Enchiladas you can't beat!!!

Hi everyone! I am sorry I haven't posted in a while. Time just got away from me. Plus, I haven't been cooking a whole lot of great meals. It's so hard to cook for one person. I always end up having so many left overs that just sit my refrigerator forever because I get tired of the meal and end up throwing it out. As an apology, I am finally going to post my enchilada recipe so many of you have been asking about!! This is one of my favorite recipes to make for large groups of people. Not only is it delicious, but it is also inexpensive and you can make it ahead of time and just pop it in the oven 30 minutes before you are ready to eat! It's a great dish for summer pool parties and lake days when you want to spend minimal time in the kitchen. Enjoy!!

Ashley's Beef Enchiladas

Fire Level: yellow-red

Ingredients

• 3 pounds ground beef (or sirloin, or chuck, depending on how lean and inexpensive you want to go)
• 1 large can refried beans
• 2 10 oz. cans enchilada sauce (I prefer the red sauce. Get the mild for yellow fire level, medium or hot for orange-red fire level)
• 1 package of burrito size flour tortillas (you can go wheat if you want to be healthier, but come on, this isn't a healthy dish, the flour is soooo much better!)
• Lots of your favorite salsa (remember your salsa will affect your fire level too, so choose accordingly)
• Pickled jalapenos (this is optional of course, depending on how fiery you want to get)
• 1 package shredded cheddar cheese (you can substitute a Mexican blend for an extra kick)

Step 1: Cook ground beef

Cook up all your ground beef in a large skillet, making sure to break it all up. Then drain it in a colander under hot water. This is a trick my mom taught me a long time ago to rinse some extra fat and grease off of the meat. For this recipe, it also cools off the meat which is necessary. You will see why below! :)

Step 2: Add in the Flava!

In a really large mixing bowl, pour in your grand beef, your large can of refried beans, and about a cup or so of salsa. You want to mix it all together really well. What you will find is the refried beans like to clump together, so it's really hard to get everything mixed in well. This is where the fun part comes in! Take off all your rings, wash your hand really well, and dig into the mixture with those claws!! Any break or pizza dough maker will tell you, no utensil mixes better than the two instruments God gave you. Kneed all the mixture together so that everything is well blended.

Step 3: Wash your hands

Your hands will feel gross and gooey once you remove them from the mixture, so you will want to give them a good washin'. :)

Step 4: Put it all together

Cover the bottom of a 9x13 casserole dish with enchilada sauce. Take each flour tortilla one by one and scoop a couple large spoon fulls of the beef mixture down the middle of a tortilla. Wrap them up really tight and lay them into the pan. Once all your enchiladas are in the pan really tightly up against one another, cover them all with more enchilada sauce. You want to make sure every inch of tortilla is covered with sauce.

Step 5: Top it off with my favorite

CHEESE! Cover the top of the enchiladas with cheese. You can also cover the enchiladas witih jalepenos before the cheese to add in an extra bet of fire! Then, you want to cover the enchiladas with aluminum foil. This is VERY important. When cooking, you want to keep the aluminum foil on at all times or else the cheese will become crispy and rubbery.

Step 6: Store or Cook

If you are not planning to eat for a while, you can put the enchiladas in the refrigerator until you are ready to pop them in the oven. When you are ready, cook them at 350 degrees for about 30-45 minutes, depending on your oven. Once the cheese is all the way melted, they will be ready!!

Step 7: Serve

Let the dish set for a few minutes. I don't cut out each individual enchilada/burrito tortilla as one individual enchilada. It's better if you cut them in squares as if you are cutting brownies.

Sides: Serve with jalepenos, salsa, and sour cream. I also like to serve with Spanish rice. Lipton has a rice side dish packet that is really delicious and easy to make. I think it makes a great addition to the dish.

ENJOY! This is the recipe I get more requests for than any other, so eat with caution, and yes, it's ok to go back for seconds. :)