Friday's Frugal Find & Sour Cream Enchiladas

One of my tricks I employ to make my life easier is to make a double batch of a particular dish and then freeze it. For instance last week I mad Salisbury steak and made enough for two meals, freezing the uncooked extra patties for another meal later. I made a lot of mashed potatoes and turned the leftovers into potato salad. However my favorite use of this technique is to make ahead enchiladas. It was very nice the other night when it had been of those days and I didn't really want to cook. Pull out the pan from the freezer pop in in a cold oven, and let the oven and the pan preheat and cook for about an hour, throw some salad in a bowl and we had dinner.

Also because Elizabeth asked and I know Bird loves enchiladas here is one of my recipes.

Green Chile Sour Cream Enchiladas

1/2 cup of butter or margine
4 tbls of flour
1 1/2 cups of milk
1 pint of sour cream
2 dozen corn tortillas
1 pound of hamburger meat *
1 clove of garlic
1/4 cup of chopped onion
1 tblsp of cumin
1 pint of green chile**
1 pound of cheese, cheddar, muenster, colby or jack or mixed.
9x13 pan


1. Brown hamburger meat with onion, garlic and after draining off fat, add cumin. *I have also made this recipe with chicken and pork, and would really like to try it with brisket. Vegetarian options that are tasty are, beans, corn and squash and olives.
2. Soak corn tortillas in warm water while you start the sauce. (You can also fry them in oil, but this is a very rich recipe, I try to save calories where I can..)
3. In a saucepan, melt butter and then brown flour, then add milk, once mixture thickens add sour cream and green chiles, let simmer on low heat while you assemble enchiladas.
4. I make mine casserole style, I line the bottom of the dish with a layer of softened tortillas then add a layer of meat, a layer of cheese and cover that with a layer of sauce and then repeat until the pan is full. (If you want to roll them with the filling, you may need to fry the tortillas to get the softened enough.)
5. Top with a layer of cheese and any garnishments you like such as slice black olives or chopped onions.

Bake in oven at 375 until warmed through and cheese on top is bubbling. Let cool for about 5 to 10 minutes before serving. Suggested sides, are refried beans, Spanish rice, and or a salad. My three year old loves this recipe, the other night I asked him what I was going to do with him and he responded, love him and feed him enchiladas.

** A note about green chiles. It has been a while since I lived outside of NM and I know that some of you may have a hard time finding them. I suggest Bueno frozen chile, Albuquerque Tortilla Company frozen chile. On your mexican food aisle at the grocery store you might also find canned green chile, or green chile enchilada sauce. My favorites in that category are El Pinto Green Chile Sauce, and Hatch Green Enchilada sauce. If you are using a sauce, don't add the extra water recommended on the can.

Good luck and feel free to ask any questions if something I said doesn't make sense. I am obviously not a recipe writer and when I cook I tend to make it up as I go and obviously substitute for what I have on hand.