Enchilada Salsa de Chili en Polvo

This past Christmas our eldest son, AB, gave me a new cookbook entitled, "1,000 Mexican Recipes" by Marge Poore.

With Mexico being our neighbor, many Texans LOVE Mexican and Tex-Mex cuisine. Our family is no exception. So, you can can imagine the smile that stretched across my face when I began reading many of the recipes contained in this book.

This evening was OG's turn to prepare supper for our family. She reviewed this week's list of meal ideas and selected Beef Enchiladas, Charro Beans and Mexican Rice. She has never prepared any of these dishes so, I knew when she made this selection she would need a little supervision (aka help).

For years I've been preparing my own personal version of a red enchilada sauce that I'd concocted using a recipe out of the Betty Crocker Cookbook as a foundation. This evening I decided we would try Mrs. Poore's recipe. I made a couple very minor adjustments, but we found this sauce to be so delicious, I decided I just had to share it with you. I assure you, if you like authentic style enchiladas, you'll LOVE this enchilada sauce. I am looking forward to trying many of Mrs. Poore's other Mexican recipes!

Enchilada Salsa de Chili en Polvo

(Chili Powder Enchilada Sauce)

Makes about 2 1/2 cups

2 Tbls. vegetable oil (for added flavor I used bacon grease)

1 Tbls. all-purpose flour

1 8oz. can tomato sauce

1/4 c. chili powder (Mrs. Poore suggests pure New Mexico or California chili powder)

2 c. beef broth or chicken broth (I used vegetable broth, because that's what I had on hand)

1 tsp. dried oregano (Mrs. Poore suggests Mexican variety)

1/2 tsp. ground cumin (OG measured incorrectly and added 1 tsp.)

1/4 tsp. salt, or to taste

large pinch of sugar (after a taste, I made this addition myself)

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat and cook the flour, stirring, 1 minute. Stir in the tomato sauce and chili powder until well combined. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil, stirring, then reduce the heat to low and simmer the sauce 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Sauce may be stored in refrigerator for 5 days or frozen for 3 months.

To make 12 enchiladas: Spread 1/4 c. sauce over the bottom of a greased 9x13 in. baking pan. Warm 12 corn tortillas in microwave. Dip a warmed corn tortilla in hot enchilada sauce. Lay tortilla in the baking pan and spoon 2 tablespoons taco meat onto tortilla, roll up and place in pan seam side down. Repeat with remaining 11 tortillas and taco meat. Spoon remaining sauce over enchiladas. Top with 1 cup shredded cheese. Bake at 350 degrees 15-20 minutes until cheese is melted and enchiladas are heated through. 6 servings

P.S. OG prepared approximately 85% of tonight's meal by herself. The entire meal was DELICIOSO!!

Frugal Feasting Friday

This past Saturday I had the following conversation with my EJ.

Mom: "Hey EJ, would you like a treat after you finish cleaning the hen house and coop?"

EJ: "Oh Yes! What kind of treat?"

Mom: "How about a banana split?"

EJ: "OH!! Yes, Yes, Yes!!"

This very excited response is immediately followed by a sudden pause of silence. Then ...

EJ: "Mom, what's a banana split?"

How's that for terrible parenting? My poor, deprived, little EJ has lived a long life of 8 years and doesn't even know what a banana split is!! How, oh! how can this be?

It is because poor, deprived, little EJ's mom is a MAJOR TIGHTWAD. I realistically can not bring myself to spend $3 or more on a banana split Sunday at Dairy Queen, Sonic, Baskin Robbins, Marble Slab or any other specialty ice cream shop. Especially when we lovely folks down here in S.E. Texas have all the Blue Bell ice cream those folks at the Blue Bell ice cream factory can not finish eating. Why, there simply is not a store bought ice cream better than Blue Bell. (for those of you who don't have the privilege of Blue Bell, I extend my sympathies... everyone down here knows that at Blue Bell, "they eat all they can and sell the rest" - they really do ... employees can literally eat all the ice cream they want for free directly before their shifts, on breaks or directly after their shifts).

I usually have only one flavored dessert sauce on hand at any given time hence, usually a plain old Sunday not the extravagance of a banana split. However, this past Saturday I felt industrious and made three, yes THREE flavors. The total costs of all three homemade sauces & whipped cream, the ice cream, and the bananas is a little more than $12. However, by making the sauces and whipped cream myself and purchasing the Blue Bell and bananas from the grocer, I can make around 10 banana splits. That's only a cost of about $1.30 each vs. the $3 ea., or more, from the specialty store.

So, this Frugal Feasting Friday I'm going to share recipes for homemade dessert sauces with you. Please remember these sauces are also very yummy over pancakes, waffles, French toast, brownies, etc. Best of all these sauces take less than 10 minutes from start to finish to make :-)

Homemade Hershey's Chocolate Sauce

2 c. granulated sugar

1 c. water

1/2 c. unsweetened Hershey's Cocoa powder

1/2 tsp. vanilla

pinch of salt

In a large sauce pan whisk together the sugar, water and cocoa powder. Heat, stirring constantly over medium heat. When mixture comes to a full rolling boil stir and boil for a full 3 minutes. Remove pan from heat and stir in vanilla and salt. Allow to come to room temperature before pouring into a pint size jar. Store in the refrigerator.

Homemade Butterscotch Sauce

1 c. packed brown sugar

1/2 c. milk

1/3 c. butter (do not substitute margarine)

1/4 c. corn syrup

1/8 tsp. salt

In a large sauce pan combine all ingredients. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture comes to a rolling boil. Boil and stir for a full 2 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Pour into a pint jar. Store in the refrigerator. This sauce will thicken up while in the fridge. Just scoop some out into a small bowl and soften either in a hot water bath or in the microwave.

Homemade Strawberry Sauce

2 c. sugar

1 c. chopped strawberries

1/3 c. water

1/2 tsp. lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in a large sauce pan. Cook and stir over medium heat until sugar is melted. Remove mixture from heat and pour into a blender or food processor. Process until smooth. Return mixture to pan and bring mixture to a boil stirring frequently. Once the mixture begins to boil stir constantly and boil for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Pour into a pint sized jar, store in the refrigerator. NOTE: with the exception of bananas, you can substitute any of your favorite fruits (fresh, canned or frozen), in this recipe.

A Little Homemade This & That

For the past 13 years I've fed my family on a budget of $400 per month. Thirteen years ago I was feeding a family of 6. During the past eight years our older boys have grown up and set out on their own so, I am now feeding a family of 4 on the same $400 per month. BUT let me tell you, that $400 per month certainly doesn't go as far as it did 2 years ago, let alone 13 years ago. One must also keep in mind that since Mr. B is currently living very far from home, my $400 grocery budget is divided between two households. Now, Mr. B doesn't have extravagant dining habits, but he certainly isn't quite as frugal as I am when in the kitchen and certainly not in the grocery store. His lack of knowledge when it comes to cooking from scratch has reminded me how very expensive pre-prepared foods are.

Most folks who know me personally, know I generally shop only the dairy and produce departments of our local grocer. Throughout the years I have sought and found less expensive alternative food sources for bulk foods such as flours, cornmeal, oats, grits, sugars, honey, spices, olive and cooking oils, etc. Mr. B enjoys hunting and fishing, and has plenty of friends who enjoy the same, this has kept my freezer well stocked for more than a decade. Until this summer we have also enjoyed many harvests from our vegetable garden. I've maintained my little herb patch and we continue to enjoy a few fresh and home dried herbs.

On a recent trip to the grocer I took a stroll down the spice and ethnic foods isle. Since most of my spices are purchased in bulk from sources other than the local grocer, I was utterly SHOCKED at how expensive some of these little bitty 2 oz. or less bottles of spices were - some were almost $7! Even the typical spice blends were outrageously priced. For example, a brand name 1 oz. foil package of taco seasoning was more than $2 - the generic store brand was closer to $1.30, but that still had me taking a second look just to be sure I didn't need to schedule a vision exam. I thought, "Are these people serious? $1.30 for a 1 oz. package of seasoning?"

With all that said, I, very long windily, come to the point of this post. I have for you today two homemade spice blends AND a recipe for Dragon Sauce, which is similar to sweet-n-sour sauce which, by the way, we love for dipping our egg rolls in when I make my fried rice supper. When compared to the grocery store prices, these recipes can be made for pennies on the dollar. I also suspect they are healthier since they don't contain anti-caking agents, MSG or many other ingredients that most of us have a hard time pronouncing.

