Enchiladas

Murad & SamSampson Lee

Maya Leigh

Me & My Maya

So, tonight I channeled my inner domestic goddess and cooked something from scratch. Okay, so it's about as close to scratch as I'm going to get! Murad and I had been CRAVING enchiladas, so I got really ambitious and made them for us. They were so good! So Yummy!

• Grapeseed oil (or another high smoke-point oil such as peanut or canola oil)
• 12 corn tortillas
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1 cup of salsa (Mild prepared salsa or make your own using cooked or canned tomatoes, roasted green chiles, onions, cilantro, oil and vinegar. Do not use salsa made with fresh, uncooked tomatoes for this dish.)
• 3 Tbsp of tomato paste
• 1 cup of water
• 1 lb of jack cheese, mild cheddar or longhorn or any mild yellow cheese, grated

1 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2 In a large fry pan at high heat add 3 Tbsp of grapeseed oil. Add a tortilla to the pan. Cook for 2-3 seconds, lift up the tortilla with a spatula, add another tortilla underneath. Cook for 2-3 seconds, lift again, both tortillas, and add another tortilla underneath. Repeat the process with all the tortillas, adding a little more oil if needed. This way you can brown and soften the tortillas without using a lot of fat. You do this process to develop the flavor of the tortillas. As the tortillas brown a little, remove from the pan one by one to rest on a paper towel, which absorbs any excess fat.

2 Sauté up the chopped onion and garlic, then turn off the heat. Add 1 cup of salsa. Dissolve 3 Tbsp of tomato paste into 1 cup of water, add to pan.

3 Put some olive oil on the bottom of a large casserole pan. Take a tortilla, cover 2/3 of it lightly with the shredded cheese, then roll up the tortilla and place it in the casserole pan. Continue until all tortillas are filled and rolled. Add sauce to the top of the tortillas in the the casserole pan. Make sure all are covered with the sauce. If not, add a little water. Cover the whole thing with the rest of the grated cheese. Put the casserole in the oven for 10 minutes or until the cheese melts.

Voila! Tasted just like something from a Mexican restaurant except cheaper and less fattening. I sort of made it as a Pre-Father's Day Celebration! Yes, that's right. We celebrate Father's Day in our house. Even though Abby isn't here, it's important that I do something special for my man. He is such a good father to her even from afar. He is also a great dad to our two dogs. Makes me excited for when we have little kiddos of our own. Not anytime soon though!

So, this week I'm going to Austin! I'm a little nervous. I'm going by myself and I do not know what to expect. My curriculum director nominated me for this position back in the fall. I honestly didn't think I would get it, but I'm glad I did. I will review curriculum documents for English/Language Arts/Reading for students who have some sort of developmental disability that prevents them from taking state assessments. So I am a little nervous because I do not work with this population, so I wonder what type of insight I can provide. Oh well. I guess they chose me for a reason, right?

I'll miss my babies though. They started sleeping with us again. At first Maya slept in the bed with me until Murad came to bed and Sam would only sleep with me if Murad was out of town. This week, Sam started sleeping next to me. I'm not sure how his 67 lb. body does it, but he makes room for himself in our bed. Maya sleeps in our bed, usually at the foot of the bed (although last night she was on my pillow...go figure), but she still ends up on the floor in the morning. That's our crazy life. So different than what I expected. I never would've pictured that I would share two beautiful dogs with the guy I met on at the airport over two years ago. I was such a party girl, but not really. I was going through the motions of being what I thought a "single girl in the city" was, but I longed for something more fulfilling. And even though many of the changes I made in my life were my decisions, I couldn't have done it without his support and love. I do wish I was more confident when I was single, but I have no desire to go back and be single again. I can only be the more confident taken-girl.

Well, this is the point in the blog when I start rattling off wedding plans. It seems that they are consuming my life at this point. This week, I contacted all the vendors, but I still have a lot of work to do.
1. set appointments with the two pastors we are considering. I wish my fiance would just set a day and time for this. He's so picky about when he wants to meet. I wish I could do this without him, but this is one of the many things for which I need him. Our ceremony is the MOST important part of the wedding!
2. pick out tuxes. I guess there is no rush, but I just want to make sure their vests and ties match the sash on the bridesmaid dresses and the flower girl dresses. My bridesmaids need to order their dresses soon and I haven't given them any guidance!
3. book the DJ. We played phone tag all week.
4. call the Holiday Inn and check on our block.
5. Make my save the dates and mail them. I still need to trim the guest list and finish the website.
6. Call my dental hygienist and make sure she is still doing our wedding and groom's cake. (ironic, I know...I wonder if it's cavity-free)

On a brighter note, my mom called today and said she found star soap molds. My grandma is going to make star soaps (for the Lone Star State) as our favors. They're cute,they're simple and essentially free!

I need to let the dogs out and finish some laundry and then to bed, to bed, I said!