On Sunday I...

...went to church
...came home to a warm, wonderful smelling home

My two good friends ~ Mrs. Crock Pot and Mr. Bread Machine ~ had us a wonderful meal cooked up!

Crock Pot Lasagna

and Paprika Onion Bread

TasteofHome.com

After sharing the meal with my sweet hubby, two sons, and one son's girlfriend, we cleaned up the kitchen, shared some old family photos with son's girlfriend, and then sweet hubby and I took a leisurely walk on our country road.  The weather was beautiful ~ warm and sunny!

Then I worked on my decorations a little more.  I can't seem to get them just right, but I'm still puttering with it.

I've been craving some homemade granola so I made up a batch and enjoyed a bowl full of it while it was still warm. Yum!

(Recipe below)

Lastly, I finally got around to something I DO NOT enjoy, making a menu for the week.

I was so happy to get it finished up so that I could make out my grocery list for Monday.

All in all, I think it was a perfect Sunday!

Homemade Granola

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup honey

4 cups oats

1 cup chopped nuts

1/2 cup dry milk

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix sugar, oil and honey in a saucepan.  Heat until sugar is dissolved. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Pour sugar mixture over dry ingredients and mix well.  Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes.  Let cool and store in an airtight container.

Optional ingredients: raisins (add after baking), wheat germ, dried fruit, etc.

Simple Sunday Lunch

This is one of our favorite meals and it couldn't be any simpler.

Crock pot Burritos

1/2 - 1 pound ground pork sausage (We like hot sausage :)

pkg of taco seasoning (or 3 tablespoons homemade seasoning)

salsa, to taste

1 can refried beans

flour tortillas

   Optional toppings:

spinach

grated cheese

sour cream

jalapeno peppers

• Brown sausage in a skillet. Drain if needed.
• Add 1/2 cup salsa and taco seasoning; stir until heated through.
• Put in Crock pot along with can of refried beans.  I add a little more salsa at this point.  You can make the filling thick or thin by the amount of salsa added.
• Go to church.
• Come home. Change clothes.  Pick spinach from back yard garden. Rinse.

Making the burritos:

• Each person places a flour tortilla on their plate and warms it in the microwave a few seconds.
• Add meat mixture and desired toppings. Roll up.
• Serve with raw broccoli and ranch dressing for dipping.
• Enjoy!

Makes four servings.

Sunday Lunch

Today's after-church main dish was our favorite old stand by; Slow Cooker Chili.  I cooked it up in my cast iron Dutch oven today instead of the Crock pot.  The recipe can be found in this post.

Then for dessert I made my sweeties' favorite. Pecan pie.  Every southern cook needs a fail-proof pecan pie recipe and I had quite a few failures before trying the one on the back of the Golden Eagle Syrup label.

Neil pronounced the first trial run with this recipe PERFECT!  So I've never used any other recipe since. Why mess with the best?  

Now I'm going out to enjoy this perfect 53 degree sunny Sunday afternoon.  Maybe it will melt the rest of our week-old snow.  May your day be blessed!

Sunday Lunch

I like to keep Sundays as relaxing as possible. That means that not a lot of cooking and cleaning goes on around here on this day, but I do like for our family to come home to a hot lunch after church. So, I'm on the constant look-out for quick or Crock-pot meals. Thinking that I might not be the only one that likes to take Sundays off while my slow-cooker does my job for me, I'm starting a regular Sunday post. Each Sunday I'll try to post what my family has for lunch that day. I'd love to hear about your Sunday meals. If there's enough interest, I might have my first linky party. :)

Here's our Sunday meal this week:

Beefy Bean Burritos

6 (8-10") flour tortillas
1 lb. ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
1 can (14 1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes with green chilies
1 can (15 oz) black or kidney beans, drained (I used leftover pinto beans.)
1 pkg taco seasoning * (my home-made version at bottom of post)
shredded cheddar cheese

1. Cook meat and onion in a large skillet over medium heat until meat is browned; drain. Season with salt and pepper if desired.
2. Add undrained tomatoes, beans, and taco seasoning; cook over medium heat until thoroughly heated. Pour into slow cooker. Cook on low heat for about 4 hours.

When you're ready to serve:
3. Wrap tortillas in foil. Heat in 350 degree oven 10 minutes or until warm.
4. Fill each tortilla with meat mixture and add cheese.

We like them topped with sour cream, salsa, and jalapeno peppers. (We love our food very spicy!)

* Homemade Taco Seasoning

2 tablespoons chili powder
5 teaspoons paprika
4 1/2 teaspoons cumin
2 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
3 teaspoons onion powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Mix well. Use 3 tablespoons mix and 1 cup of water for each pound of browned ground meat used.

Post linked to:  Made by You Monday