Taco Seasoning Mix

2 tsp. chili powder
2 tsp. dried parsley flakes
1 1/2 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. dried onion powder or dried onion flakes
1/2 tsp. salt
1/s tsp. garlic powder

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl, add to ground meat just as you would a store bought foil package.

Asian Spice Blend
(I use this in my fried rice and spicy stir fried noodles)

1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. lemon grass
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground tumeric
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. salt

This recipe makes about 3 tablespoons of spice. I generally add all of it to my fried rice ( http://herpeculiarlife.blogspot.com/2008/10/fun-week.html ) and spicy stir fried noodles (http://herpeculiarlife.blogspot.com/2008/05/stir-fried-noodles.html ), HOWEVER, we like ours spicy. I suggest that you start with only 1 tablespoon of this spice blend and add more accordingly for your and your family's personal pallets.

Dragon Sauce
(similar to sweet-n-sour sauce found in many Asian restaurants. - Try basting it over baked chicken ... Mmmmm good!)

3 cups fruit nectar (you know, the liquid from canned fruit you generally pour down the drain)
3 tblsp. cornstarch
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. vinegar
1 1/2 tblsp. soy sauce

In a small bowl or mixing cup whisk together 1/2 c. fruit nectar and cornstarch until smooth. In a medium sauce pan combine 2 1/2 cups fruit nectar, sugar, vinegar and soy sauce; when mixture begins to simmer, stir in cornstarch mixture. Stir continuously until sauce is thickened and transparent. Store left overs covered in the refrigerator. Makes 3 cups. Note: Instead of pouring canned fruit nectar down the drain, collect it in a freezer container and thaw when you have collected enough to make dragon sauce.

Recipes To Share

This week I have two delicious, fast and easy recipes to share. The first, Spinach, Orange & Pecan Salad w/ Honey Vinaigrette Dressing, pictured at the right, was inspired by the 5 lb. of spinach we harvested from our garden last week.
Spinach, Orange, Pecan Salad w/ Honey Vinaigrette Dressing

6-8 cups fresh spinach leaves
1 110z. can Mandarin oranges, drained
1/4 purple onion, thinly sliced & separated into rings
1/2 cup pecan halves
Dressing:
1/4 c. olive oil
2 Tbsp. honey
2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp. fresh OR 1 tsp. dried parsley
1/2 tsp. salt
dash of pepper

Place spinach leaves in a large salad bowl. Sprinkle with Mandarin oranges, purple onion rings. Top with pecan halves. Add all dressing ingredients in a jar with a tight fitting lid. Shake vigorously until combined well. Drizzle over salad, serve immediately.


The second, Cracker Candy, is not my recipe at all, but comes from my dear friend, Mrs. M, over at Evening Shade and Morning Latte (http://frugalhomeliving.blogspot.com/2009/04/cracker-candy.html), please click on the link for her easy to follow recipe. For my version, I was out of saltine crackers, so I substituted graham crackers and took the liberty of sprinkling finely chopped pecans over the melted chocolate. I then proceeded to refrigerate as directed in Mrs. M's instructions. This treat was a HUGE hit at my house and I urge you to try it for your family.

Banana Butter

My dear sweet friend over at Heart for My Home, (http://heart4myhome.blogspot.com/), noticed that on the shipping box I used to mail pumpkin pies to the older children I had written "banana butter". She's inquired about the recipe. Believe it or not, banana butter tastes very similar to baby food bananas when consumed by itself. However, spread it on a warm homemade biscuit and you'll suddenly think your eating a slice of warm banana bread. Of all the jams, jellies and fruit butters I make, banana butter is KM's favorite. Here's my very simple recipe:

3 1/2 lbs. bananas

3 c. sugar

1/2 c. lemon juice

1 teaspoon butter

Thoroughly mash bananas; measure 4 cups into a 4-6 quart kettle or dutch oven. Add sugar, lemon juice and butter; mix well. Bring to a hard rolling boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat; simmer gently, uncovered, 20 minutes, stirring often. Pour into hot jars leaving 1/2 headspace. Adjust lids. Process in boiling water bath (half pints) 10 minutes. Makes 6 half-pints.