Par-tay Rice and 'Shroom Soup

This one is just for you, Michelle....

Kidding season is chaos around here, and some days it is difficult to put a hot meal on the table.  Last year i started dehydrating anything i could get my hands on, then putting a meal together in a baggie that will only require water and a jar of meat that i have also canned.  These recipes are pretty much all soups, but it is cold during kidding season, so this is perfect.  Not that these recipes are strictly wintertime things...the chicken soup recipe i will share later sells all year.  I make it up by the dozen, and the children can make a pot of soup any time they want.  We had it at least once a week all through the summer, if you can imagine that.  It is better than any chicken soup i have ever made.

The other groovy thing about this style of food prep is that you always have a gift ready to go.  When i mix and store, i always bag a few with an instruction card in fancy cello with star garland twist tie, so when i need a gift or a bribe it is ready, handy, and cute.

Oh, and have i mentioned that this stuff has an excellent shelf life?  I prep them during the fall, then we have meals all winter.

All of the recipes i will be sharing came off the internet and then got the momma treatment.  I am not claiming them as my own original, just as the ones that have passed my kitchen test.  You can Google "Gifts in a Jar" and find a plethora of recipes. So kudos to whomever originally figured out this process. 

Note:  Actually the name of this is Creamy Wild Rice and Mushroom Soup, but i like my name better. 

Par-tay Rice and 'Shroom Soup

1 (2.75 oz) pkg country gravy mix (i buy everything in bulk, and use Morrison's Pepper Gravy mix.  If you are doing this, you need 1/2c + 2T)
1 T chicken bouillon
2t dried minced onion
2t dried celery flakes
1t dried parsley flakes
1/4c uncooked wild rice
1c uncooked white rice
2T coarsely chopped dried mushrooms

Put all this in a bag or a jar to store. 

To prepare:  Add 7c water, simmer 25-30 min or until rice is tender.


That is it.  Insanely easy, huh?  And it is Oooooo Soooo good.  Trust me.  And Michelle.


Let's talk just a second about the dehydrated stuff. 

Our grocery store has a section where they "fire sale" produce with that day as the "Use By" date.  Here i can get a packaged of presliced mushrooms or perhaps a three pack of celery stalks for $1.  Hope you can get that lucky. I have dehydrated everything from tomatoes to bell peppers. Whatever they have on sale that we use (i let them keep the brussel sprouts.)   I bring the day's find home, and immediately put it in the dehydrator.  I aspire to a real dehydrator, but until that day, my Wally World cheapos are working just fine.  In about 12 hours, i have a pile of dried veg that i let cool, then bag or jar it up, and store in cool, dry, preferably dark place.

The only thing i refuse to do on my dehydrator is onions, for a variety of reasons.  Bet you can guess a few of them.  (I run the dehydrators in the children's rooms <because my Custome Home has plug issues> and they argue over whose room i run the mushrooms in...mushrooms put out an awful, lingering STENCH as they dry.  Hee Hee Hee, just one of the threats i use around here.  As in, "If you don't **insert command here** i am gonna dry the mushrooms in YOUR room!!"  Works like a charm.)  I have found a better way to get dried minced onions.  I buy them that way.

Crime Doesn't Pay

Weeellllll......

I snuck off for the annual birthday bash with the children's godmother, ALA, this week.  She and i were born a day apart, and every year we go to do something together to celebrate. 

The trip didn't bode well in the beginning.  I stopped to get gas and a bite of something for breakfast in the next town over.  I stepped up to the counter, ordered my eggamoobymuffin, and the ummmmm....Person behind the counter asked me if i was a senior citizen.  "Because i can give you a discount if you are a senior citizen."

I almost cried.   Then i told her to charge me full price because i wasn't going to be 49 for another five days. 

This would have been forgivable if it had come from a teenybopper, but this Person was at least 60 years old.

Anyway.  I had planed to hide out in a hotel room for two days reading and typing stories for you all.  ALA had other plans for me.  And grand plans they were!!  Let us just say that it involved vice, fabulous food, and alcohol.  I had a wonderful time, a much needed respite.  Can't even imagine how to have made it better.  Aahhhh, i am truely blessed to have a dear friend who is a great accomplice. 

After 48 carefree hours of doing exactly what i felt like, i got back home, and my reality smacked me in the face.  Then when i got up the next morning, it whacked me in the head.  Just in case i wasn't paying attention.

