There is a bit of a funny story behind this recipe.
Wednesday evening I realized that our van wasn’t starting. I figured one of the kids had left the light on and we would just have to jump it. But I was really busy Wednesday night and didn’t have plans to drive anywhere Thursday, so we didn’t worry about it. Then, we forgot all about it Thursday night.
Friday morning I remembered and Friday is our park day. I didn’t want to tell the kids we couldn’t go to the park. Luckily a wonderful friend showed up and jumped the van. Problem: it didn’t work. No big deal. Her cables were really small and there was a bunch of acid covering the battery terminal. I would just wait until Cory came home with our cables (note to self: buy a 2nd set of cables!), we would clean it up and use the better cables. Maybe we would need to replace the battery. So, she drove my boys to the park and I walked over with the girls. (it is quite a hill and with a double stroller it is no small job!).
I had planned to make Red Enchiladas for dinner that Friday. But since we are trying to live from our pantry right now, I made my own 
enchilada sauce instead of buying it. I made it around 8:00 am. I used my tomato powder. LOVE that stuff! I was so proud of the result. It was a really great, tangy, but not too spicy sauce.
Enter dinner time: I brown the beef and add the enchilada sauce. There was a bit too much sauce so I decided to let it simmer for just a minute. My husband got home and we started to look at the van together: we clean off all the acid and realize that the terminal was actually broken and needed to be replaced. I was out there for about 15 minutes. The 3 older kids were all upstairs coloring. Hanna was in my arms outside.
FIRE ALARM. I go running for the house and open the door to find a LOT of smoke. Yep, the beef was charred black and my awesome enchilada sauce was no more. We didn’t even get to enjoy it. At this point it was already dinner time, so I wasn’t going to start over. Cory ran to Dominos and picked up two $5 pizzas instead. How’s that for eating from your pantry?
So though I’ve never actually had this in enchiladas, here is my recipe for enchilada sauce from your food storage:
Photo Credit: Little Blue Hen (since I obviously couldn't take a picture of mine!)
What you need:
- 3/4 cup tomato powder
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1 tsp cocoa powder
- 1 T. cumin (adjust to taste)
- 1 T. chili powder (adjust to taste)
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 cups water
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp freeze dried onions
What to do:
- Combine all dry ingredients except oregano and onions in a pot over medium high heat
- While whisking constantly, add just enough water to make a thin paste
- Continue stirring / whisking for 1 minute without adding any more water
- Add the rest of the water, oregano and onions
- Continue stirring until mixture thickens
And since I’ve had a few of you ask recently, you can support me and this blog by purchasing ingredients for this recipe at a discount right here on my Shelf Reliance Consultant Website. Of course, to be clear, I will be compensated if you choose to do that! You can read more about that here.
Uh-oh! Must have been in the air this week. I had a similar incident three nights ago. No flames but stinky brown smoke and luckily no damage to anything in the apartment (other than my sudden panic worrying about if it would set the building-wide alarm system off that goes straight to the fire department dispatch)! Thankfully that didn’t happen.
So glad to hear all was okay. Moments like that are C-R-A-Z-Y!
I’m throwing a “Thrive Dinner Party” this Saturday night and have enchiladas on the menu. I was planning to make a green sauce using our new FD green chiles, but now I’m thinking I’ll make this sauce too and offer both! Thanks for the great idea
And at least you know your smoke alarms work! LOL
Good point Lindsey! Way to be positive! (-: Have fun at your Dinner party!
Lindsey-I am so sorry you burned dinner! I hate that! (Yes, it has happened to me before, too.)
This sauce sounds awesome! I think I found what we are having for dinner tonight. =)
As always…thanks for the recipe!
Thanks Diana!
Misty-Sorry I wrote the wrong name for my comment. =) I was reading your story, reading Lindsey’s reply, and I had 4 kids running around my house. I’m sorry! I really do know who you are. LOL!
Since I’ve done similar things many times….and have a similar crazy life, I figured it was something like that! No worries! (-:
Oooo, I am going to try this recipe simply because it calls for cocoa powder.
A little trick I learned from a wonderful friend of mine who makes incredibly authentic Mexican food…I guess b/c she is Mexican! (-: