Beef Enchiladas

Beef Enchiladas Hartley style!! Here's the deal... this is my family recipe but when my Dad cooks, there isn't a whole lot of recipe-like measuring going on. SO, I did the best I could with his instructions over the phone of, "put in _ to taste," a "smidgen of _", etc..... They are yummy though and re-heat well in my opinion. If you are health freak, and like your food tasteless, sorry, these aren't for you... please enjoy the extra ten years of life you'll live past me bc you don't eat things like this! :)

Here we go.... start with some Crisco grease melted in the pan (I can hear my healthy friends saying, "seriously?" already). You want about 1/4'' melted in there.

While the Crisco is melting, mix shredded cheddar (I used about 3 c) and a little velveeta with one chopped and minced onion. It will look like this. I can feel the cellulite growing.

Then you put in one tortilla at a time to soften them and keep them from cracking when you roll them. Only leave them in the grease for about 5-10 seconds each side. You definitely don't want them to harden which is what they'll do if left for more than 10 seconds.

Roll the cheese in the tortillas and place in a 9x13 pyrex.

Now you'll need to make the chili that goes over it. If you are lazy and not grossed out by it, you can buy the canned chili. I prefer to make my own. You can use any kind of beef you want. This time I used 1 1/2 lbs. ground beef. Cook the beef half way, drain it well. Then put it back in the skillet and cook remainder of time with 1 1/2 packages of taco/burrito/enchilada seasoning (did you know one package of seasoning is for 1 lb. of beef? How have I missed that until

now?), 2c water, 3 T corn starch (mix water and corn starch together first, then pour in), and 2 T ketchup. Mix it all together well in the skillet. Cover, and cook on HI until thick and not soupy. Then, just pour it all over the enchiladas and pop it into the oven for 25 minutes on 400 degrees.

If you're really ambitious you can serve it with some guac! To make our guacamole, I smash up the avocados, add some vinegar, orange juice, lemon or lime juice, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and lemon pepper (love that lemon pepper). YUMMO!