But i did miss my babies, so it is good to be home again. 

The point of all this is, got a couple of days to make up for, so hang loose, will try to post a story or two this weekend. 

Surely had some fun, though.  Thank you, ALA.

By Golly, That's Good Granola!

How about a recipe today?

This is better than any granola that I have ever had, except for one that I had on a trip to Aspen many moons ago. Found it at a little local grocer, and I am pretty sure it was locally made. It was in a plain brown wrapper, simply labeled “Cashew Granola,” and the thing that did it for me was the chunks of cashew and sesame, held together by something barely sweet. After 12oz of this granola, and 15 years, I STILL dream about it.

But this is some pretty darn good granola, and it is very flexible. You can make it with whatever you like or have on hand, just don't mess with the sugars, they are the key. The original recipe came off the internet, but am sure you have realized by now that a recipe is just a starting place for me. A word to the wise, go long and use the best (do i need to say "Real"?) maple syrup you can find. You won't be sorry.  Here we go.....

GRANOLA

6 c old fashioned or steel cut oats

2 c chopped nuts

2 c dried fruit

1 c coconut shreds

1 c wheat germ

Mix all this together--I use my biggest stock pot so I don't toss it out during the mixing stages. This is the forgiving part. Use your favorite fruits and nuts, but don't leave out the coconut or wheat germ. Our favorite combo is almonds or almonds and pecans with chopped dates and blueberries or cherries. Now for the secret sauce....

½ c vegetable oil

½ c maple syrup

1 ½ c dark brown sugar, packed

Microwave for 3 minutes or until sugar melts and it gets all frothy, then take it out and whisk until it is smooth. Pour this over your granola and toss to coat well. Cover two baking sheets with parchment and place in 350 oven. After 10 minutes, take it out and give it a stir, then switch position of trays (top to bottom and bottom to top) for another 10 minutes. Cool, stirring occasionally. Store in airtight container.

Am sure this has a lovely shelf life, but it never lasts very long around these parts.  Lots of times it never even sees milk. 

OOOooooooo--just had a wicked thought--i gotta figure out how to make cookies with this stuff. 

Runner Ducky, You're The One....

You make bath time SO much fun!!!

No worries, we don't have a bath tub.
HOLD THAT SMART REMARK...i know what you are thinking.
We have a shower, and it gets used every day.

Don't mess with my high.  I am singing because---guess what i am getting for my birthday!!???!!!

Susan, dear Susan has ordered
Indian Runner Ducklings!!!!!!!!
I am SO excited!!!  I just can't wait!!!!

And ya know what makes it even better?  I just told Jed he was gonna have a few more mouths to feed, and he said, "Really?  Cool."

I about fell over.

AND, Susan gave me a Southern Living MEAT Cookbook!

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Then, as we were headed home from Susan's, we stopped at a real grocery store, and found "Coronado Paleton de Cajeta Quemada" which is the long way to say "Goat Milk Lollipops."  Let me tell you how fabulous they are.    OOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHH MMMMYYYYYYYYYYYY, but they are scrumptious!  I wish you were all here, i would share.  And i could share with all of you, because i bought all the store had....they are THAT fabulous. 

These lovely things were offsetting our Fortunately/Unfortunately trip to Susan's. 

Fortunately, she found a really good home for two of our baby boys, Cason and Veribest.  Unfortunately, they both had to be wethered. 

I really wanted Cason's genetics in my herd (his mom is Legacy,) but he is...well, i think he must be dain bramaged.  We wanted to call him Slipknot, remember?  He is just a pain in the patootey, for what we do around here, sooooo......

Veribest is the heart breaker though.  He was the buckling i was thinking about keeping, and Susan has been trying to talk me into swapping something for him all spring.  We both think he is the best looking buckling we have produced here--conformation, top line, shoulders, back width, looks, dispostition, personality, the total package.  But as he grew out, it became evident that he had a small problem with his dangly bits.  I have been heartbroken for a month.  We were hoping it was something he might grow out of, but Susan has done all the research, and it ain't gonna happen.  Turns out it is a recessive gene thing, not a bad gene pool, just one of those things that happens every 1,000 kids or so.  We just happen to have drawn the lucky number.  Go figure.  Susan said we had to apply the green cheerio today, but not to let her look at him before she did it.  The telling thing there is that she is usually very ruthless about that.  I am more prone to try to leave them intact, but she is adamant about wethering anything that is not the very best (no pun intended.)
<<sigh>>

And Snippy went to Camp Queenacres.  In exchange for hay, he is gonna spend his last happy days there before he becomes tasty ribs.  It is a good thing.

