I don Like En La Das!

Last night I made one of my favorite dishes.  Sorta.  I've had an EASY and YUMMY enchilada recipe I've been using for years!  It's adapted from a skillet enchiladas recipe, that's not really enchiladas, but yummy all the same.  Okay, so I just did the sauce idea from the skillet enchiladas.  What the heck, I'll include both recipes.

Back to what I was going to post in the first place.

I decided to make my life easier last nice, and make a healthier version of enchiladas than usual.  I usually do the flash fry of the corn tortillas thing to make sure the tortillas roll instead of tear, which of course makes the dish yummy, but greasy.  Instead of rolling, I stacked.  So, essentially, I made Enchilada Lasagna.  Or as I'm going to call it Enchilada Casserole!  I served up a nice chilled (since he doesn't like hot food) plate for Jake, which included rice, his favorite thing to eat other than cookies or fruit snacks.  So, I ask him to take a bite.  He says OK and picks up a piece with a fork, and put it to his mouth, made a FUNNY FACE and said "I don Like En La Das!".  Oh well.  Maybe Next time.

Here's my take on Enchilada Casserole that Jake did not like.

Enchilada Casserole

1 small package corn tortillas (white or yellow, whichever you either have or like) I think there were about 20 in the package.  Used all but 2 of them.

2 cans MILD (for the boy which didn't matter anyway) Enchilada sauce

1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup

Shredded cheese - I used Fiesta blend

Green onions, chopped - Optional (can use white, but I like the green onions better)

Cilantro - Optional (neither one of my guys like it, but I LOVE IT so, I put it on part of it.

In a large bowl, mix the 2 cans of enchilada sauce and 1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup (do not add water or milk).  Place a thin layer of sauce in bottom of 9x13 baking dish.  Layer tortillas, then cover in sauce and part of the cheese.  Repeat layering until all tortillas are gone, then top with sauce and cheese and onions and cilantro.

You can also add a layer (or two) of ground beef or shredded chicken or even pulled pork if you want!

Bake at 400 until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbly!  Serve with Rice and Beans or a small salad with sour cream  YUMMY!

Yummy Cheesy Layers instead of individual wrapped Enchiladas

Tasted the same! Easier to make!  

The Skillet Enchiladas are so easy too!

1 lb ground beef

1 small finely chopped onion

2 cans MILD Enchilada sauce

1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup

2 cups crushed tortilla chips (thick makes it really taste like enchiladas)

Shredded cheese - I used Fiesta blend

Green onions, chopped - Optional 

Cilantro - Optional 

In a large skillet, saute onions in a little olive oil.  Add Beef and cook.  In a large bowl, mix the 2 cans of enchilada sauce and 1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup (do not add water or milk). Add sauce to skillet, mix well and heat through.  Turn off heat, and gently add chips and mix.  top with Cheese, cover and let the cheese melt.  THAT'S IT!  YUMMY!  

I can't remember where I got this one, I think it was in a ground beef cook booklet I bought as an impulse at the grocery story when I was first married so I could learn to cook for two instead of "college food".

Happy Eating!

Pinterest WIN!!!

Okay, so Dean and I have been trying to plan our meals better to make grocery shopping easier, and its a way for him to help me for our busy schedules.  So, this week, I wanted to try something different.  When I usually want something different, it's usually pork.  We eat a lot of ground beef (tacos, spaghetti), steak, and OMG a ton of Chicken, as well as pizza (cause the boy likes Pizza!).  So, Pork is different for us.

When I do buy pork, it's usually either pork chops (duh!) or a pork loin/roast and I do the crock pot thing.  I wanted to do something REALLY different this time, so I found a pinterest idea for a pork loin wrapped in bacon and roasted for 40 min or so.  YUM!

Pinterest Link Here

Looks Good, YES!  Very simple, marinate (or buy already marinated) pork loin, wrap in bacon, and roast at 375 until internal temp reaches 165.  Hey, I CAN DO THAT!

