with a thin layer of sauce. Begin to preheat your oven to 350* at this time. Place one tortilla in the sauce and place about a Tbsp of cheese blend about 1/3 down on the tortilla. Take the edge closest to the cheese and begin to roll. You'll be coating and filling the Entomatadas in one step. Continue this process, adding more sauce to the baking dish as needed. Once all of your tortillas are filled and rolled, take the remaining tomato sauce (hopefully it won't be too much) and evenly coat the top of them and sprinkle the remaining shredded cheese over the top. 

Bake your Entomatadas for about 25 minutes, or until the cheese on top is melted. Serve with rice, refried beans, and a small salad... 

Buen Provecho! 

~ Substitutions ~

If you are not a fan of cheese filled foods, please feel free to substitute shredded roasted chicken or turkey. Use part of the sauce on the alternative filling just to make sure they have a little added moisture.

**Please resist the urge to drown these in chili meat... it's not traditional and they really are wonderful without it.