Southwestern Egg Rolls

I found the yummiest recipe for Southwestern Egg Rolls on my friend Kelli and her sisters' blog called Hold The Onions. You can see a picture on their website. I made them for dinner last night and they were so delish. Try them! They are just a tad bit spicy, but oh so good. They remind me a lot of the Southwestern Egg Rolls from Chili's. We had them as our main dish, but they would be great as little appetizers or side dishes if you were hosting a southwestern/Mexican dinner. Next time I think I'll serve them with dipping sauces like guacamole ranch or just salsa and sour cream. Mmmm. I can't wait until I make them again!

Southwestern Egg Rolls

Ingredients

* 2 Tbs vegetable oil
* 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast half
* 2 Tbs minced green onion
* 2 Tbs minced red bell pepper
* 1/3 c frozen corn kernels (I probably used more like 1/2-3/4 cup. We like corn!)
* 1/4 c black beans, rinsed and drained (Again, I used more like 1/2-3/4 cup)
* 2 Tbs frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained (I also tossed in a little extra spinach)
* 2 Tbs diced jalapeno peppers
* 1/2 Tbs minced fresh parsley
* 1/2 tsp ground cumin
* 1/2 tsp chili powder
* 1/3 tsp salt
* 1 pinch ground cayenne pepper
* 3/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese (I didn't have Monterey Jack so I used mozzarella)
* 5 (6 inch) flour tortillas
* 1 quart oil for deep frying (I didn't deep fry- I did the baking option)

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, cook chicken approximately 5 minutes per side in 1 Tbs vegetable oil, until meat is no longer pink and juices run clear. Remove from heat and set aside.
2. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in green onion and red pepper. Cook and stir 5 minutes, until tender.
3. Dice chicken and mix into the pan with onion and red pepper. Mix in corn, black beans, spinach, jalapeno peppers, parsley, cumin, chili powder, salt and cayenne pepper. Cook and stir 5 minutes, until well blended and tender. Remove from heat and stir in Monterey Jack cheese so that it melts.
4. Wrap tortillas with a clean, lightly moist cloth. Microwave on high approximately 1 minute or until hot and pliable.
5. Spoon even amounts of the mixture into each tortilla. Fold ends of tortillas, then roll tightly around mixture. Secure with wet toothpicks. Arrange in medium dish, cover with plastic, and place in the freezer. Freeze at least 4 hours. *I didn't freeze mine because we were eating them right then. I put them on a cookie sheet and baked them.
6. In a large, deep skillet, heat oil for deep frying to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Deep fry frozen, stuffed tortillas for 10 minutes each, or until dark golden brown. Drain on paper towels before serving. (Instead of deep frying, you can bake them in the oven at 425 degrees F for about 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.)

Everything Vinyl

Hey ya'll. My best of best friends Raylene has a new website called Everything Vinyl. She can do pretty much anything vinyl you want. Check out her website and take a look! Also, she is doing a free $25 vinyl give away. Post about her website on your blog or facebook and let her know by commenting on her website and you're in- it's that easy! P.S.- she also has an adorable website called BowzieBaby. She makes the cutest things. Check that one out too.

More pictures

I haven't been able to get all of the pictures yet, but here are just a few more. I'll post more when I get them. This one's a little blurry, but I thought it was so funny.

Our Big Boy!

I can't believe this ball of sugar is turning 1 on Saturday! My baby is growing up so fast- he's almost past the baby stage and verging on toddler! I may be a bit biased, but isn't that the cutest boy you've ever seen? My brother-in-laws sister was in town and was kind enough to share her talents with us. Thanks Amie for the awesome pictures- we love them!

November in review

November has been a fun month. Lots of family and food!
Here Jake is with his brother Scott after a big, yummy Thanksgiving dinner. Can you tell they are brothers? They sleep exactly the same!


It's kind of become a tradition that we run the Turkey Trot each year on Thanksgiving morning. Jake did AWESOME and I, well, I FINISHED! I came down with something a few days before the race and had a lot of chest congestion which made it hard to breathe. But we ran it anyways and had a fun time. Next year I'll keep up with my sisters who finished in 53 and 57 minutes- they are animals!


Don't you just want to squeeze this boy? He is so much fun and has learned so much the past few months. He's beginning to respond to things we say. When we ask him if he wants to go outside he'll whip his head around, point to the door, and most times will respond with a big raspy "yeeaaahhh!". He loves pulling himself up onto everything and will probably start walking here in just a few weeks!


More sleeping pictures...


Doesn't Mike look comfy... not! For some reason those Richardson boys love sleeping on the ground. I don't get it!


Tyler playing a duet with his cousin Eli. They're best buds and have so much fun together. They were so cute banging on the piano together.


We gave Ty his first hair cut. He did NOT like it at all. Sorry the before picture is sideways- forgot to change it before I posted it. Check out that Mohawk!


I've never really cut hair before, especially a crying, wiggly baby's hair. So it didn't turn out great, but not too bad either.


Jake's mom works for Mesa United Way and they get free tickets to concerts all the time. So she got tickets to the Jo Dee Messina concert at the Mesa Arts Center. It was actually a really fun concert. It was way informal with an audience of only about 200-300 people. She was taking questions from the audience and taking requests. We had a blast. Apparently Jake likes to close his eyes in ALL pictures. We took several pictures that night and this was as good as we could get!

Happy Halloween!

Hope you all had a Happy Halloween! We had a great time with our sweet little puppy Ty. He loved wearing his costume and loved to look at himself in the mirror. I don't blame him! I mean look at that face! We didn't really feel like it was "legit" for us to take him trick or treating because he doesn't even really eat candy yet. So we went with my sister Cindy and her kids (at least Claire can eat candy).



Tyler loves his Uncle Ben (and his pizza!)


Our Trick or Treating buddies.


Our crawling pup!


The family. We're kind of lame and didn't dress up.


Getting some loves from Grandma Richardson


Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Crumb Cake

I made the most delicious pumpkin crumb cake the other night. It is a yummy layered cake that is so simple to make. My sister Cindy called me the next day and said, "Oh my gosh. I have to give you this recipe for an awesome pumpkin crumb cake I made last night." What? You made pumpkin crumb cake too? After talking about it we realized it was the exact same recipe! Neither one of us had ever heard of or made the cake before (other than my old roommate Katie's pumpkin crunch- it's kind of similar) and we were just baffled about how we both randomly stumbled onto the recipe. Yes, we're sisters. Well, the recipe was so good I thought I'd share it with you. I found it on allrecipes.com

INGREDIENTS

* 1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
* 1 egg, beaten
* 1/2 cup butter, melted
* 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
* 3 eggs, beaten
* 1/2 cup white sugar
* 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
* 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
* 1/2 cup white sugar
* 3 tablespoons butter, softened
* 1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)


DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray or grease one 9x13 inch pan.
2. Reserve 1 cup cake mix. In a large bowl, combine the remaining dry cake mix with 1 egg and 1/2 cup melted butter. Mix well, and then pat into prepared pan.
3. In a large bowl, mix together the pumpkin, 3 eggs, 1/2 cup white sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Pour over crust.
4. In a small bowl, combine reserved 1 cup cake mix, 1/2 cup sugar, and 3 tablespoons softened butter. Crumble over pumpkin filling. Sprinkle nuts evenly over the top, if desired.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes.