Life at a "Swell's" pace

Quick and easy Meatless Quesadillas

These are one of my favorite things to make on a movie night, or just a lazy dinner night in our house. Everyone loves them and they are so quick and fast to make.

Here's what you'll need:

• Regular cheddar jack or 'Mexican" cheese blend shredded cheese

• Flour Tortillas

• Taco Seasoning Mix ( You can also make your own)

• 8 oz. Sour Cream (Fat Free)

And here's the process:

Combine the taco seasoning package (1.25 oz.) to the 8 oz of sour cream and combine completely. Let sit for about 10 minutes to incorporate the seasonings into the sour cream.

Meanwhile, on an electric griddle, lay two of the flour tortillas and allow to heat thoroughly. Don't allow to brown completely though. And then flip over.

Coat the entire surface of your tortilla with the taco seasoning mixture.

Add the cheese......

Cheese is my weakness so I always add a lot.

Add another tortilla on top and allow to brown on both sides. Flip only once and then cut with a pizza cutter into 4-equal triangles.

Or, flip the side over for half a quesadilla and serve with the sour cream mixture, salsa, or guacamole.

Have you ever tried pineapple on the grill, or how about avocado on the grill? It's rather tasty and I do recommend it. The two pair nicely with the recipe from above!

Enjoy!

Preparing the perfect Bird Feeder

This bird feeder will pretty much do the job in feeding your local wildlife year-round. It's one of the highest quality bird feeders I've found and works amazing!

The cedar bird feeder house I found is by Better Homes and Gardens and it's a good quality house that will withstand the heavy rains here in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. It also has glass seed sides that way it's easier to clean and will last longer than plastic. It was a bit more costly than the other ones out there but, it was worth it because of its durability. Here is a few other bird feeders you can consider.

Once the bird feeder for my yard was found, I then went on a hunt for the right post setup. I wanted it high enough so that the neighbor cats wouldn't bother it, but I didn't want it so high that I couldn't reach it to fill it or clean it.

What I came across was a hanging basket pole with a bird feeder attachment on top. It was the perfect size and shape for what I was looking for and it was a clean look too. You can find ones similar to this one here. But most garden supply stores or garden centers will have what you are looking for and what will suit your needs.

The bottom of the pole was then screwed into place right under the bird feeder and that was it!

I then went with Pennington Seeds and Pennington supplies for all my birding needs. I prefer Pennington because they are good quality products and they are reasonably priced for what I am needing. But any seed company will do depending on what kind of birds you are wanting to feed, even sunflower seeds.

For the squirrels.

I even went as far as buying a bell seeder and tying it into place with a bit of recycled twine.

I placed the feeder on top of the pole, once I drilled it into the ground, then placed my bell seeder and my squirrel corn on the other end and it was finished!

Looks nice I think!

I think the local birds will be very pleased with this set up. I placed a suet feeder in the side cages of the feeder too, just to add in a bit more choices for food. Till summer end this will hang and throughout the summer I will refill as needed. Now to get a grub worm bowl attachment and I will have a birds cafe of dreams in my own yard!

HAPPY GARDENING!

Time to Clean the Oven

Every 3 months I like to rip my oven from the wall and give it a good talking to. Well, more like a good cleaning, but this cleaning time was a bit more tedious than it had been before.

I have been traveling a lot lately and 3 months for the oven cleaning just didn't fit into my schedule this past 9 months, so it had been awhile since I gave the ole' oven a good cleaning inside, out, and underneath. But, the job did get done this past weekend and it looks a whole lot better.

Behind and underneath the oven was a bit embarrassing. Not sure how it gets like this, but over the course of 9 months I guess it's possible.

We vacuumed underneath and behind the oven.

Cleaned the side walls. This house is pretty old, so any type of cleaner out on the cabinets and the floor has to be nonabrasive so it doesn't "eat" away at the finish.

Terrible!

And the cleaning began!

I CAN NOT stand the smell of oven cleaner nor do I allow such horrible cleaners into my home, so we used J.R. Watkins All Purpose Cleaner for the entire oven (inside and out), but there are many other cleaners on the market that can give you just the same amount of cleaning power without the harsh chemicals.