Like Mother Like Daughter

Nowadays, most of the time I'm rushing to get dinner on the table, which means that a great majority of the meals I serve are of the easy-to-prepare variety. I make use of the slow cooker a lot in the fall and winter, and the grill in the spring and summer. And while a lot of these quick dishes are also tasty, very few of them fall within the category of my favorite recipes.

Most of what I consider my (and my family's) favorites are actually recipes that I grew up with. Dishes my mother made, to be exact. And while none of them are overly difficult, they're also slightly more time consuming than my average get-on-the-table-fast dinners. In fact, a lot of my favorite recipes that originated from my childhood are the same dishes my children choose for their birthday dinners. Isn't that cool?

I thought a lot about which recipe to share with you all, and after talking with my kids, the recipe that everyone loves the most is my mother's version of enchiladas. While this recipe is definitely an Americanized version of enchiladas, they're also the recipe most asked for by my family and friends.

I should point out that I don't really know the precise amount of some of the ingredients, as (with a lot of my mother's recipes) it's a lot of "what looks right," and "what tastes right," but I don't think anyone will have any problems recreating these enchiladas in their kitchen...so here we go: Krystene's Enchilada Recipe:

1 to 1.5 pounds of ground beef (depending how meaty you like your enchiladas)
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced (or more if you really like garlic)
Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese (this is the what looks/tastes right portion of the recipe)
2 small cans of enchilada sauce (mild, medium, or hot--your choice. We use mild or medium)
1 package of flour tortillas (10 to 12), around six inches in diameter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large skillet, brown the ground beef with the onion and garlic on medium heat until the meat is fully cooked. Drain off the fat. In the same skillet, mix in approximately 1 cup of the cheddar cheese (more or less as you prefer) and stir until the cheese is melted and evenly distributed throughout the meat/onion/garlic mixture.

In a 9x15-inch baking dish, spread one can of enchilada sauce along the bottom. Spoon the enchilada filling into the tortillas, roll, and place seam-side down in the prepared baking dish. Coat with the second can of enchilada sauce, and then sprinkle additional cheddar cheese over the enchiladas (approximately 1/2 cup).

Cover the baking dish loosely with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

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You can serve the enchiladas with sour cream or as is. Rice and a salad are our normal side dishes for this meal, depending on how many folks we have over for dinner, but honestly--they're a meal in themselves and make excellent leftovers.

Okay, there you have it--one of my family's favorite recipes, and while they're not completely homemade (I have no clue how to make homeade tortillas or enchilada sauce!), these enchiladas have proven to be a crowd pleaser time and time again.

If you decide to make them, let me know how they turn out!