Classic Shredded Beef Enchiladas

 

I don’t want to blow this out of proportion, but these might be the best enchiladas ever. To understand, I have to back up a little and explain how we got here.

 

 

When the stay home orders began, there was a major rush on groceries and household supplies, and I confess it triggered a preservation gene in me. I have lots of homestead skills, but we really don’t have much of a food storage. I have always enjoyed cooking, so a lot of the storage I have is ingredients to make things. However, when it comes to proteins (aka meat) I didn’t have a ton of recipes, or supplies.

 

So here we are, trying to find recipes that will keep my food storage a working system of fresh products, and not something that sits in a closet for 20 years. During the pandemic shopping, I found a 3lb package of shredded beef. That’s right, package… not canned. I was intrigued.  What could I do with this? Would it be worth it? Would it taste better than canned beef?

 

Oh, yes… yes it does!

 

 

I am so glad I went on a whim with this one. While I often will make my own shredded beef and freeze it, it’s nice to have alternatives.  This recipe can be used with homemade, fresh shredded beef, packaged beef, or even canned beef. Any way you try it, you are going to love it.

 

 

 

Shredded Beef Enchiladas

 

1 lb shredded beef

1 4oz can diced green chiles

1 28oz can red enchilada sauce (mild or medium, depending on how spicy you want it)

2 ½ c shredded Mexican blend cheese, divided

16 corn tortillas, warmed

 

 

 Preheat oven to 350. In a bowl, combine the meat, chili’s, ½ c enchilada sauce. In two 6 x 10 inch glass dishes (or one 9 x 13 inch glass dish) spread a thin layer of enchilada sauce, about ½ cup total.

Reserve about a cup of cheese to put on the top at the end. Place about ¼ c of the meat mixture along the edge of one tortilla. Sprinkle a little cheese in and roll the tortilla like a cigar. Place it in the glass dish and continue with that method until all the filling is used up. Evenly divide the enchiladas between the two dishes. Divide the remaining sauce between the 2 dishes, and pour it on top of the enchiladas. Make sure to cover the tortillas completely with sauce. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top and place in the oven.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbling. If you like a little brown crisp on your cheese, turn the broiler on for a few minutes at the end of backing. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for just a few minutes before serving.

 

*I make two dishes so that I can freeze one for a quick dinner another night. Each of the two dishes serves 4-6 people.

 

This recipe was adapted from Lil Luna’s Beef Enchiladas

 

Quarantine UFO Series #7, Stained Glass Quilt

Like I mentioned in my last quilty  post, Hawaiian Flowers Quilt, I dragged my kiddos off to BOM quilt class every month back in 2014. They were such troopers about it, and we created great memories together. After finishing the first set of blocks (12 months = 12 blocks) I was ready to get to work on finishing it. And then I got distracted... by a new BOM that was starting for 2015... I couldn't resist.

They changed the rules a little bit for the BOM this round and I couldn't resist. We were given a strip of Ombre fabric that went from selvage to selvage. That way we had the complete spectrum of each color. What cool fabric!

 

Each block had a different pattern and it was my challenge for myself to try to keep black between each piece of color fabric and to have the color spectrum go from lightest in the center to darkest on the outer edges of the block.  Most blocks worked out great! A couple had colors against each other, and that's okay. I love how vibrant the colors are and how the black really makes them stand out.

After 12 months of block making and monthly classes, life was starting to get busier with kids starting school and preschool and everything got tabled. I had all of the blocks, the colorful scraps and a big cut of black fabric to finish it, but it wasn't happening.  Other projects that needed to be completed quickly took precedence and I hoped eventually I'd be able to get back to this one.

 

Now that I'm cleaning up and completing UFO's, it was this ones turn. I decided to use the colorful scraps to make cornerstones for the sashing and mixed them up around the quilt. Otherwise, it's all black so the color in the blocks would really be bold and pop!

 

 

 

For the quilting, I wanted to keep it simple on the colors so I used a black meander on the black fabric and simple squares in the center of each color in the color of that fabric. It looks really cool on the back of the quilt to see the black meander moving through the blocks. 

 

 

I didn't have a plan for the back, but I knew I wanted something that represented all the colors on the front. I found this awesome watercolor fabric that is so vibrant and bold, and yet much lighter in color. It was a great contrast to the front while still pulling on the colors. I used that same fabric for the binding, and am happy with how the colors are represented all the way around.

 

 

 

 

Another gem finished! So many wonderful memories sewn into this quilt. I'm so glad I finally finished it. This will be a quilt for days when things feel gloomy in the winter as the colors are so inspiring and heart-warming.

Quarantine UFO Series #6, Hawaiian Flowers BOM Quilt

 

It feels like so long ago, and just yesterday at the same time. Back in 2014, when my kids were little (I’m talking 2-4 years old) I was craving some artistic outlet with others interested in my same hobby... quilting. At the time, there was a particular quilt shop that had an amazing BOM program called The Block Buster Block of the Month. Basically, you pay $3 and get 2 cuts of fabric and a pattern to complete a 12 x 12 inch block. As long as you complete your block and share it with the group in person at the next monthly meeting, you don’t pay again. There isn’t enough fabric to complete the whole block, so you add some of your own. The theme for this BOM year was batiks. It was perfect! 

 

 

The colors reminded me of flowers and a Hawaiian experience, so I added a green and a yellow from my stash. You’ll see in each block those colors are running themes. I also used scraps from previous months to enhance other blocks as we worked through the month. I made sure to imagine my flower in each block on point so that I would be able to complete the quilt on point as well.  

 

 

I had so many ideas and ambitions with this project! It was just what I needed. After a year of taking kids to meetings (and them behaving so well at every one) I had a completed stack of blocks. I started thinking about how to set it and searching for fabrics for sashing and backing and binding, oh my. But then, they started another block of the month that I was in love with too, and the project got tabled so I could make another set of blocks. A whole other story that I will be sharing soon.

Life got away from me. I only did those two years of BOM’s before we couldn’t make the commitment anymore, and I had enough work to complete already anyway. Kids got bigger, and busier, and I really wasn’t doing any quilting at all.

 

 

So, this is a quarantine story… and this was definitely a UFO that needed love and attention. I had found sashing, backing, and binding and it was all sitting on the shelf waiting for me to complete it. Now was the time.

 

 

I used the very last scraps of my green to create a few leaves and a vine that encircle the blocks. My husband wasn’t a fan of the asymmetrical design, but I love it! I felt like it added interest and a unique flavor.

 

 

At first, I struggled with how to quilt it. One night while trying to fall asleep, I had a brainstorm to use a meander in a circular pattern on each flower to give it waving petals look. Then, I used a meander with leaves in the sashing and borders. I finished it with a 2020 label tag and a hand stitched binding. Done and IN LOVE!!

 

 

I am so happy I finally finished this wonderful quilt. Every time I look at it, I’m reminded of the wonderful outings with my children to the shop for class and then off to lunch for a treat. This was an awesome project!