My Enchiladas

I have always loved Mexican food even when I couldn't pronounce it correctly. To me, Taco Bell is a form of Mexican food, but it is not like a home cooked true Mexican food.

I have played with many recipes and I have learned to add a little of my own substitutions. For instance, I love to play with enchiladas. They are easy to make and taste so good.

You just need these items:

• Refried Beans
• Hamburger or Chicken
• Flour Tortillas
• Cheddar & Mozzarella Cheeses
• Enchilada Sauce
• Black Olives (Optional)
• Onions
• Sour Cream (Optional)

The quick, easy method is to cook your hamburger meat in a skillet and then drain the grease off. Heat your refried beans up while dicing your onions. Once the beans are hot enough, turn on your oven to 350 degrees.

While waiting for the oven to finish preheating, you can build your enchiladas and place them in a casserole dish. Take your flour tortilla and spread a layer of refried beans across the center. Next, add a good layer of hamburger or chicken if you prefer on top of your beans.

Once you have done that, sprinkle some onions over the meat. Then, wrap the tortilla up like a burrito and place in casserole dish. You will do this for each one until you have enough made for everyone who will be eating the meal.

Once your dish is full of the built burritos, take your enchilada sauce and smother them with it. Then, take and sprinkle your cheeses over them too. I love my cheese, so I always add extra to make it cheesier.

Next, you will add your black olives scattered over them if you prefer the black olives, which I love them. Your oven should be preheated by this point and ready for your casserole dish to go inside.

Open your oven door and gently place your dish of enchiladas inside and then close the door. My favorite thing is to watch the cheese melt over them and the sauce begins to bubble.

Cook for about thirty minutes or until cheese and sauce are melted and the sauce bubbles. Open oven carefully and release heat before sticking your face close to opening. Reach inside and bring casserole dish out slowly and gently so that you don't spill any of the hot sauce on you.

Set casserole dish on top of heat resistant surface and then begin serving. Take a spatula and only grab one enchilada at a time and place on dinner plate. Top the enchilada with a dab of sour cream and there you go: an easy way to make something so delicious and very filling. Not many people can eat two in one sitting.

As far as side dishes go, I must have my Spanish rice with a helping of refried beans on the side even though there are some inside the enchilada. There is not enough inside the enchilada for taste, so I place a spoonful next to my Spanish rice on the side of the enchilada.

You also cannot forget the tortilla chips with salsa. They make a deliciously good asset for your meal. Now take that fork and slice it right inside that enchilada and watch the cheese begin to stick to your fork before even getting a bite sliced away.

After you have sliced your bite away from the enchilada, pick it up with your fork and watch as the cheese strings from the casserole dish all the way up to your fork. It is so cheesy and looks so good with the different layers of color inside. Place it inside your mouth and taste the goodness.