So that was my day.  Reduced my kid herd by 40%, scored a really great cookbook and some amazing cajeta lollies, and am looking forward to having baby runner duckies!!  It all kinda took the sting out of loosing Veribest.

For me, that is.

HE thinks he has a headache.

Bovine Hot Tubbing

"Helen, couldja pass the margarita's?"

"Does this leather suit make my butt look big?"

"Who stole my clothes?"



Okay, now it is your turn....help me find the ultimate caption!

GRAND PRIZE: 
Winner DOES NOT have to help shovel out the Buck Barn!

{Staci....i am expecting something outstanding from you.} 

NOTE:  Several of you have said that you are having trouble leaving comments, and i think i have figured out the glitch.  Leaving a comment is a three part process...enter the comment, then the scramble word, and under that you have to sign in with the google acct.

Letterboxing

Ever heard of letterboxing?

It is kind of like a treasure hunt.

From online sites such as http://www.letterboxing.org/ or http://www.atlasquest.com/, you find instructions taking you to the boxes.  Sometimes the clues are strait forward directions, sometimes riddles or poems, sometimes they involve compasses and pacing.  You choose what you are up for and how hard you want to work.

Hopefully you find a box (it is a treasure hunt, after all--sometimes you find them and sometimes you don't,) and inside there will be a small notebook, and a rubber stamp.  Most of the time these rubber stamps are hand cut, so they are usually rather unique, and can be quite artistic.  You bring an ink pad, your own rubber stamp--your "trail i.d."--and a notebook of your own to journal your finds.  You make an impression of your stamp in the box notebook, and an impression of the box stamp in your journal. In my journal, i always write the date and location of the find, along with names of anyone joining us on the hunt, and any other information that might be fun to have later ("this was XX's first letterbox," or "we found this one on XX'x birthday.")

There are tens of thousands of letterboxes in the world all around us.  You have passed right by them an never even known it, i bet!!  Popular places to place letterboxes are parks, historical sites, and cemeteries.  There are lots of  "series" boxes--several boxes in a theme, sometimes in a single area, like a state park.  Many times, especially with the historical sites, the clues sheet will offer a brief lesson on the person or place.  Wildlife and nature are popular themes for series boxes, and they usually offer good  information about the subject flora or fauna. 

Letterboxing is one of the ways i slip a little learnin' into our "unschool curriculum" without anyone being any the wiser.  I will admit to using letterboxing excursions as bribes and incentives, as well.  Hey, whatever works.  We have had a lot of fun with this, it has taken us to places we never would have thought to venture and we have found some real gems along the way.

Have found that it is a great way to break up a long trip, and you see things that you would have missed if you just drove straight through on the four lane, such as......

This was a 8' tall fiberglass chicken in some one's side yard in a small town somewhere north of here.  Not sure what it was for, but about a block up the road was a house with about a hundred pink flamingos in the front yard.  The whole neighborhood had been flocked!!  Makes ya wonder what happened at that last BBQ.

   I LOVE this one.  Was laughing so hard i had to pull over.  It was at the exit of a cemetery where we had just found a box. We were in convoy with another family at the time, and they thought i was loosing it, until they saw the sign.  We all got out and took pictures. Only in Texas!



 Now if you don't think this is the coolest fence you have  ever seen, you should just stay home!!  And yes, we all "got on" the bicycles and took pictures.  This was in a ...well it was barely a town, more like 6 houses, a church, and a gazebo, about 10 miles off of a two lane farm to market road.  The box was actually right across the street from this fence, in an overgrown bank vault.

Yes, a bank vault.  From a bank that had closed during the depression.  Nothing left but the vault, and you never would have seen it if you hadn't known it was there.  Hidden in plain sight.

Dunno.  Just thought this was funny.

Happy Hunting!!  See you on the Trail!

P.S.  Yes.  Still having trouble with pictures.  These, along with one other, were downloaded before most recent crash.  And now i seem to be having trouble with layout.  It is all making me nuts!!!!  But at least it is on  here, i guess.  Send help.  PLEASE!!!!!!!!

