Last Night's Dinner - Homemade Enchiladas!

Last night I made the best dish I've made yet! It was homemade enchiladas, and DAMN they were good! My husband always wants me to make them (but I only do here and there so we never get sick of them hehe) And they were so easy! I basically only needed a 6oz can of tomato paste, small tortillas, a packet of enchilada mix, 2 cups of water, a bag of cheddar cheese, fake meat crumbles, and any filling I wanted to add (I put in chopped mushrooms and diced onions)! The whole process took only an hour, but that is because I'm a slow chopper of veggies, lol. If I was quicker with that, I'd say it would take about 45 minutes total. This makes 8 enchiladas.

First, you combine the water, enchilada mix and tomato paste in a pot and whisk it, then bring it to a boil. While it is heating up, in a skillet (make it a large skillet, with high edges, because you are gonna fill that baby up!) start to sautee the mushrooms and onions (or whatever you choose to put in the enchiladas, I've found, making these a few times now, that this is the tastiest combo I've had ... if you want a little kick, add a jalapeno!) and after about 3-5 minutes of sauteeing them, dump in the fake meat crumbles, which cook in minutes. If you overcook them, they turn rubbery and kinda taste weird, so be careful when you add them to the skillet! Once those are sauteed and the sauce mix is boiling, remove both from the heat and turn off the burners. Find a huge bowl or shallow bowl, one big enough to dip your tortillas in with tongs. Pour HALF of the sauce mix into the bowl, and the other HALF into the sauteed veggie and fake meat crumble mix, stir the latter so the sauce is spread evenly.

Now you start making the enchiladas! First, make sure you have an oven safe platter. I like using one that has high edges vs. a baking sheet, but either will work. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Dip a tortilla in the sauce mix and make sure both sides are coated (not too much, or you won't have enough for all eight!). Transfer it over to your oven safe platter/baking sheet and spoon some of the filling mix into the center. You won't need a lot, because they are small. Once you have enough in there to be full, but not overflow when you roll the enchilada, add some shredded cheese to the mix and roll that baby up! I like folding one end, then rolling the sides up, but you can do whatever you want. Repeat this for all eight enchiladas. And yes, it will be messy! But very worth it. :)

Lastly, once you have all the filling mix used and all the enchiladas rolled and covered in the sauce mix, which should be all used up by now, but if it isn't, you can pour the remaning on top of the filled enchiladas. You should have about a third of a bag left of the shredded cheese, which I also dump on the tops of the enchiladas before baking. Now, all you have to do is put the pan in the oven and set the timer for about 17 minutes and wait!

If you end up making this, leave me a comment and let me know what you think!

Update

Hi there! It's been awhile since I've posted, but that is because I've been so busy! Between full time work and being in a rock band (which is currently #8 on the Madison rock charts!), I don't have too much time. But there haven't been any large occurences to report ... but I did find myself thinking yesterday that it is so weird that I haven't consumed any meat in almost 2 years, which then got me thinking that I feel a slight disappointment whenever someone mentions they are eating something and there is turkey on it, or chicken. Not sure if all vegetarians feel that way, but I think it is just disappointment in society, not the individual (most of the time). I think it is because we are forced to think it is good for us, and cutting it out is abnormal, and that they lower prices of meat and raise prices of health food, of NATURAL food ... doesn't it cost more to put the food through processing and add hormones and chemicals than just sell it natural? What are your thoughts on this?

Yummy Fried Rice Recipe

Hey guys! I"m going to surprise my hubby with something new tonight. We are always busy, since we both work full time and are in a band that is starting to take off around town. We try to make sure each meal is sit down, but half the time, it is quick, and the food the same, like spaghetti or tacos with the soy "meat" crumbles. Tonight, I'm going to make him this before he gets home:

This is a basic recipe for fried rice that you can add to as desired. If adding other ingredients, increase the number of eggs to 3.
Need a bit of help? Here are step by step photo instructions showing how to make basic fried rice.
Ingredients:

1 - 2 green onions, as desired
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon salt
Pepper to taste
4 tablespoons oil for stir-frying, or as needed
4 cups cold cooked rice
1 - 2 tablespoons light soy sauce or oyster sauce, as desired
Preparation:

Wash and finely chop the green onion. Lightly beat the eggs with the salt and pepper.

