beyond cinderella

Eleven days from today Bill and I will be on our way back to Arizona for the winter, October 18^th through the end of May. We will stay in the beautiful San Tan Mountain Reserve, and again, we will work 20 hours a week in exchange for our camp space and full electric, water, and sewer hook-ups just like we did here at Quail Creek State Park. What a great way to live. Work/camping in our motorhome in beautiful surroundings, meeting so many new and interesting people every day, as we make our way across the United States and into Canada.

Bill and I just love the fact that we can work two shifts a week then have five days off to do the things we love to do. Things like exploring our new surroundings, hiking, picnics, and for me, cooking, which is one of my all-time favorite passions…

Yes, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to cook… For me cooking is a way to express creativity, especially because, with the exception of the first time I try a new recipe, I almost never follow that recipe exactly as it is written when I make the dish again. No, I almost always find ways to make it my own by adding to the ingredients or substituting one ingredient for another… Many, many, times I create my own recipes just by putting things I love together in fun and unique ways… Sometimes I end up with a big hit that my taste tester, Bill, loves and sometimes I end up with a complete flop that I won’t even let him see…. But most of the time things turn out good because the last thing I want to do is waste food..

All that said, yesterday I spent the afternoon making homemade red chili sauce that I used to make homemade ground beef enchiladas. Bill and I LOVED it!!

I can’t give you the exact recipe because, true to my cooking form, I don’t usually measure ingredients either…, but the red chili sauce was made with the following ingredients:

Canola oil

Flour

Chili Powder

Tomato sauce

Water

Cumin

Garlic Power

Onion Powder

Salt (optional and/or to taste)

Combine oil, flour and chili powder in sauce pan and heat until it turns to a paste-like consistency. Add the remaining ingredients and cook over med-low heat for about 10 minutes or until heated throughout and all ingredients are blended well.

This is what it will look like when you get it right… Why would anyone ever use that canned stuff when they could have this?

For the enchilada filling I browned 4-5 diced green onions, some finely diced fresh garlic, and one diced poblano pepper. Then I added in one pound of ground beef, some granulated garlic powder, and black pepper.

When the meat mixture is done it’s time to assemble the enchiladas. I don’t roll mine because I think layering the ingredients is better and it’s my creation, so I make it the way I want it to be… 🙂

I start by spraying a baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Then I put a little of the homemade red chili sauce in the bottom of the dish like this…

Next, I soften corn tortillas, one at a time, in hot oil. The key here is to just soften them and not allow them to cook or get crispy… Put them in the baking dish over the red sauce like this..

Now you begin layering the meat mixture and some shredded Mexican blend cheese over the softened tortillas much like making lasagna…

Continue the process with more red sauce, softened tortillas, meat mixture and cheese making sure to end with cheese on the top like this..

Bake in 350 degree oven until heated throughout and the cheese is bubbly and browned (about 30-40 minutes). It should look like this..

Let it sit/rest for about 15 minutes before serving so all the ingredients are set. Cut into squares and serve with a dollop of sour cream and some corn…

According to my taste tester, Bill, I’d say this was a winner.. and one of his favorites!!!

It made me happy to create this dish, and as you can see, it sure enough made Bill happy too!

As our time here at Quail Creek State Park is coming to an end, and because of the varying work schedules of the girls that work the gate booth as I do, we are already in the process of saying good-bye to some of the beautiful, special people we met and worked with during our stay, and that makes me SAD. I’ve never been good at good-byes…

Bill and I are excited to get back to Arizona… I need to see my daughters, Shantel and Katie, my mom, my brother, Danny, and we really need to see and reconnect with our long time friends in Arizona. I’ve missed them all and can’t wait to get back to Arizona, the place that will always be home to me, and where we will always go to spend our winters… But at the same time, I just can’t help feeling SAD at the thought of leaving the new friends we made here. But we promised to stay in touch, and that, makes me HAPPY! 🙂 🙂

Stay Tuned!