Visualize Whirled Peas...And My Pictures

I repeat.  It isn't EASY, and it doesn't like to SHARE. 

Guess what i have been trying to do.

Add to this the fact that apparently the SPACE button on this keyboard bit the dust.

Why does it all go haywire when i have great stories to tell?

And why isn't there enough milk to make cheese to go with my whine?

Oh well, we will all have to use our imaginations, and you all will have to forgive the spacing issues, if i fail to catch and correct them.


Okay, for the first picture, i want you to imagine a 2 1/2 gallon bucket, filled with eggs.  Wow!! Where did all those eggs come from??  Have you ever seen such a BIG bucket of EGGS???!!!

One of the things about free ranging chickens is that every day is like an easter egg hunt.  They lay all over the place, and do it in places deemed by these birds of little brain to be safe from predators.  Why they do not use the nesting boxes (provided at great expense, i might add) is a mystery.  Every so often, they pick a good spot, and it takes us a few days to figure out where they are laying.  The last couple of weeks, we have been finding fewer and fewer eggs each day.  I keep sending the children out to hunt, but we weren't having much luck.

Yesterday, i finally found the hiding spot.  Boy did i find the spot.  At the very bottom of the girl's hay manger.  They lay in there all the time--i collect from the manger every day.  But now they are burying them.  Our mangers are built to hold an entire square bale at a time.  This time of year, it takes about a week to ten days for the girls to go through a bale...they can do it in a day in the dead of winter...and i reload before it gets empty, so i don't often see the bottom of the manger.  This time, i was fluffing up the last of a bale and saw a couple of eggs, then started digging in the shake at the bottom, and dug out 5 1/2 dozen eggs.  Anyone for omelettes?  Fortunately, the day before, i discovered a recipe for Jalapeno Egg Salad at the Homesick Texan blog.  Go look that one up, it is amazing!!  Whoda thunk it, jalapenos in egg salad!!


The second picture to visualize is of Sancho and Osama standing nose to nose.  Sancho is braying, and Osama has his ears pinned back.  Sancho had run up on Osama, honking all the way.  As you know, Osama holds very little besides disdain for all of us, especially Sancho.  Osama assumed the warning stance, pinning his ears back.  Silly old Sancho was too busy talking trash to notice, i guess, and next thing ya know, Osama cut loose, spitting like he had been saving up for a month.  Sancho just shook his head and backed away respectfully.

And now, can you see the picture of Jewels that shows the lovely little brisket she has developed recently? Isn't she cute?

Let's not fail to imagine the picture of Maud taking on Cherry Blossom.  They were both reared up on back legs preparing to head butt each other.  Not sure who won.  Cherry is pretty obnoxious, but Maud ain't skeered a nuthin',  and i don't recall seeing a kid take on a yearling before. Where is Ren when we need her?  Somebody better put this whipper snapper in her place, and quick, or we will have to send her to Queenacres Boot Camp.

Now, let's all visualize a huge pile of Federal Reserve Notes stacked up on our coffee table. 
Huh.
That one didn't work for me, either.
Oh well.  A girl's gotta try.

A Day Behind the Red Door, and the Holy Grail Bisciut

Susan, dear Susan came up for her yearly visit this past weekend, and we had a Red Door day at the dairy barn....a "Day of Beauty," if you will. 

She trimmed everyone's hooves...hoof trimming is not my forte.  Susan has to give them a proper trim once a year, which i am able to maintain for about six months.  After that, every time i trim, someone winds up either bleeding profusely or limping for a few days.  I got Lucy so bad one time, i didn't have to trim one hoof for about five months.  Once it gets out of control, and Susan has to come give me a fresh base line, and all the goatie girlz breathe a sigh of relief.  

Lets see, Andy got a haircut, but Moon didn't, because by the time we got to the bucks, we were too tired to go to that rodeo.  We did evaluations on everyone so we can start laying out the breeding plan for next season, and we took glamour shots or mug shots, as the case may be, for the record books.  It was a long, hard days work, and we both slept like logs that night

This would be what Moon Man thinks about all this "Day of Beauty" garbage.

