Engagement Enchiladas

Can I just say that I miss blogging? I do. I feel like real life has just been getting in the way lately. My schedule goes something like this: work three or four nights in a row, recover for the next 24 hours, clean the house, do some laundry, cook some food, see my husband, hang out with the dog. Rinse, repeat. I'm certainly not complaining, but working nights has kind of thrown things a little off. I normally like to blog in the mornings. And I don't really have mornings anymore. But that's ok. The night shift paycheck makes up for it. And my fantastic coworkers. I'm trying to remember that this is just a season. I won't always work nights. And for right now, it really is ok.

I was going through my camera and found these photos that I meant to share awhile back. These enchiladas are one of the top five reasons my husband picked me to marry. They are filling and simple and feed a bunch of people or make great leftovers. And I've memorized the recipe. Perfect.

You've heard of engagement chicken? These are my engagement enchiladas. Lock it down, ladies. Lock it down.

Easy Engagement Enchiladas

1 lb ground beef, browned
1 onion, diced
1 can refried beans
2 cans enchilada sauce
8 oz shredded cheese
10 tortillas

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Dice up the onion, like so. You could omit the onion if your family hates onions. Or just use half an onion. Or you could add some diced bell peppers. I made this recipe up and make it different almost every time. Freedom!

2. Brown up the ground beef and the onion together. I like to leave a wee bit of pink in the meat since we are throwing it in the oven later. Drain off some of the fat. Or all, if that's what you are about.

3. Mix up the refried bean and enchilada sauce. I mix them in a pie plate for reasons you will see later. It takes a couple minutes for them to really get together. Just be patient and keep stirring.

4. Shred up the cheese. You could skip this step by using pre shredded cheese, I do it so I won't judge. But the kind you shred yourself really tastes better and melts so much prettier too. Here I just used a medium cheddar but I've been known to use any variety of cheeses. (Within reason of course. Feta, stay out of my enchiladas!)

5. Make your assembly line. Get out a 9"x13" pan. Put your tortillas next to your bean mixture. Cheese and meat within reach. Your hands will get messy. Beware. Disregard how I did not crop this photo.

6. Ok. So take a tortilla. You really can use any tortillas but I love the whole wheat or whole grain. I think they stand up well and don't get all mushy and just taste great. Your tortilla fits perfectly in the pie plate, so dip it in there and get the bean mixture all up on it.

7. Put it in the bottom of the pan. Add about a 1/4-1/3 cup of meat and a sprinkle of cheese. Roll it up. Repeat times nine.

8. Mix up any remaining meat mixture with any remaining bean mixture. Spread it on the top. Sprinkle remaining cheese on the top. Cover with foil.

9. Bake for 20 minutes at 350, uncover and bake for an additional 10 minutes. The cheese should be all melty and bubbly when you take it out.

10. Serve it to your man. Eat it. Be happy. Get engaged. Get married. Have lots of babies. Live happily ever after. Make him enchiladas every once in awhile, just to remind him how good he has it.

You could put cilantro or sour cream or guacamole on top. That would be delicious.

Or you could eat it out of the pan. Whatever.

Just make these soon. Your stomach and your man will thank you.

Happy Weekend friends!