ArcaMax

Enjoy this previously published Zola classic...

When you were in grade school did you have to write a paper each year about your summer vacation?

I always dreaded the “What I Did on My Summer Vacation” report. It was not that I hated to write. I liked that part. I just felt like my summer vacations were a bit dull. I didn’t do a very good job of highlighting what happened at the City Rec Center/playground. That was all fun. Everyday. We’d play sports, games, and make lanyards out of the silly plastic roping. They kept us busy for sure. When I was six years old, I was even voted Queen of the Playground. I still carry pride from that. No idea why, really. I guess it set me up to have an achievement mindset.

Most of the time the only thing I could think to write about was our annual trip to Waukegan, IL to see my grandmother. My parents would pack us all in the big Cadillac my dad drove, and we’d head 4 hours south to see Grandma and the cousins.

Other kids in the class wrote about their trips to Paris or the Grand Canyon.

I guess I was jealous.

This year on my “adult” vacation I decided to do something different. I had not been on a vacation in 18 months due to COVID restrictions. I didn’t want to relax by reading novels. I wanted a new experience.

My husband and I decided to book a cabin in the Blue Ridge mountains for a little getaway. Before the trip, I saw an article outlining what was going on in the area the week we were going to be there. I could visit an apple orchard or a vineyard. I could even go see llamas! I picked a craft class.

I have never taken a craft class on vacation. I’m more likely the one to teach the craft class when I’m not on vacation; or the cooking class.

This was going to be different.

And you should have seen the look on my husband’s face when I told him I signed him up too!

The article featured a woman who teaches people how to make owl sculptures/wall hangings with natural materials from the forest.

On the day of the class, we headed north from our cabin and drove about half an hour to her studio. It was buried in the woods alright!

After a quick tour of her hand-built house (renovated by the craft artist herself), we settled in at her workshop to begin our project.

She did a marvelous job of prepping for us in advance. She had already completed some of the more difficult elements for us. The first thing we had to do was pick a body made from tree bark. Then we had to decide if we wanted to paint it.

Two hours later we finished our project. Here’s how it went...

Read the full column at PlanZDiet.com

Easy Enchiladas

This dish comes together in a flash. If you are doing beef enchiladas, I recommend red sauce. If you are doing chicken, I recommend you go wild and use a green sauce. I’ll give directions for the beef version but you can convert it to chicken easily. If you are doing chicken, you can cut up and cook chicken tenders or even pull apart a rotisserie chicken.

Servings: Serves 4-6 (Depends on how much filling you put in your tortilla)

Ingredients:

1 Tbl of olive oil
1 lb of ground beef
¾ cup of diced onion
3 Tbl of taco seasoning (or to taste). This is one time I went with convenience. There might be some sugar in the seasoning but not really all that much.
1-½ cups of shredded mozzarella
1-½ cups of shredded Monterey jack cheese
½ cup of sour cream
4 – 6 10” tortillas (I buy the low carb version)
10 oz of enchilada sauce (red or green)
sliced green onion for garnish

Instructions:

In a medium saute pan add the olive oil and the ground beef. Break it up continually while it cooks on medium so you get bite-sized pieces. If you want cooked onion in your filling add it when the beef is half done. If you want the onion to have a sharper flavor you can add the raw diced onion to the filling without cooking it.

Cook until beef no longer has any pink in the middle.

In a large bowl add the ground beef and onion along with half of both kinds of cheese, sour cream, and taco seasoning. Mix until well incorporated.

Hold a tortilla in your open palm. Add about three-fourths of a cup of filling in the middle. Then set it on the counter or on a plate and roll it up snugly. Put in a 9-by-9-inch oven-proof pan. Do this with all of the tortillas. My batch made 5 tortillas because I like them a little on the fatter side. More filling. Less tortilla. Top with the enchilada sauce and then sprinkle on the remaining cheese.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes at 375 degrees. The cheese will be bubbling. Let the dish rest on the counter for 5 to 10 minutes so it cools down a bit. Carefully remove the enchiladas from the baking dish and put them on a plate. Garnish with green onion.

The serving size is one per person. You can always add some heated pinto beans as a side. Guacamole and a few chips would be good, too.

Enjoy!
Cheers,
Zola