See, I Really Am Back!!! Throw Together Enchiladas

Enchiladas.

I always feel like enchiladas are something I need a recipe for. They sort of scare me. Not the actual eating them but making them always sounds like such a big deal. But I found out, I was wrong!

I was at a friends for a playdate (don't worry, I had kids with me) and while I was there she was getting her dinner ready for that night. She was making enchiladas. And she had no recipe. In fact, she was just putting left overs together and they looked delicious. I decided that if she could do it so could I.

So I thought that I would do it. The next day. And they were AMAZING!

I'm so glad that I wrote down what I was doing as I was doing it because they turned out so good that I knew I had to share. I kind of can't believe that I have another recipe that I made up myself  (with a little inspiration). Maybe I really am back!

I hope so!

Throw Together Enchiladas - Kaycee Style

(oh, and my photos suck...sorry)

This is how I began:

Prepare 2 cups of rice (I was in a hurry so I used my emergency supply of minute rice)

While your rice is cooking get out your best pan for some sautéing fun...

Sauté: (Remember these are 'throw together' so use the veggies that your family likes)

1 Onion

a handful of Sliced Mushrooms

1 clove of Garlic

1 Red Pepper, diced

1 cup of Broccoli in small bite-sized pieces

When all of the above vegggies are soft and smelling amazing add:

1 can of Diced Tomatoes

1 cup of Puréed Pumpkin (I think that this is what made the enchiladas so good. The sweetness of the pumpkin cut the acidity of the tomato and it was good!)

A sprinkle of Mrs. Dash, and Salt and Pepper

Grate some cheese (I used Cheddar) while this all simmers together in goodness.

Find your wraps. Did you know there were wraps involved? There are!

Putting it all together:

Lay out your first wrap.

Add a spoonful or two of rice.

Add some of your sautéed veggies on top.

Sprinkle with cheese.

Wrap up and put it into a greased casserole dish seam side down.

Continue with the rest of your ingredients until your dish is full. If there are any remaining veggies (there should be) cover your enchiladas and then sprinkle with more cheese. (if you don't have any extra veggies then probably throw some spaghetti sauce of salsa over the wraps just to keep them from drying out)

Bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour.

Eat and be happy!

We liked these so much that I didn't get a pretty picture of this at all but there is a picture at least!

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Wraps: How many ways can you prepare them?

We like wraps. It is actually annoying because sometimes it feels like we are always eating wraps. Not that this si a bad thing but I like variety. 

Before Hazel was born Aaron was the cook at our house. It was fabulous. But...we were always eating pasta. I know, he clearly has some Italian heritage (with a last name like ours there is no doubt) but pasta everyday? Well, maybe not everyday but enough that I think by the time I took over the kitchen duties we were both ready for some variation. And what easier way then with wraps?

The first time I had a vegetarian wrap was at a friends house at lunch. She invited us to stay and have leftovers and the leftovers were warps. They were SO good! I asked her to send her recipe because it seemed so complicated and really, it was so easy. How do you make a delicious wrap? Let me tell you how I do it.

Easy and Delicious Wraps

The first thing you need to do is to choose what kind of 'grain' (I guess) you want in this wrap (Think Badass Jacks). Our two favorites are:

Rice

Vermicelli Noodles

Choose a variety of vegetables like...

1/2 an *Onion, chopped 

1 tsp of *Garlic, chopped

1/2 a Pepper

1/2 a cup of Mushrooms

1 thinly sliced Carrot

1/2 cup of frozen peas

(I think you guys are getting the idea)

 At this point you can add:

1/2 a package of Extra Firm Tofu. (I can't stand the texture of tofu but I know is value so I always cut mine into small bite sized pieces)

Beans (any kind)

Saute these veggies up until they are soft. Season your veggies how you want. They are delicious without anything, or try some:

Soy Sauce 

Spices

Peanut Sauce

or even some Salad Dressing, really, with whatever you have on hand.

the only picture I have from our wraps the other night. Notice the sunshine!

You are now done with the cooking part.

Want anything else on your wrap? We like to add to it like we would a taco:

Shredded Cheese

Lettuce

Sour Cream

Guacamole

Salsa

and sometimes

chickpeas

 Next, toss your tortillas in the microwave for 20 seconds so they are warm; fill them the way you want to; wrap it all up (I like to wrap it so there are no open ends) and eat!

If you are feeding kids this will be fun for them because they can choose what they are eating. Extra Cheese for me please!

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Sweet and Spicy! Black Bean and Sweet Potato Burritos

Okay guys, when you look at the ingredients for this one you may wonder what I'm getting you into... 