Heat a wok or frying pan and add 2 tablespoons oil. When the oil is hot, add the eggs. Cook, stirring, until they are lightly scrambled but not too dry. Remove the eggs and clean out the pan.

Add 2 tablespoons oil. Add the rice. Stir-fry for a few minutes, using chopsticks or a wooden spoon to break it apart. Stir in the soy sauce or oyster sauce as desired.

When the rice is heated through, add the scrambled egg back into the pan. Mix thoroughly. Stir in the green onion. Serve hot.

***Hope he likes it! If you try it, let me know if you liked it, and if you added/changed anything. :)

Today at Work

Today at work I finally asked a girl at the front desk (there are two) to, when they schedule a lunch and learn with another business where they bring us food for lunch if we listen to their presentation, to let them know that we have two vegetarians that work here. This sparked a whole issue where she said she feels that it isn't something we should ask for just because of someone's diet restriction, and a free lunch is a free lunch and we shouldn't have to explain everyone's diet restrictions to them. I went into detail on my opinion, saying what if I had a food allergy (which I do to coconut)? Would you not tell them and if they brought it enjoy the fact that I can't eat it? Or if I didn't know it was in that food they brought, watch me go to the hospital because you didn't want to tell them?? /sigh I get so frustrated with things like this. Why does everyone have to give me such a hard time because I refuse to eat meat? I don't laugh in others' faces if they refuse to eat something, like cheese or ketchup. I am just so disappointed in society...I won't even get started on that, or it will be a blog entry that goes on forever haha

Naivety

Over the weekend I started reading this book called Eating Animals by Jonathan Foer. I'm not too far into it yet, but have learned so much already. At one point, at my parent's house, I decided to show my mother a page that shows just how big a living space a chicken gets, "free roaming" or not. I couldn't fit my foot in it. My mother looked at it, and I saw her face change. I thought I was making a good point for her, but then she looked at the cover of the book and said, "Oh, nope, I don't want to hear it," and shoved the book back in my hands. I said, "Mom, that doesn't mean it won't still be happening, " and she said again, "I don't want to hear it," and continued watching her television show.

Why are so many people like this? My husband and I talked about it later on, and we don't understand what goes on in people's heads when they think like that. Do they think it will stop just because they don't know about it, that it isn't really happening? I don't think so. I think it's because if they actually know, they will feel bad when they eat meat, and they don't want to feel bad when they eat meat, they want to be happy when they do, because meat is so good and savory and delicious, who wants to feel bad when they consume something that tasty???

If more people actually said, when shown facts like I tried to show my mother, "huh, that's interesting and horrible, tell me more," then we'd make a good improvement. But people just want to wallow in their own naivety and not do their part for the Earth and its creatures AND themselves since vegetarianism is a healthy life choice to make.

It is my hope that these people who don't care enough to look at the facts about how bad meat is for you will some day learn, some day WANT to learn, about how to make a difference in their lives and the lives of animals.

Quick Question

Anyone have any quick vegetarian recipes to share? We are going grocery shopping in a few days, and I thought I'd spice up a dinner or two with something new. :D

Rude Things People Say to Me When They Find Out I'm A Vegetarian

I mostly get things like the following when I say I'm vegetarian:

"Well, that's great, I'm meatatarian!"
or
"Mmmm this chicken is so good, do you want any?? You know you do!"
or
"I'll give you $100 to eat this burger! No, $200!"
or
"Oh, no I won't try your tacos with fake meat, I don't care if you can't taste the difference, I just need to eat meat, I can't pass it up ever!" (<--the one I get most annoyed about lately)
or
"I love all kinds of meat. You can keep your vegetables."
or
"Who cares about the animals? They are so damn good."

The list is never ending, and new comments surface constantly. Have you heard any of these? If so, what have you said to them?