Enchiladas and Cornbread, oh my!

I have had the worst craving for these two things. And most places I've been to usually make savory cornbread and while that's fine and dandy I just have never loved it. I'll eat it but usually regret it because it's just not the right flavor for me. So, I gave this recipe a whirl. It turned out really good and this dish was dairy free for those wondering. I used almond milk in lieu of the skim milk because that's what I had on hand and there was no flavor difference. To be honest it was the flavor I was looking for. A slightly sweet, but nice and dense cornbread. And I made it in my 2 quart crock pot!

I would never have thought you could make cornbread in a crockpot, but I don't have a working oven so I'm in a need to get creative mode. Hubs has tried a couple times to light the oven and it just doesn't work. A bummer because I love to cook almost as much as I love to eat. Scratch that, it's an even 50/50. I just hate the clean up. Anyway, try this sometime. I mixed the ingredients together and dumped it all in my greased crock and let it cook on high for almost 4 hours. It got a little brown on the edges which I actually like because it's kind of a carmelized taste.

Ok, onto the main star of the evening. I didn't do this dairy free because I had ingredients in the house that needed using up and I decided to cheat. I know I'll pay for it later as will Baby, but let me tell you it really was worth it. I also used prepackaged ingredients because I didn't have anything on hand. I haven't soaked a pot of beans yet and I don't have a pressure canner yet to do my own tomatoes. As for enchilada sauce I'm really about being lazy today so that's what I did. I've got a recipe from scratch though that I'll post once I dig it out.

Corn tortillas (6" diameter)

1 lb ground beef

1 large onion diced

5 cloves garlic finely diced

2 10 oz. cans medium enchilada sauce

1 10 oz. can of black beans drained and rinsed very well

1 can mild Rotel

8 oz. shredded Mexican cheese

In a skillet brown up some ground beef and chop it to the consistency you want. I did mine on the smaller side of being pretty well chopped up in there. I also used 93/7 beef. I hate using 80/20 beef 99% of the time so I use meat with less fat. (Part of the reason for this is that I hate draining meat and the other part is that the high fat meat is still pretty expensive and so much of it cooks out because it's fat which is a rip-off to me.) Anyway, once it's cooked turn up the heat for a minute and it'll cook off the grease, and throw in your onions then garlic. Once you hear the onions starting to sizzle turn the heat back down. Then add the black beans and just let things warm up for a minute. Turn off the heat and let it sit for little bit to cool off. Do some dishes. Or you can make some cowboy caviar which is what I did.

When the meat mixture is cool.....
Grease your 4 qt. or 6 qt.crock very well. I, surprisingly, remembered this step today! I've been notorious lately for forgetting to do so.
In the bottom scoop a little enchilada sauce then place tortillas to cover the bottom. I used 4 for the bottom of my crock. Then a spoon of the Rotel. Layer meat, another couple spoons of sauce, then cheese. Top with more tortillas. Do this until you run out. I think mine had three layers. Make sure you have some sauce and cheese left to round out the top of your tortillas there. Place on high and cook for 4 hours. I think I could have gotten away with it cooking only 3 hours but it was really good. It had flavor and a little kick to it. Garnish with whatever you like: salsa, sour cream, lettuce, olives. You get the idea!

Ok, onto the bonus of the cowboy caviar. I had this for the first time in my life just last month! Oh wow, what have I been missing. My good friend, the lovely V, is who introduced me to it. Here's what you need:

1 small can of black eyed peas drained and rinsed
a few stems/leaves of cilantro washed/dried and chopped (I just pinched and pulled off the bunch)
3 roma tomatoes seeded and chopped
2 green onions washed and chopped
1/2 large red onion diced
Pinch of kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper
3 oz. of Italian dressing

Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl, cover and refrigerate. Serve with tortilla chips.

Ok, so I have a full stomach and after writing this I'm ready for a third helping! Happy eating.  And don't worry, I will be tinkering soon and coming up with a tasty vegetarian recipe for this as well. ;-)

It's been awhile

I've been dealing with a lot lately that I haven't had much time or energy to do anything other than get through the day. With the move some big changes have been in the works for us. Setting up a new routine...well, more of adjusting to not having a bunch of people around. Routine is still the same. Tot has started testing with the local school district because he missed the cutoff for Early Intervention. You see, we've known now for a while that he's got something going on but just don't know what. From the beginning he's always been very high needs. If you don't know what that is here is a great idea of what that means. With all of this as he's gotten older he also has some incredibly intense tantrums that involve head banging on the nearest hard object, throwing toys/cups, and screaming like a banshee. Ignoring does nothing other than exacerbate the problem. So, we've started on getting Tot tested. I'm hoping that with this we will get some hopeful answers as to what is going on with him and so we can all learn to cope with the tantrums and help him navigate through his emotions so that he can have more time to play and be happy instead of spending so much time frustrated and angry. So that's where we're at right now and that's part of why I haven't been around to write. And I'm off to feed Baby. Have I mentioned that she's learned how to crawl and sit and now she's working on cruising? Oh boy!