The best part of this day, however, was having Susan in my kitchen.  Showed me how to make biscuits.  The last couple of months, i have been on a mission to learn to make good biscuits.  This is not an easy thing to do.  What constitutes a good biscuit is a highly personal and subjective thing.  My mother and grandmother used to make great biscuits.  Unfortunately, they took the secret with them.  So i have been gathering recipes from all kinds of places, and have made a couple of okay batches, and a lot of bricks.  The dogs and chickens have been very pleased with my efforts, but i have yet to create the Grail Biscuit.  I wouldn't mind continuing the search, but jeez, with the price of butter these days, i am not sure i can justify continuing my little hobby.  Sometimes it is cheaper to just BUY the darn things, especially when the Dough Boy puts those never fail beauties in a blue freezer bag for me. 

As we were heading out to the dairy barn to commence the Day of Beauty activities, i passed by the bag of bricks from the night before, and asked Susan what the secret of good biscuits was.  "Technique," she replies.  Okay, but is it having the butter cold, cutting in the fat properly, not overworking it, baking powder, no baking powder, what?

Turns out Susan, dear Susan has a recipe blog.  All this time i have known her, and i never new this.  The page failed to make in on my favorites list, and is now lost to me, so Susan, would you be a dear and post the addy in comments for us?  As you are well aware, i have lost my map, so need a tour guide when surfing the net.  Her blog is http://www.queeenacresonline.blogspot.com/, and am sure those of you that are more technosavvy than i can find it from there.  The actual biscuit recipe is given with her chicken and dumplings recipe.

Back to the important part.  The recipe for her biscuits can be found on her site, but the key, according to Susan, is technique.  Do you know what the technique is?  She uses her HANDS.  From start to finish, the only thing she used a spoon for was to scoop the flour into the measuring cup. 

So here is what i think.  Her recipe looks just about like most of the other recipes i have found, except she uses sugar.  I don't think technique has anything to do with this.  I think the key is her hands.  HER hands.  I think Susan has MAGIC hands. 

I just made a batch, all by myself, and they were pretty good.  Dumpling, cobbler and gravy worthy.  I am still looking for the perfect jelly biscuit, though.  But no, when i did them myself, they were not as good as Susan's.  It is her hands.  I am pretty sure this is the secret ingredient in Susan's Darn Near Perfect Biscuits.

Anybody Got A Backhoe We Can Borrow?

We need to dig a REALLY BIG hole.

Just kidding.  Osama bin Llama and Sancho Panza aren't dead. 
It was just an amazingly beautiful spring day. 
Called for a little sunbathing.

But i freaked when i saw this.
Thought our grumpy neighbor finally went postal. 

Ducks of the World, and Goat Volleyball

Jessie and Owens are not MIA.   Two days after the last post, i was whining about missing the ducks, and Jed told me to quit fussin' 'cause they were out in the pond.  I ran out into the darkness in flip flops and a night gown, and sure enough, there they were, happy and healthy, snuggled in their little nest.  Turns out they are leaving shortly after sun-up and returning right at dusk, spending their days at a pond in the cow pasture across the road, south of our property.  But they are taking a circuitous route to get there, which is why i have been missing it.  This morning, i heard them and raced out there with treats.  The little buggers just looked at the bread, pecked at it a bit, and turned their beaks up.  I sat down to watch them for a while, and they forgot about me, or perhaps they never really cared.  Shortly, Jessie and Owens left by the back side of the pond, heading in a north-westerly direction before dropping down south to the bovine hot tub, a stroll that included navigating through several sets of cow legs, finally disappearing into the rushes around the tub.  I guess the frogs are always juicier on the other side of the fence.  I am delighted that they are still with us, even if it is only for the evenings.
So THAT is good news.

Maud the Amazing Flying Goat and i played Goat Volleyball again the other day.  Same spot, same scenario as before, only this time, it was continuous motion, a loop if you will, of jump, volley, rechamber, jump, volley, rechamber, about ten times in a row.  When she quit (notice i did not say gave up) she stood back and gave me a look of disbelief that said, "You mean you don't WANT me with you?"  She then stepped around the corner to munch a bit from the kid's hay bag.  I, possessing superior Mama Skills and the advanced powers of deduction that accompany years of observation and high estrogen levels, could plainly see that the exercise was not over, so i stepped behind the barn door.  Sure enough, in a few moments, a pendulous ear could be seen, followed by one eye peering around the corner.  Not seeing an impediment to escape, Maud took a running start...and jumped...I popped out from behind the barn door and volleyed her to the ground again.  This time her actions were a little slower, as Maud stopped and looked thoughtfully at me between each loop.  Each pause, the look on her face became a little more mournful.  Finally, she stood, regarding me with utter sadness, turned, and jumped back into the doe yard. 

