Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Homemade Enchilada Sauce


 

So I've been trying  to stay away from as much processed foods as possiable. In some case you cannot avoid them, but in most cases you can. Today I made homemade enchilada sauce. It was so easy and to be honest it so much cheaper making it at home than it would be buying a can on the ready made. So this mommy, will not be buying the canned stuff again.

Also great thing about this recipe is that you can make a larger batch and freeze the sauce for another time. Nothing more helpful when rushing to put something together last minute.

Like always....Happy Cooking!

Inspired by: Emeril Lagasse

 

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

  • 3 tablespoons of Vegetable oil
  • 1 tablespoon flour
  • 1/4 cup chili powder
  • 2 cups chicken stock
  • 10 ounces tomato sauce
  • 1 teaspoon of sugar
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO:

In a medium saucepan heat oil and then add flour and stir with a wooden spoon.  Cook for 1 minute.

Add chili powder and cook for 30 seconds.

Add stock, tomato sauce, suagar, salt, and cumin. Stir to combine.

 Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and cook for 15 minutes.

The sauce will thicken and smooth out.

 Serve atop your favorite enchiladas. 


 

Easy Turkey Enchiladas


I've always taken pride in making healthy meals for my family. When I went back to work after a year and a half, buying a new house, and then having a second child. I found myself looking for shortcuts and not always making the right food choices, because "I didn't have enough time". Over the past year, and not getting all the "baby weight" off as fast as I did with Jonathan. I took a good look at the foods that I was making, and in some cases the carry out I was bringing home. And all I could think was no wonder it's been a long road. The processed foods, the lack of veggies, it's all affecting our health, and in the time that it would take me to make a "ready-made meal”, or use my short cuts, I could make something at home which was better for us.
And this recipe just happens to be one of the many new quick meals that I have come to use a lot.
 
Inspired by: Guy Fieri
 
WHAT YOU'LL NEED:
 
· 1 pound lean ground turkey
· 1 1/2 cups diced onion
· 1 1/2 cups finely diced zucchini
· 12 tortillas
· 2 1/2 cups enchilada sauce, you can buy the canned sauce, (try this homemade Enchilada Sauce it's so much better than the canned stuff.)
· 3 cups cheddar- jack shredded cheese
· 1 cup shredded lettuce
· 1 sliced avocado
· sour cream
 
 
 
 
 
WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO DO:
 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9x13-inch pan with nonstick spray.
 
Heat oil in a large skillet. Add ground turkey and break apart to crumble the meat.
 
Sauté the meat on medium heat until browned.
 
Once meat it browned, remove cooked meat to a bowl and set aside.
 
Return pan to medium heat and add onion and zucchini. Saute until just softened.
 
Remove the vegetables from the pan and add to the meat mixture.
 
Add 1/2 cup of sauce to the prepared pan and spread it around so it coats the entire bottom evenly.
 
Place tortilla on a work surface. Spoon 1/4 cup of the meat mixture down the middle.
 
Add 2 Tablespoons of cheese on top of the meat. And then top with 1 Tablespoon of sauce.
 
Wrap the tortilla around the filling tightly and place it seam-side-down in the pan.
 
Repeat the steps above with remaining tortillas and filling until you have finished filling until you are out of tortillas.
 
Place the tortillas side-by-side in the pan. It is recommended that they are snuggled in tightly so that they do not open when baking.
 
Pour remaining enchilada sauce over the top of the stuffed enchiladas and top with remaining cheese.
 
Bake for 30 minutes and then serve immediately with desired condiments.

Like always happy cooking!