My kid came back for seconds last night. Even though he knew the tortillas in our dinner were made out of cauliflower.
My older son has chosen not to try most of my low-carb dinners -- so I count this as a big win.
I'm hoping that I can continue to broaden my horizons. I'm hoping that his food memories of childhood aren't going to hinge entirely on a flying pancake.
I was recently having a conversation about food with him. I asked what his earliest food memory was and it turns out that it was a McDonald's pancake and its untimely demise. You see, I really mean it when I say I've historically avoided the kitchen. When my kids were very little I would stop at the golden arches to pick up pancakes for breakfast on our way to the park, and they were always too hot to eat so I would hold them out the window to cool off.
ME: What's the earliest thing you remember about food?
KID 1: The flying pancake.
ME: No way, really? That's your first?
KID 1: Well, yeah. It was pretty traumatic.
ME: I felt pretty awful about losing part of your breakfast. I could hear you both screaming and crying while it flew away in the rearview window...
KID 1: Actually, I felt bad for the pancake.
He's always been a weird kid.
So yes, I was that person you saw flying flapjacks out the window of my Ford Explorer as I drove down the street. Now you know.
Anyway, I'm trying my hardest to teach myself how to cook using the internet. I'm kind of lazy, though: Cooking takes a LOT of time, people:
Planning. Shopping. Making. Cleaning. Turns out it takes practice, but it's getting easier for me. More fun, too...
Per usual, I looked up recipes for something I was craving, low-carb style. I combined a few recipes and very cheesy enchiladas are what we got.
Even the kid said he didn't miss "real tortillas" -- he said the only difference was that it was a little messier.
One warning: If you can't or don't eat cheese you should skip this one. I don't think I've ever shredded so much fromage (in the past I've chosen to buy bags of cheese. Part of this new me is shredding it myself. Forgive me for wanting a gold star for this).
One recipe called for Walmart's Great Value pizza sauce as a starter for the enchilada sauce (http://yourlighterside.com/2010/05/cheese-enchiladas-2/ ). I was skeptical, but since this is the first time I've ever made the sauce (instead of buying a can of pre-made stuff) I decided to try it. It really works!
All of the recipes I looked at for the tortillas stress the importance of drying the cauliflower after you wash it so I decided to eschew that part altogether by buying pre-washed, packaged cauliflower. I was at Walmart, anyway -- so I headed to the veggie section after grabbing my sauce.
Confession: I made my first cauliflower "bread" product a little over a month ago and I needed a food processor. I didn't know that I actually had one. Looking up an image of "food processor" brought forth a gadget that I have moved out of the way countless times, while looking for things in our pantry. It was a Christmas gift, years ago, and I'm so grateful to have it. See, when I say I'm a beginner, I mean I am a beginner. Capital "B".
I also had to look up how to use it.
Here are my tortilla ingredients:
Here's what the cauliflower looks like once it's been ground up
(in case you didn't know, just like I didn't know until a few weeks ago)
Here are the tortillas before baking
And after baking
The main recipe I'm following was for cheese enchies, but I decided to make some ground beef and chicken ones, too. Only I forgot that I wanted to make shredded chicken so I ended up with chunky chicken enchiladas. I used this packet to season the meat:
Now the sauce. After dumping the little jar of pizza sauce into a pot I added piles of cheese. Monterey Jack and Cheddar, along with some seasoning and browned onions + garlic. After a few minutes it looked like the sauce that I usually buy, which was reassuring.
Time to stuff and roll those babies.
Okay. These actually look like enchiladas!
Oh, man. Can't wait (my kid didn't wait. That's why one's missing)
I don't think I would change anything (except maybe for remembering to shred the chicken)
SAUCE
2 cups of Great Value pizza sauce from Walmart (one small jar)
1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 large cloves of garlic, chopped and crushed (I used pre-minced garlic from a jar and estimated the amount)
1 Tbsp chili powder
4 Tbsp oil of your choice (I used olive)
1 Tsp cumin
1 Tsp oregano
1 Tsp salt
1/4 Tsp pepper
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
2 cups Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
1. Brown onions, adding sauce and seasonings
2. Heat to boiling, adding cheese
3. Reduce heat
TORTILLAS
Cooking spray
Tin foil
Baking sheet
One big bag of pre-washed cauliflower (the kind you microwave in the bag)
3 eggs
3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1. Preheat oven 450 degrees
2. Line a cooking sheet with tin foil and spray with cooking spray
3. Grind up your cauliflower in processor
4. Mix ingredients (I used my hands)
5. Make handful of ingredients into a ball and flatten on baking sheet (lined in tin foil and greased with cooking spray)
6. Bake until golden brown
ENCHIES
Big pile o' cheddar and Monterey Jack
Your sauce
Meat (optional)
Taco seasoning packet (if you're using meat)
Small can of sliced olives
Pyrex dish
1. Prepare a mix of cheddar and Monterey Jack (enough for about 1/4 cup per enchilada)
2. Line un-greased baking dish with sauce
3. Lay each tortilla flat and add sauce to each one
4. Add meat and about 1/4 cup of cheese mixture to each tortilla (or just cheese for veggie)
5. Roll up enchiladas as you fill (seam at the bottom)
6. Top with more cheese and olives
7. Bake until cheese is melted
8. Add any other toppings you like (I added sour cream)
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