Thursday, May 31, 2012

Ground Beef Enchiladas


I know the above picture looks weird with only a third covered in cheese, but I live with a crazy cheese hater!

This recipe was fantastic!! It's probably one of my favorite Mexican recipes I made so far. 
I used to make a recipe with chicken in it, 
but it is much too complicated and I've only made it once since Seth and I got married.
This recipe, however, is much more simple.
And it's just as delicious!!

Ingredients:
-1 medium onion, finely chopped
-2 jalapenos, seeded and chopped
-3 garlic cloves, minced
-3 tbsp chili powder
-2 tsp cumin
-3 tsp sugar
-1 15 oz can of tomato sauce
-1 C water
-1 large tomato, chopped
-1 lb ground beef
-2 C shredded cheese (we used the Mexican blend)
-6 tortillas (burrito size)

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 dish.

Cook ground beef until no longer pink.

Throw the onion and jalapeno in a skillet until softened, 8 min or so.

Mmmm! I love the smell of sauteing onions! :)

Add garlic, chili powder, cumin and sugar to the pan. Toss around until fragrant, only about 30 seconds.
Add water, tomato sauce and tomato to the pan.
 Simmer for 5-7 minutes.


Once the sauce is done, mix half of it in with the ground beef. 

Prepare a work surface to fill the tortillas. Lay a tortilla on the counter, add a sprinkle of cheese, then a few spoonfuls of the beef/sauce mixture.


Roll the tortilla up tight. Place it in the greased dish, seam down, and repeat 5 more times. 


Spray the top of the tortillas with cooking spray, and put them in the oven for 7 minutes.

Reduce oven temp to 400 and take the pan out. Cover the tops with the remaining sauce and cheese. 


Cover with aluminum foil and put back in the oven for 20 minutes.

Remove foil and bake for an additional 5 minutes.

Take out and cool 10 minutes before gobbling :)






Saturday, May 26, 2012

Homemade Chips and Salsa



When I got home from work on Thursday, I was really craving some tortilla chips and salsa...
But we didn't have any!!
So, I decided making some fresh would be the next best option.
And it's soooo easy!

Tortilla Chips
Ingredients:
-tortillas (burrito-size)
-olive oil
-sea salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Brush the top of your tortilla with olive oil.
Taking a pizza cutter, cut the tortilla circle into 
eight equal pieces. 


Put the pieces on a cooking sheet and sprinkle with sea salt.
You might also want to poke it with a fork because they puff up a lot while baking.


Put the chips in the oven for about ten minutes. Make sure to check them intermittently to make sure they're not burning too bad. 



Salsa
Ingredients:
1 14oz can diced tomatoes
1 10oz can diced tomatoes with green chilis
1/2 small onion, roughly chopped
1 peeled and smashed clove of garlic
a jalapeno, seeded and chopped
1 tsp honey
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cumin
1 tbsp cilantro (this seemed like the perfect amount. I'm not a huge fan of cilantro and this amount didn't bother me)
juice of 1 lime
1 tbsp red pepper flakes (or more depending on how spicy you want it)

Put all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until ingredients are at the desired consistency



Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Bridal Shower!!

I've been rather MIA as of late, but I have a good reason :)
My little sister's first bridal shower was this past Saturday, and I had so much fun planning! 
I think I had more fun planning her shower than attending my own :)

We had the shower at my cousin's Leslie house because she has such a pretty backyard. 
The weather was beautiful, 
and it make our shower set up look even better.
There was a lot of fun playing games, laughing and opening presents, and I was so excited to see my sister excited about her new life! 

Here's a bunch of shots of the day:

The centerpieces


The game table :) The basket was for the Clothespin Game.


Jones Soda is McKenzie's favorite, so we knew we needed some.
Especially Cream Soda!



Grandma playing "He Said, She Said" :)


I'm so glad all of the bridesmaids were able to make it!



With our mama!

The future bride and future flower girl

She was very confused over McKenzie's excitement about gifts
 she thought were rather boring :)


The future newlyweds!