Another Spicy Tuesday Night

Welcome to another Tuesday in my kitchen. While the rest of the world calls this Taco Tuesday, in our house it’s Tijuana Tuesday – so anything with a Mexican flare is a-okay with me.

Before we get to cooking yet another Enchilada Supper (yeah, I’ve been really loving all these variations of my favorite Mexican dish), I thought we might pull up a chair and chat awhile. So much seems to be happening that I want to talk about.

I’ve been digging through boxes and boxes of photos lately. It’s amazing all the things we take for granted until it’s too late. Okay, too late might be too strong a term. Until it’s a thing of the past. The family farm had always been a place for gathering. The first time Hubby met my family was at the farm. Oh he met my sister, Ann the first day of our marriage. And he met my Dad the very next day. As for the rest of the brood, that wasn’t until dinner at the farm. (The fact that my family had not met Hubby until he was my hubby is a tale for another day.)

I can remember when we would gather at the farm once a week for family supper. It was kind of like the Regans, but without all the law and order chatter. It was nice. Although we were all grown and gone, at that time none of us had actually moved far from home. Linda lived the furthers, maybe a couple of hours drive at most. Hubby had never seen anything like it – a family of adults who actually liked spending time with one another. Holidays, birthdays and weekly suppers. Sadly things changed and now it is not the same. But that’s a complaint for another day. Today I am thinking of the farm.

While the farm is not on the market yet, it will be soon enough. The animals are gone. Despite paving walkways and building ramps for Dad’s motorized wheelchair, it’s just too much for them anymore. My youngest sister’s husband spends a lot of time at the farm, and it’s not fair to him to spend his retirement days taking care of all that land. Acers of pasture land with no livestock is a lot to keep trimmed. Especially with the goats gone. Goats are nature’s lawn mowers and without them the grasses are wild. I just wish I had realized last Christmas was the final one spent at the farm. I would have savored those moments a bit more. We did have a final “camp out”. That was a nice way to say goodbye. Even my son and our great-grandbaby joined us. She’ll be three at the end of summer, so the only memories she’ll have of time at the farm will be in pictures.

I can remember when Hubby moved me to Las Vegas. I was the first in our family to relocate that far away. Hubby told Dad to be grateful for the 40 years he had me, and that while we wouldn’t be coming to dinner once a week, we’d still manage to come home. Dad was so relieved when we settled in Nevada and I still called him all the time just to chat or ask for his advice. As for Hubby, family – especially all the extended family he’s inherited from me – are precious to him. Family is everything.

When counting my blessings, time on the farm will be among them. There are a lot of things I’ll miss. Raising our own beef is definitely one of them. Our breeding bull, Lucky, was part bison. His offspring were mighty tasty. And as big as he was, Lucky was as gently as could be.

We’ve all been blessed by this life we’ve shared together. New chapters are opening. While turning the page on what once was is sad, seeing what God has written for the future is exciting!

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Before we get started, I want to say something about the Enchilada Sauce. It’s a Tex-Mex mix. I’ve never been a big fan of red sauces. They tend to dominate the flavors of the enchiladas. Not this sauce. So if you can, use Hatch Tex-Mex. It’s not mild, just not overpowering. I don’t know if that’s a Texas thing or just this particular sauce. All I know is it’s delicious.

Beefy Chorizo Tex-Mex Enchiladas
1/4 large Yellow Onion
1 lb Ground Beef
1/2 lb Chorizo
3 tablespoons Taco Seasoning
1 (15 oz) can Hatch Tex-Mex Red Enchilada Sauce
1 cup Chihuahua Melting Cheese
1 cup Mexican Four Cheese Blend
10 (6-inch) Flour Tortillas

Finely dice a quarter of an onion. In a large cast iron skillet, crumble ground beef with chorizo. Add diced onion. Cook, breaking meat into small pieces, until no longer pink. Add taco seasoning to absorb some of the excess grease. Drain meat well. Return to skillet, stir in a few tablespoons of enchilada sauce, set aside.

Heat oven to 350-degrees. Spray a casserole dish with cooking spray, then light coat the bottom of the dish with enchilada sauce, set aside. In a bowl, toss together the melting cheese and Mexican blend. Set aside.

Warm tortillas with a little butter to soften and make them more pliable, easier to roll. On a flat surface, with one tortilla at t time, run a line of meat filling. Top meat with the cheese blend. Roll tightly, place into the prepared dish, seam side down. Repeat until all the tortillas have been filled. If there is extra meat left over, great. Make an omelette in the morning.

Spoon remaining enchilada sauce over the filled tortillas. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake in the heated oven until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese is a gooey melted mess.

Serve with Mexican Rice, Refried Beans and a few margaritas.

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Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of Your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.