Dinner Tonight: Beef Enchiladas & Homemade Crustos

Yesterday my mother-in-law was telling me about a new recipe she's going to try: Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas. Mmm! Sounds enticing! So after hearing about her fun new recipe, the only thing I can think of all day is enchiladas, enchiladas, enchiladas... This is definitely not a go-to-meal in my kitchen, but something I love all the same. I'm out of chicken at the moment and I am a bigger fan of beef anyway, so beef is what's for dinner! Plus a fun, spur-of-the-moment Taco Time knock-off treat!

Easy Beef Enchiladas 

This recipe is a combination of my mom's version, a version from allrecipes.com, and my own adaptations. Its very very very basic. I am a little apprehensive about some enchiladas, so this one is completely tummy-safe!

1 onion, chopped
1/2 lb ground beef
1 can (store bought) enchilada sauce, because its easier that way
1 can olives, sliced
~1 c shredded cheese
4 flour tortillas


Brown the beef and onion. Cover the bottom of a medium casserole dish with a thin layer of enchilada sauce. (Feel free to use hot or mild, according to your liking. Today I'm using medium.) Divide meat mixture  among tortillas. Sprinkle a small amount of enchilada sauce (~2 t) and cheese (~1 T) over each portion of meat. Roll tortillas up and place seam-side down in casserole dish. Top with the rest of the enchilada sauce, sliced olives and plenty of cheese and bake at 350 for ~20 minutes. Just til its hot and melty and delish!



Here are my ultra cheesy enchiladas entering the oven. Yes, I know, that's a whole lotta cheese!

And there's the one lonely remaining enchilada at the end of dinner. What a melted, gooey, delicious mess!










Homemade Baked Crustos

This was a complete experiment! I remember hearing about baked crustos (rather than deep fried) somewhere, but I can't remember where. I googled it and could only find the deep fried versions. So I just winged it! And while I could make some improvements next time, these little treats were still ah-mazin'!

2 tortillas, each cut into eight wedges
2 parts sugar and 1 part cinnamon, mixed
water

Place oven-safe cooling rack on cookie sheet and preheat oven to 350. Dip tortilla wedges into water and then into cinnamon sugar mixture. Place wedges on cooling rack. Bake until crunchy, approximately 15 minutes. (I thought they would take 5 minutes or less, but I guess I got them a lot wetter than I thought.)

Bowl of water, bowl of cinnamon sugar and sixteen tortilla wedges.Time to dip!

Soggy, wet tortillas - into the oven!












And fifteen minutes later, golden crunchy goodness!












The possible improvements I would make involve the cinnamon sugar dipping process. Overall, it was a sticky mess in my bowl after just one wedge. I'm thinking that a cinnamon sugar shaker would work much better. Good luck! And most of all, enjoy!!!