Week 1

I have a handful of resolutions for this year. One is to try one new recipe each week. The other is to take one photo each week. The latter was snitched from my friend Sam, who snitched it from a blog she reads. The blog author created a list of 52 photo categories, one for each week. Week 1 is "black and white", so here is a photo I took at Mt Rainier this week, 30 minutes before sunset:

Next week's category is "food". Which is kind of a nice way to introduce...

My Week 1 recipe: Fiesta Taco Casserole. Obviously, this is not something I will eat being vegetarian and all, but I'm always more than happy to cook meat dishes for Chris. The casserole was simple: brown 1 lb ground beef/turkey/chicken, add 1 cup of salsa and one 15 oz can of chili beans (undrained) to the skillet and bring to a boil. Crush 2 cups of tortilla chips and spread them in the bottom of a 2-quart casserole dish. Pour the meat mixture over the chips. Spread 1 cup of sour cream over the top, then sprinkle 1 cup of grated cheddar/Monterey jack blend over that. Top with some diced tomatoes and chopped green onions and bake it at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Serve with chips or do what Chris did: spoon it onto a tortilla shell. He gives the recipe a huge thumbs up.

Notes: Quick, easy, didn't create a huge mess (which is very important to me), inexpensive ingredients.

What I'd change or try different next time: nothing.