Sunday Dinner!

In our new ward here in Elkhart, there are so many nice people! And we have had dinner invitations every Sunday since we've been here. And as much as I appreciate their generosity and kindness, I have to admit I've kind of missed making Sunday dinner for my own family. And today, for the first time, we were not invited to someone's home for dinner. So I made one of Blake's favorites, enchiladas. Granted, I did not make this recipe up, so I will gladly recognize the help of my favorite book, The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook, which I highly recommend to anyone. It seriously is amazing and has answers to all of life's cooking questions.

And, when making enchiladas, I really think it's better to make enchilada sauce from scratch as I found out this time. Canned enchilada sauce is just not even near as good and I think ruins the rest of the food. It's so tinny and overly tart and homemade is really really tasty, I could eat it with a spoon just by itself. And it's so fast, there's really no excuse not to.

If you want this full recipe, email me. I kind of feel bad putting their whole recipe on here, since that's how these people make a living ... But I will put the enchilada sauce recipe on here for you since I think it is crucial to good enchiladas.

And my first Summer term at BYU I had a roommate from Mexico, who was totally the mommy of our apartment, and she made us real Mexican food all the time! She was an amazing cook. And ... I think I gained (not kidding) at least 15 pounds in the 8 weeks we were roommates. Gross. Anyway, I'm adding her Avocado salsa recipe because I'm in love with it and can not make any Mexican food without it. Although sometimes, I leave out the avocados and just make a simple salsa. But you will be amazed at how easy and yummy it is!

Fast Enchilada Sauce (from The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook)
makes 2 1/2 C
1 T vegetable Oil
1 onion, minced
1/2 t salt
3 T chili powder
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 t cumin
2 t sugar
2 (8 oz) cans tomato sauce
1/2 C water
pepper

1. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat and add onions. Cook onions until soft. Add salt, chili powder, garlice, cumin, and sugar and stir. Cook until fragrant, about 15 seconds.
2. Stir in tomato sauce and water. Cook for about 5 more minutes or until sauce thickens a little. Add more salt and pepper to taste.

Quick and easy avocado salsa

2 large Hass avocados, diced medium
juice of 1 lime
1 vidalia onion, diced small
2-3 sweet tomatoes or 1 whole package grape/cherry tomatoes, diced small
1 bunch cilantro, chopped fine (and I mean FINE)
salt to taste

1. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and toss. Serve.

*If you are including the avocados, this salsa does not last in the fridge even overnight. You have to eat it the day of. The avocados react to the onions and tomatoes somehow and taste really ... carbonated in the morning. But without the avocados, it stays fresh in the fridge in an airtight container for a couple days longer. But I doubt you'll have too much of a problem eating it up the day of:)