menu plan 1: honduran enchiladas

ha! i know some of you read "menu plan" and did a double-take. you've probably figured out that while i'm the crafty sort it's more crafty in a starving artist sort of way rather than crafty in a domestic diva sort of way. the kitchen has bored me for a whole lotta years now. why just this morning i burnt g's first round of toast because i got too involved in istillpsycho. so why am i mentioning food here? basically i need to do better. don't expect gourmet or super healthy. my menu mantra for 2012 is "eat more vegetables at home."

i have come to the realization that to succeed i must come up with a weekly menu plan. after reading elsie's goal setting blog post i've decided i must document these domestic endeavors. now i'll let you in on a little secret here. i'm a wallflower who's a closet exhibitionist. i know. split personality. i'm an introvert with a strong desire to shout, "look what i made!" i'm going to use this show-boating side of my nature to keep me on task in the kitchen. to document my menu plan i shall photograph one dish each week. if the best thing i can produce in a particular week is prego then i'll be publicly embarrassed, won't i? oops.

so this week's menu plan is as follows:
saturday - honduran enchiladas, cucumbers
sunday - eggie sandwiches, carrots, oranges
monday - baked salmon, cucumbers, carrots, strawberries
tuesday - spaghetti (frozen leftovers)
wednesday - steak, mashed potatoes, lettuce wedges with ranch
thursday - poppyseed chicken, green beans
friday - open

recipe of the week: honduran enchiladas (i somewhat followed this recipe)

1 pound ground beef
1/2 onion, chopped (a couple handfuls of cut frozen)
1/2 green pepper, chopped (nope. i don't love bell peppers)
2 cloves garlic, minced (i used garlic powder)
2 tablespoons of tomato paste (i used half the tiny can)
cumin, salt, pepper (to taste)
cooking oil (2 tablespoons evoo)
1 large carrot, diced small (10 baby carrots)
1 medium potato, diced small (3 small potatoes)

1. cut carrots and potatoes VERY tiny and boil with handful of onion.
2. heat evoo. throw in another handful of onion.
3. add ground beef, tomato paste, and spices to taste. use spatula to get ground beef in tiny bits.
4. add potatoes and carrots.
5. spoon onto warmed baked tortilla's and top with parmesan cheese (my little cheese addict got melted shredded mexican cheese mix on his).

they tasted pretty good. g wasn't overly impressed that i'd added the vegetables (his dad cooked him fake ones last week with no vegetables). they don't look quite right though. they're supposed to be slightly runny. g's dad told me that you have to put in a little water at the end and let it simmer out. i didn't add all the extra stuff that the menu mentions. the cabbage slaw on top is really good if you like that sort of thing. the egg slice is also typical at times. that creme stuff she mentioned using as the base isn't common or necessary.

i want to try these again and here's what i will change:
1. cook the diced vegetables in the evoo (but i have a strong aversion to undercooked potatoes).
2. cut back to just 2 small potatoes.
3. try the water idea.
4. check my salt shaker (i think someone accidentally refilled it with sea salt instead of iodized).

on a side note, you will be amused to know the reasoning behind my plate choice. that old lassie plate was my brother's when we were kids (my sil didn't want it). i thought the tortilla shell looked nice against the "vintage" background. but if i'm going to have to be photographing food every week i think i'll need to hit the thrift stores and pick up a few fiestaware plates.