It’s Wednesday everyone and I am so excited. Today my Mom, Leona, will be our guest blogger. If you recall I wrote about my Mom a while back and mentioned that Mom is not one to seek out attention and does not like to be the center of attention at all. These are the reasons why it has been so difficult for me to get her to guest blog.
But I am a crafty one……Sunday night when I found out my Mom was making Easy Beef Enchiladas on Tuesday (yesterday), which is something that I never knew my mom made, I invited myself over with my camera to watch the process and ask a few little questions. I promised Mom that blogging doesn’t hurt, that the first time is the hardest and this time it’s me in the wings making sure that everything comes together just right for her first time. I think Mom did a great job, I know you will too!
So, without further gibberish from me, I’d like to introduce you to my Mom….Leona.
Leona
Hello Everyone….I’m Leona, Nancy’s mother. Nancy’s been after me for a while to guest blog, as you can see she finally cornered me and asked me to share a little bit about myself and a recipe so here we go……
As I was preparing today’s dish, to help me get started on the “Me” portion of this entry, Nancy asked a few questions one of which was “At what age did you start to help out in the kitchen?” As young teenagers my sisters, Pat, Carole and I would help our mother in the kitchen but we really didn’t cook the meal. We made salads, set the table and did the dishes.
It wasn’t until I was married to Nancy’s father Joe that I actually prepared a dinner, a meal, all by myself and I remember it well after all these years…we’ve been happily married for 59 years. One of Joe’s favorite foods is spare ribs so as a young bride I decided that spare ribs is what I would make as the first dinner I prepared. It did not go as well as I thought it was going to. I remember making them by placing them under the broiler and I was disappointed when they came out crispy and burnt….my new husband ate them and said they were delicious.
Through the years my cooking skills improved, I learned how to make traditional Polish foods like Borscht, both the white and the beet, pierogi, stuffed cabbage, kielbasa and sauerkraut to name a few. I made the dishes Joe loves like city chicken, veal and pork meatballs and of course spare ribs.
When the kids were little and still at home, I prepared meals everyday. A meat, a vegetable, a potato, rice or pasta and a salad. Once everyone left home and Joe and I were still working, I would cook a few days a week and we would eat out a few days a week. Now that we are into retirement I generally cook 2-3 days a week, we eat out maybe one day a week and the rest of the week we eat the leftovers.
Nancy asked if I had any dishes that were my favorite to make. For me, myself, I have to say no, not really although I do like my own spaghetti sauce recipe. I do, however, enjoy cooking meals that I know are Joe’s favorites.
I wouldn’t say that I think of cooking as a chore, but I will admit that I do like eating someone elses cooking. And even though I only cook a few days a week, I still prepare a “Weekly Meal Plan.” Generally I will plan our dinners around what meat(s) I have in the freezer and what items I can pick up on sale to use this time or the next time.
Although I don’t have a monthly rotation of recipes, I generally stick to the recipes I’ve been making for years. A few years ago I did make a committment to myself to make one new recipe a week and I did. These days I’ll try a new recipe if it sounds good and if it’s simple and quick.
In my spare time I volunteer with our parish food pantry. I also belong to another parish group that makes quilts for charity. Making quilts is new for me. Originally when I first joined the ladies I helped out by measuring and cutting squares. Within no time they had me hooked and I’m making quilts on my own as well. I really enjoy it.
In addition to quilting, I like to crochet, work on puzzles and read, mostly mystery and suspense novels.
So, that’s a little bit about me, let’s get to our recipe for today, Easy Beef Enchiladas. A few years ago I joined the Campbell’s Kitchen Recipe site and each day they would e-mail a new recipe; this is one of the recipes I received. It’s pretty quick to make and tastes delicious….our son John thinks they are as good or better than some restaurants.
There is a little joke in the family that I am not a “tweaker” that I stick to a recipe not willing to make any changes or deviations and generally I have agreed with that statement. I agreed until Nancy was here to observe the process and take photo’s when several times throughout preparation I said “well I add this instead of that,” or “I just add the whole thing.” It was Nancy who laughed and said “Mom, you really are a tweaker, that’s where I get it from!” So yes, I guess maybe I am a little bit of a recipe “tweaker.”
As i mentioned early this recipe is from Campbell’s Kitchen, here is the link right to the original recipe:
http://www.campbellskitchen.com/RecipeDetail.aspx?recipeId=26152
Before we post the actual recipe, I’d like to note the “tweaking” that I do:
- The recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups of enchilada sauce, about a can in a half, I use both cans.
- Rice is optional, I use the rice.
- Although we like a little spice to our enchilada’s the red enchilada sauce is a little too spicy so I use the green sauce.
- I usually use the 8″ tortillas, not the 10″
- I use 2 cups of shredded cheese on top of the enchiladas
- I pour some of the enchilada sauce onto the bottom of the baking dish
Easy Beef Enchiladas
Easy Beef Enchiladas
What You’ll Need:
Ingredients For Easy Beef Enchiladas
1 pound ground beef
1 package (about 1 ounce) taco seasoning mix or burrito seasoning mix
1 can (about 16 ounces) refried beans
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell’s® Condensed Cheddar Cheese Soup
1 medium onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1 cup cooked regular long-grain white rice (optional)
12 flour tortillas (10-inch), warmed
1 1/2 cups prepared enchilada sauce
Shredded Cheddar cheese
*Lettuce, tomato, onion and sour cream to serve on top or on the side
Directions:
Heat the oven to 350°F.
Cook the beef in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until well browned, stirring often to separate meat.
Brown Beef and drain the fat
Pour off any fat.
Stir the seasoning mix, beans, soup, onion and rice, if desired, in the skillet.
Stir in all the ingredients and mix well
You can do this right in the pan
Divide the beef mixture among the tortillas.
Fill each tortilla with the mixture
Roll up the tortillas and place seam-side down into a 3-quart shallow baking dish.
Roll up each tortilla
Place seam side down in baking dish
Pour the enchilada sauce over the filled tortillas and sprinkle with the cheese.
Pour enchilada sauce over enchiladas
Add Cheese
Bake for 20 minutes or until the enchiladas are hot and bubbling.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes.
If you make ahead of time and refrigerate you’ll need to add additional baking time.
ENJOY!!
Enjoy!!
rezichfamilykitchen 