Cheese Enchiladas in Green Sauce

Mike and I both love Mexican food. From burritos, to tacos, to enchiladas. We love the flavors, the colors, the warmth. One favorite Mexican recipe comes from my mom - Green Chili Sauce Chicken Enchiladas. While I like chicken enchiladas, I love cheese enchiladas. So I have adapted my mom's recipe.

Sometimes I serve the enchiladas with rice, sometimes with sweet corn, but tonight I served them with nachos. Yes, it was a cheesy dinner!

Here is how I make my green chili sauce cheese enchiladas:

Ingredients:

* 1 block of medium chedar cheese
* 8 corn tortillas (small size)
* 2 small cans of green chili enchilada sauce (mild)
* vegetable oil
* 9x13 glass pan
* foil
* tortilla chips
* nacho sauce (I use Mission Con Queso Mild)
*medium skillet

The How To:

1. Pre heat oven to 375*

2. grate cheese onto plate (I use the larger holes)

3. Warm up vegetable oil in medium skillet over low heat (you want to warm up the tortilla, not fry them)

4. Pour green chili enchilada sauce into bottom of 9x13 glass pan (a thin layer)

5. Place one tortilla into oil and warm through. Take out right as it starts to form a few air pockets.

6. Place onto a plate and layer cheese down the middle (as much as you'd like, but don't over stuff it!)

7. Roll up and lay seam side down into glass pan

8. Repeat for remaining 7 tortillas

9. Lightly cover the enchiladas with green chili sauce

10. Cover the glass pan with foil and bake for 30 minutes

11. Remove foil and bake 10 additional minutes **sometimes, like tonight, if I have nacho sauce on hand I will spoon some ontop of the enchiladas after I remove the foil**

12. Remove from oven and let sit 5 minutes

13. Serve on plate along with side dish

I hope you enjoy this delicious dish. We really enjoyed our dinner tonight.



**The red you see is Cholula sauce**

Strawberry Delight

I made a few changes at the last minute to this weeks menu. Mike has been craving fish tacos so I made those on Tuesday to give a chicken break between Monday and Wednesday.

For last nights dinner I used the left over breaded fish filets and made:

* Fish Sandwiches
* Steak House Baked Beans
* Oven Roasted Corn on the Cob
* Strawberry Balsamic Pasta Salad

The pasta salad was a new dish that I came up with. I remember seeing chefs on Food Network use Balsamic Vinegar on fresh fruit like strawberries and peaches. I know the basic mixture for a balsamic vinagrette and decided to try and add a little splash of flavor.

Here is how I made the Strawberry Balsamic Pasta Salad:

1. Bring large pot of water to a boil. Add salt. Add in pasta (I used the red/white/green cork screw pasta) and boil 8-9 minutes.

2. While pasta is cooking, clean and hull 6-7 strawberries, slice and clean, peel, and cut 1/4 of a cucumber into bit size triangles. *I take the cucumber, cut it in half long ways, then cut those halves again to get 4 equal long triangles*

3. After pasta is cooked, immediately drain and get into an ice bath. *I dunk the colander into a big bowl full of cold water and ice*

4. Shake the pasta water out and set aside to light airdry. If the pasta is wet the sauce will not stick to it.

5. Make the sauce: 5 teaspoons strawberry jam/preserves + 3 tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar + eye ball EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) . You use the EVOO to cut down on the thickness of the sauce and to also cut down on the acidity of the vinegar. **You want the sauce to remain somwhat thick so do not thin it down like a traditional vinagrette. Also taste along the way and stop adding the EVOO when you like the flavor. Some people do not like the strong taste of Balsamic Vinegar, so by adding more EVOO you will cut down on the acids**

6. Add dry pasta to a serving bowl.

7. Add in strawberry sauce and mix well.

8. Lightly coat strawberry and cucumber pieces with balsamic vinegar. Add to the salad.

9. Refrigerate.

10. Before serving mix well again.

This pasta was heavenly!  I am looking forward to having some of the leftovers with lunch.

I will also include how I make my oven roasted corn.

1. Remove silk and hull from corn.

2. Rinse in cold water. Set out to dry for aprox 30 minutes.

3. Pre Heat oven to 425*

4. Lay out foil (one for each ear of corn)

5. Spread (with your hands) butter all over each ear of corn

6. Sprinkle with salt, sugar, and pepper (once in awhile I will also sprinkle on smoked paprika)

7. Wrap in foil and twist the ends.

8. Lay a cookie sheet on the bottom rack to catch any butter spills. If you do not do this step you will have a house full of smoke!

9. Set the ears of corn at an angle on top rack that is set to the middle of the oven.

10. Cook for 40 minutes ***Be sure to rotate the corn every 10 mintes

11. Remove and let sit for 3-4 minutes

12. Unwrap and serve at dinner.

The corn comes out perfectly sweet and tender.

For the fish sandwiches, I cooked the fish as directed, then I removed the cookie sheet, placed a piece of fish onto the bottom half of a hamburger bun, added a thick slice of american cheese, and placed the sheet back into the oven for 2 mintes. I then added tartar sauce to the top bun and placed the sandwich together.

Everything was super yummy and I am looking forward to making this meal again.



This Weeks Menu

I have a few friends who are trying to plan weekly menus instead of trying to decide what to fix for dinner at the last moment. Creating a list for me cuts down on unnecessary spending, time spent at the store as well as car gas used to constantly be going to and from the grocery store.

When I go into the grocery store armed with my weekly shopping list (which is written in order of isles - yes I am that OCD about my grocery list) I quickly and efficiently shop and check out. The most I spend at the store is 50 minutes. That is from the time I walk into the store until I am back in the car and on my way home.

I like being able to wake up in the morning and check what we will be having for dinner that evening. This allows me to prep ahead. Do I need to take out any meat to defrost? Are there any fruits or veggies that I can cut up while the kids are in school? Any sauces I can pre-make? Doing these small tasks really cuts down on the time I spend in the kitchen right before dinner.

And to make menu planning more fun I include the entire family. I will ask my husband and daughter what meal they would like to have for dinner that week.

So here is my weekly menu:

Monday: Roasted whole chicken (covered in herbs, garlic salt, and pepper) with dinner rolls, angel hair pasta in herb and butter sauce, and sliced fruit (strawberries and bananas).

Tuesday: BBQ Chicken sandwiches with baked beans and corn on the cob.

Wednesday: Chicken Tostada Salad Bowls

Thursday: Pasta with freshbaked french roll and side salad

Friday: Fish Tacos with chips and dip

Saturday: Cheese Enchiladas with side salad

Sunday: Pepper Steak with steamed rice, chow mein and eggrolls.

***Monday - Wednesday is from the same whole chicken I am currently roasting.

I hope this post has inspired you to start creating a weekly menu as well. You will be surprised at the amount of money you save.

On Friday I will blog about the fish tacos I will be making.