SO far, she has not jumped out again.  We'll just see how long THAT lasts.

Jesse and Owens II

Never got a good shot of them on land, but you really have to see them running to appreciate them. 

Unfortunately, i don't think i am gonna get another chance.  Easter weekend, they resumed "Ducks of the World" wandering.  Haven't seen them in two days.  Sniffle Sniffle.

Came back Christmas day, left again Easter. 

Sure enjoyed them while they were here.

Maud, The Amazing Flying Goat

Yesterday, as i was standing outside the fence talking to the girls, Maud gave me a strange look, shifted her weight to her back legs, and LEAPT, from a standing position, straight toward me.  I reached up, over my head, and caught her mid-chest, and bounced her back in the pen, like hitting a volleyball over the net, with fingertips.  She landed on all fours, looked at me, took two steps back, and jumped again.  I deflected her again.  She stood there looking at me.  I turned to Ellie May and asked if she saw that, but i didn't need to ask, i could tell by the look on her face that she had.  I said, "I think she would have jumped OVER me, if i hadn't have caught her...is that what it looked like from your angle?"  And Ellie completely agreed.

I am not a short person.  I am 5'9".

This is a three month old goat.

I turned to walk away, took three steps, and Maud just about tripped me.

Today i am shopping for fabric.
Gonna make that goat a cape.

Southwest Eggrolls...The Hard Way and The Easy Way

Recipe time again.  This one i pulled off the internet (Annie's Eats) and then made a few "regional" adjustments.  This is an excellent recipe, the only thing is that it makes a HUGE batch.  When i make these, i cook what i need for the meal, lay the rest of the egg rolls out on a cookie sheet to freeze, then transfer to baggies.  Remaining filling is very good cooked in scrambled eggs or omelettes, a nice change of pace cooked in rice or potatoes, and even works well thrown on a salad.

Original recipe is in black, my adjustments in blue.

The Hard Way
Southwest Egg Rolls

2 c frozen corn, thawed 1can, drained
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained 1can ranch style black beans, sauce & all
1 pkg (10 0z) frozen spinach, thaw and drain well
2 c shredded Mexican cheese blend only 2 c?, and we are not prejudiced regarding country of origin, but blends are nice
1 (4oz) can diced green chiles, drained or juicy
4 green onions, chopped 1 small yellow onion, diced
1 t cumin
1/2 t chili powder and a touch of chipoltle powder, to taste
1 t salt omit
1/2 t pepper not even close, dump it in until it looks right
1/4 t cayenne am big on cayenne these days for immune system strengthening, am slipping as much as possible into everything i can, so taste test it an get it has hot as you can stand it
1 pkg egg roll wrappers 2 pkgs or lots of extra filling

mess of finely chopped cilantro (another herb i am trying to use as much as possible for the health benefits)

a couple of cups of shredded meat, because at my house, if meat isn't involved, it was merely an appetizer.  This is a good use for leftovers, or the dark meats from a roasted chicken. 

Combine all ingredients and roll in wrappers.  Bake at 425, 15 min, turn halfway.  PUULEEEASE!!!!!  This recipe was OBVIOUSLY put together by a Yankee.  You have already gone to all that time and expense...life is SHORT.....FRY  those bad boys!!! You won't be sorry.  Serve with salsa (only?  definitely a Yankee) and sour cream, guac, pico.



The other nite i was desperate for something to put on the table quickly, and happened to have a package of egg roll wrappers in the fridge.  I had also recently purchased a bag of frozen "seasoned corn and black beans," that had all the onions, bells, etc., because it looked like something fun to experiment with.  I combined the following ingredients, and it made a much more reasonable volume of filling, filling and wrappers came out exactly even.  It wasn't as good as the recipe above, but they were certainly acceptable for "on the fly."  Didn't have any leftovers, anyway.  But that could have been because we were all starving.....

The Easy Way
Shortcut Southwest Egg Rolls

1 pkg seasoned corn and black beans
1 pkg chopped spinach, thaw and drain well
1 can chopped green chilies
shredded cheese
shredded meat
cilantro, finely chopped
cumin
chili powders
cayenne
pepper

Combine and roll in egg roll wrappers.  Bake or fry.  But you know how i feel about that.  Dinner in 30 minutes or less.  You're welcome.