I was wondering the same thing. A friend emailed me this recipe a little while back and I was immediately intrigued. I had never come across a burrito recipe with sweet potato. We eat a lot of sweet potatoes (you know, for the twins) and so I was excited to see a new sweet potato recipe. I didn't really look at the list of ingredients though until I was preparing this last night and I questioned myself and the recipe the entire time. What was I making???

But, something must have been right because as you can all see this made it into our *favorite* category. Good sign for all of you. 

 This is wonderful mix of sweet and spicy, hot flavors. Follow the recipe just as it says. Don't skimp on your spices, I did because I was worried about the meal being to spicy for my kids tastes, but when we were all sitting down eating it I regretted it. The Sweet Potato is sweet and had I added the correct amount of spices the hit of flavors would have been even better than it was muted. 

Give this one a try. It may seem odd but was really yummy. Hazel actually ate twice as much as Aaron and I. Literally. 

Bean and Sweet Potato Burritos 

Bean Mixture

½ tablespoon vegetable oil 

½ large sweet onion, chopped 

1 cloves garlic, minced 

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed 

1 cup water 

1 tablespoon chili powder (remember, add the spices as the recipe calls)

1 teaspoons ground cumin 

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard 

2 tablespoons soy sauce 

Sweet Potato Mixture 

2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into large chunks

1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, seeds removed and chopped finely, or ½ tsp chipotle powder (powder is far less spicy) (I used the powder)

½ tsp dried coriander 

8 (6 inch) corn tortillas (I used just regular wheat wraps)

½ cup shredded Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese (I had cheddar so that is what I used)

To make sweet potato mixture: 

Place the chunks of sweet potato in a pot and cover with water; boil until potatoes are soft, about 15 minutes. Drain well; add the chili and coriander, and mash with a potato masher until well-combined. Set aside. 

To make bean mixture:

Heat oil in a large deep frying pan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté until softened, about five minutes. Add the beans and all remaining seasonings, stir well, bring to a boil and them simmer for about 20 minutes, until most of the liquid is absorbed. Mash some of the beans with a potato masher halfway through the cooking time to give a thick texture. 

Preheat the oven to 350 F. 

Heat the tortillas for 30 seconds in the microwave to soften. 

Spread 2-3 tablespoons of sweet potato in a line onto the center of a tortilla, then top with a similar amount of bean mixture. 

Roll up but do not seal ends. Place, seam-side down in a 9”x13” baking pan sprayed lightly with oil.(Parchment paper for me) 

 Repeat with remaining tortillas, lining them all up tightly side by side in the pan. 

Sprinkle burritos with cheese. 

Bake for 25 minutes or until cheese is melted and slightly crisped. 

Serve with sour cream and salsa to taste. Serves 4 generously. (we only ate half of the pan, the potato was so filling)

such runny salsa, weird

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Who Really Needs Chicken? Honey Mustard Tofu Wraps

Well, I do.

I really, really like chicken...but this Honey Mustard Tofu Wrap recipe really makes me think I could do without chicken forever. This is a fabulous recipe for Meat Eaters. It was so good and delicious that I even got away with telling my 2 year old slightly picky son that he was eating chicken. I know. Low. But he ate his entire wrap and didn't ask about the "chicken" again. I probably could have gotten away with deceiving other males at the table but I had already written "Honey Mustard Tofu Wraps" on the menu board earlier in the week.  

So...if you are looking to eat more vegetarian but others aren't so sure, try this one out!

This recipe was actually for chicken but I decided to try and pan fry some tofu (thanks Christina!) and it worked out perfectly. 

 I didn't get a picture of these, so how about one of the picky 2 year old?

Honey Mustard Tofu Wraps

1 package of Extra Firm Tofu, cubed

1/2 cup of Italian Seasoned Bread Crumbs or Shake 'n Bake (I used the bread crumbs)

2 Tbsp of Olive Oil

Heat your oil in a frying pan on medium high heat (If your oil is too hot or too cool the frying process wont work.)

Your Tofu needs to be coated in the bread crumbs. I pulled out one of my favorite kitchen tools for this job; The Large Ziploc Bag. Place cubed Tofu and Bread Crumbs into the bag. Seal and shake gently until everything is coated. Pan Fry your tofu until each side is browned. Set aside.

4 Tbsp of Light Mayonnaise (You guys all know that I didn't use light, but you can I guess) 

2 tsp of Mustard

2 tsp of Honey

2 tsp of Lemon Juice

2 cups of Shredded Lettuce

1 Tomato, diced

Combine the first 4 ingredients. (My honey was starting to crystallize so I mixed this in my Magic Bullet) 

You now have your sauce. 