So, I bought a pork loin, followed instructions, and this is what it looked like before roasting

MMMMM Bacon

And, I did make a minor mistake.  I put the pork roast on top of the bacon, instead of just the ends and wrapping the top with the longest pieces.  And, we bought cheap bacon, so it was mostly FAT.  I also could not find my wire rack for my pan, so all the fat rendered from the bacon needed to be poured out half way through the cooking.  It also took longer than 40 minutes.  It took about an hour, but I think it was because it was a bigger roast.

So, this is how it turned out...

The bacon all unwrapped from the top. 

 It's not tight and pretty like the one on Pinterest.

HOWEVER, even though it did not look picture perfect, it was ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS and oh so tender!!!  Wow!  Even Dean said it was restaurant quality!  :)  Jake didn't eat much of it, but that's ok.  He ate all his rice and peas and a few bites of pork.

And, since this pork roast is big, and we are only three people, I was able to make a "Round 2" recipe I found on Food Network for a Open Faced Roasted Pork Sandwich!

Open Faced Roasted Pork Sandwich

with Cole Slaw

Food Network version

I didn't follow this one, but I was inspired by it.

I took some sour dough bread slices, lightly veggie oiled them and grilled the on my grill pan.  Then, I chopped up a potato (kinda small) and onion and boiled them with a lot of salt and a little pepper.  Then, chopped the pork roast (bacon and all) and mixed it all together, then topped the bread, then topped with cheese and threw them in the broiler until the cheese melted.  No mustard, mayo or dressing, just the salty sweet pork and potatoes!

Again, Dean complimented me by saying this was BETTER than anything we could get at a restaurant, it tastes like it's from Panera!  I had to agree, it was AWESOME and very hearty.  SCORE!!!  Even Jake liked it this time!  Well, he thought he was eating potatoes, but he din't like the cole slaw.

Cannot WAIT to try more Pinterest Food Ideas!  I pin so many I forget to look sometimes.  And, most of the time, those ideas just don't work out.  But this one was a HUGE success!

I LOVE Mac N Cheese

One of my favorite meals in the world is Mac N Cheese.  No, nothing else with it, just Mac N Cheese!  My sister would agree with me, every time she thinks of the blue box, she thinks of me!  My Husband knows this too, and he's even been known to enjoy a box with some hotdogs cut up in it!  :)  Jake's gonna LOVE us for that one!  By the way, my world WAS rocked at some point when my sweet mother made us Mac Casserole, and she completey ruined my taste for the best meal ever for several days...she put TUNA in the MAC N CHEESE!!?!??!  YUCK!

So, you can imagine my excitement when I was at the store looking for yummy new food for Jake, and I came across the best site EVER! 

YES!  Baby food Mac N Cheese!!!  I couldn't wait to give it to Jake, just hoping he would LOVE IT!

Nothing better for dinner than Beef and MacNCheese!

And, wouldn't you know it....HE ABSOLUTELY LOVES IT!!!!

All I have to say is

That's My Boy!

Sweet Potato Pie!

As promised, pictures of Jake having a yummy time with Sweet Potatoes!

He's now eating 2.5 oz at a time, ziggy piggy!!  And, he loves the sweet potatoes, squash, and carrots!  On to Green Veggies next!

Bonus points if you know the movie this is from!

mmmmm, sweet potatoes!!!

Well, maybe not??

more on the outside than inside!  :)

BTW, anybody know how to get orange sweet potato out of a white bib?  :)

Solid Food? I don't think so!!!

So, last week we started on solid foods for Jake.  We were really excited and got the rice cereal and bowls and spoons and were ready to go! 

Well, guess what.  The boy HATES rice cereal!!!  YUCKY!!!

 Breakfast of Champions!!!

 Messy Eater!!!

Okay, I think I've had enough!!!

This week we tried some sweet potatoes and he liked that MUCH better!  Also, he likes eating solids better at 10am than at 6am.  No idea why, but we will go with that!!!

Hopefully he will get the hang of this soon!  He's not getting full from the bottle alone anymore.