RECIPE: Fiesta Enchiladas

Fiesta Enchiladas is the finally resting place for our Taco Soup recipe.  Let me explain:

I try to be creative with our leftovers as my husband is not fond of them.  When I made Taco Soup (or chili as we call it in the house), I always have about 4-6 cups leftover.  Since we have "soup night" on Thursdays and we have "Tex-Mex Saturdays", I'll plan to use part of the Taco Soup in Saturday's meals.  The lunch nachos will be topped with leftover soup, for example.  Then for supper, I brown up more beef (usually about 1/2-3/4 pound) and add the rest of the soup for Tacos.  When we have Tacos, I almost always plan Rice & Beans.  The leftover Rice & Beans get mixed with any leftover Taco filling and that concoction is the filling for the Fiesta Enchiladas.

This time I made the Red Enchilada Sauce from scratch, it was so easy!

• 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 Tablespoons all purpose flour
• 2 Tablespoons Chili Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 cups water
• 2 teaspoon tomato chicken boullion
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon dried cilantro

Heat oil over medium heat in saucepan.  Add flour and chili powder and whisk together; cooking 1 minute.  Add remaining ingredients and boil 10 minutes whisking occasionally.  Remove from heat and use in your enchilada recipes.

To make Fiesta Enchiladas:

• 10-15 corn tortillas
• "Taco Soup/Taco night/Rice & Bean" Filling (LOL!)
• shredded cheddar cheese
• Red Enchilada sauce (see above recipe)

I heat the corn tortillas covered in a damp dish towel in the microwave for about a minute or two, turning and rotating half-way through the cooking time.  Then add about 1/4 cup of filling, 1-2 Tablespoons shredded cheese and a spoonful of red sauce.

Roll them up and put in greased 13x9 casserole dish, seam-side down.  Continue to fill and roll the corn tortillas until the pan is full.  Pour about 1-1/2 cups of Red Enchilada Sauce over the top and sprinkle with more cheese.  Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes until bubbly.

I make this on Saturday night after dinner and then freeze the casserole for later in the month.  It makes it easy to pull out of the freezer and straight into the oven.  Bake at 350 for an hour until bubbly.

Enjoy!

This post has been linked to:

• Mouthwatering Monday at A Southern Fairytale
• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace 
• $5 Dinner Challenge at $5 Dinners