Grab your wrap, throw on some diced Tomato, lettuce, tofu and drizzle it with your honey mustard sauce. Wrap and Eat!

Delicious!

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Teeny Weeny BEANY Burritos

Once upon a time, forever ago, I lived next door to 3 adorable little girls. I would go over and babysit and enjoy all of the girly perks that 3 small brothers didn't offer me; nail painting, dress-up and princess movies. Well, these adorable little girls went and did something terrible. They grew. And grew. And now they are old, which as you can probably guess makes me old too. BOO. I last saw them over a year ago and they were beautiful, and sweet and old enough to be babysitting my children. All of this growing kind of kills me a little. Well, anyway, the little girl who was stuck in the middle somehow got this recipe from the Chefs at NAIT (but don't ask me how). 

This meal was BRILLIANT! Super fast, delicious, and healthy. So So So good. I really appreciated the simple fast meal yesterday when at 2:00pm I decided to turn our kitchen into a sewing room, When we were ready to eat I still had a monster mess and was not ready to pack it all in. I ended up shoving everything in a corner whipping this meal up (and I mean it, it was so whip-able) and getting everyone fed 15 minutes later.

This is a recipe I will always keep the ingredients for on hand when I am in a rush and want something quick, and yummy. Thanks Girls for sending it my way.

Teeny Weeny Beany Burritos 

(I changed the name from Teeny Weeny Bean Burritos. I couldn't resist)

1-10 oz can of kidney beans 284 ml

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp chili powder

2 tsp butter

8 small tortillas (I used the regular size, so really our burritos weren't Teeny Weeny at all)

1/2 cup shredded lettuce

1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

1/2 cup salsa

Prep: 15 min cook: 10 min (4-6 servings)

1. Wrap tortillas in foil and place into a preheated 350 degree oven for about 10 mins.

2. Drain beans and then mash with enough water to give them a porridge like texture. (I threw mine in the blender for a few seconds. much faster and less grunt work)

3. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and chili powder and stir.

4. Add the bean mixture and simmer until thick.

5. Using oven mitts, remove warm tortillas from the oven.

6. Spread a little bean mixture on one end of the tortilla, add grated cheese, lettuce and salsa.

Roll up and serve with carrot, celery, green pepper, and cucumber slices.

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Avocado and Black Bean Wraps

My Husbands Grandmother has a subscription to Womens World  Magazine. I always flip through them while we are visiting. One afternoon I came across this recipe...We Love It.

So I prepared this last night. Our van had been in the shop for almost 2 weeks and grocery supplies we pathetically low. I had to compromise the recipe a lot. It turned out pretty good, a little bit bland but still yummy and super filling. 

Avocado and Black Bean Wraps

What you Need

2 ripe avocados
1 cup fresh or jarred salsa (I had about 3 TBSP of Salsa so I added Spaghetti Sauce to make up for it)
2 tsp oil
1 red pepper, chopped (No peppers left in the house so I used Onion and Celery)
1 cup shredded carrots
1/2 tsp ground cumin 
1 can (15 oz) low-sodium black beans, rinsed (I had cooked up a pile of Black Beans a couple weeks ago and froze them, so I used these instead)  1/3cup chopped cilantro (oops, none of this either. No wonder this turned out kind of bland)
4 whole-wheat wraps
4 cups coarsely chopped or shredded romaine lettuce (No lettuce either)

Recipe Preparation

1. Remove pit and peel avocados. Coarsely chop 1 avocado; mash the other avocado in a small bowl and stir in 1/4 cup salsa until blended. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside. (I skip this step because I find its just extra work and doesn't change the flavor in the end. Its all about efficiency) 
2. Heat oil in medium skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté pepper(or onion and celery) and carrots 3 minutes. Add cumin and cook 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add beans and remaining 3/4 cup salsa; heat through. Stir in the chopped avocado and cilantro (if you have it); mix well. 
3. Spread about 3 Tbsp mashed avocado-salsa mixture on each wrap and top with 1 cup lettuce. Spoon 1 cup bean mixture over bottom third of wrap. Starting at bottom, roll up tightly. Place seam side down on serving platter. Serve with lime wedges. 

*We added sour cream to our wraps last night. Like I said previously, They were pretty good. maybe 3.5 Stars. Ive made this exactly as the recipe calls as well and it is SO yummy. Try it tonight!

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