Easy soft taco casserole

If your looking for a super easy and quick recipe using ingredients you probably already have then this is it.

Ingredients :
1 pound ground turkey or beef
1 pack of taco seasoning
1 small onion diced and sautéed
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 can refrained beans
6 flour tortillas
Sour cream

•Sauté onions in skillet then brown the ground meat.
•Add taco seasoning mix and follow directions on packet.
•Mix in whole can of refried beans in skillet and cook for about 5 minutes til soft and mixed well
•spoon thin layer of sour cream on to bottom of casserole dish and spread evenly.
•make a layer of tortillas (I place two next to each other and tear one up to cover the gaps)
•spread a layer of meat mixture and add a little bit of sour cream.
•repeat tortilla layer and end with meat and sour cream layer.
•top with shredded cheese and cook at 350* for 15 minutes.
•let cool then top with desired taco toppings (lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream)
•enjoy

Taking the beauty school plunge

     Since I have settled in from moving to a strange new place I decided it was time for me to help earn some money so I set forth to find a job. I started looking at piercing studios and found out that they aren't regulated here like they were in Texas and most of them were happy to just have an artist do piercings on the side and cheaply at that, which is not how I do things. So then I started looking for something more retail and apparently my having owned my own company for the last several years means nothing on an online application. I got frustrated and started looking at whether or not we could afford for me to go to school and found out I would be able to get enough loans and grants. I was torn between phlebotomy and cosmetology and ultimately decided I could easily open a salon one day and go back to working for myself but I would never open my own blood bank.
     I then found myself torn between a "local" cosmetology school very close to me or going to Paul Mitchell 30 miles away. In the end they weren't that far off in price so I decided perhaps the name of a Paul Mitchell school would be better for me. So here I am all signed up and nervous to start school in 19 days. It's going to be weird being away from my baby during the day and tough since it has been nearly ten years since I have even needed to be somewhere on time that early in the morning. But in the end I think it will be worth it and I will enjoy what I do and hopefully make ok money at it.
    

I went to the winter Marlboro ranch

What an amazing adventure! I don't know if words could even describe the awesomeness that ensued in Montana at the crazy mountain ranch. I've been back home almost a week getting back to reality and I miss the ranch and the food and staff so much. We got up very early to catch our flight to the ranch on the 18th and had a 2 hour layover in Utah where our ranch hats came in handy because we met a couple of people headed to the next flight with us. Then when we got off the second plane in Montana we were greeted with some friendly faces and cowboys hats and taken to a nice room at the airport to sign in and given  yummy sandwiches. Once all the other winners showed up we were all put on buses for the final trip to the ranch. The staff were super friendly and very funny once we passed through the ranch gates all cell phone service was lost. It was like traveling back in time to the good ole days of country life. We were then given keys and shown our rooms. We stayed in a huge beautiful room in the shawmut 2 building (originally built as a hotel for the miners in  Shawmut, Montana and relocated to the ranch in '96ish if I remember correctly.)  where our bed was covered in gifts. I won't go into too much detail on the gifts so all of the surprise isn't lost, but I will say that if you are headed to the ranch don't waste your baggage space with a winter jacket because the ones they give you will keep you very warm so just take sweaters and jeans.
       The next day we decided to take the tour to Yellowstone which took all day but it was well worth it. Our guides were awesome and we learned a lot of near stuff. I would love to take my kids one day but this was nice with a bus full of happy adults and no screaming and fighting and "I'm hungry" coming from the backseat. We got to get out and take lots of photos and we got to take a neat bit of a hike. The next morning we went ziplining which I never thought I would do but since this whole trip was a chance of a lifetime I decided I would just go for it and see how far I could get. Turns out there are 9 zip lines that start "small" then get up to the second longest one in the US. I did 7 then started getting really nervous because of the height part of it. I was pretty proud of myself so I stopped there and met my husband at the last one. Then after lunch we jumped into snowmobiling which was really fun but man was I sore afterwards, so glad that was last and not before having to glide across a valley on a rope with sore arms. So many amazing adventures and never have I been so well fed in my life. If I ever get invited back in the winter I will finish the zip lines for sure and definitely try dog sledding but I would love to go back in the summer and go horse back riding I bet it is so beautiful then. If you won this trip and your worried about if anything costs money DON'T because everything really is payed for unless of course you want to buy something while at the airport or if you take the Yellowstone tour there is a gift shop there that they let you stop in at.
      As far as this marketing plan goes for Marlboro, it certainly works for creating brand loyalty every time I see a pack of Marlboro's I will ALWAYS remember my trip to the ranch and you better believe I will tell everyone near me about how truly amazing it was.

I'm ready to go to the Marlboro Ranch

   It's the start of a beautiful new year isn't it?  In a recent post I talked about how I was notified as a winner in the Marlboro rock the ranch sweepstakes. Well I got my plane tickets today via fedex and just so unbelievably excited and anxious to get going on what I fully suspect to be an adventure of a lifetime. I will be catching my flight to Montana  on the 15th of this month at 6:30 am with a 2 hour layover in Salt Lake then on to the Bozeman airport where they will gather all the winners and take us to the crazy mountain ranch. In the package I received today I got my tickets, two personalized luggage tags, a gift card to cover the check baggage fee, a check for $750 to cover taxes, hats for us to wear so we can identify other winners at the airports, and contact cards with phone numbers because cell phones don't work at the ranch, and for once I'll be fine with that. I also got my activity itinerary which shows  I will be zip lining on the last day. I am really excited to try it but also very afraid of heights so I'm glad it's last. 

I know my girls are going to miss me, especially Madeline because she has been waking up in the middle of the night a lot lately and she will cry and crawl in bed saying she needs me, it will be hard when I'm not there for her but she will have her oldest sister here who she likes a lot. Of course with the recent holidays and the fact that school doesn't start again where we are til January 9th! I can't wait to get out of the house for a bit of me time with my husband. When the kids start bickering or making a huge mess before I am done with a two hour cleaning spree I just keep telling myself just a few more days now....I do love my family though :)  

The folks at Marlboro sent us some free luggage to pack for our trip too! They are really nice big red duffel bags on wheels. Now only 6 more days till we take off for Montana. I better get to packing.

link back to my first post