Last night I made a pair of curtains for my kitchen. I found some material at Joann that looked almost just like my beloved Dwell studio napkins (and the reverse side of the quilt on my bed). I snatched up a few yards and some iron on hem and went to town.

How pretty is this pattern? See how well it matches my napkins?

I could post a how to, but you really just hem each edge with the easy to use iron on tape. Then for your top tab, make sure it’s big enough for your curtain rod to go through.

I’ll be making another pair for the other window in the kitchen. And I should probably go ahead and make some for the main bath and guest room in the house. I used almost an entire roll of hem making just the one pair though. And these are short curtains. So buy extra hem if you’re making long curtains.

I dream of one day being able to make a Mexican food recipe in one dish instead of two. It’s never going to happen though because my husband won’t eat cheese. And I’m pretty sure I’ll never give it up.

However, there’s no cheese in this recipe for Easy Creamy Black Bean Soup. It’s not exactly a Mexican food dish, but it is a delicious and vegetarian soup that both Thom and I loved. That’s saying a lot considering Thom’s not much of a soup fan.

Of course I had to promise that the soup was merely a side dish and that there would be something involving meat. So I decided to make stacked enchilada casserole. I’ve never made it before, but really it’s just like making enchiladas. Only easier. And less messy.

I started by browning 1.5 lbs of ground beef with a packet of taco seasoning. Then I combined the cream of chicken soup and the enchilada sauce in a saucepan. I placed corn tortillas in the bottom of the casserole dish and started adding ingredients. Each layer contained beef, black beans, corn, enchilada sauce, and salsa. Mine also had black olives. (yet another thing Thom hates)

Mine was topped with sauce and cheese while Thom’s was topped with sauce and salsa. (and later sour cream for him. I hate sour cream.)

350 for 30 minutes.

Two hearty thumbs up. I will absolutely make these again.