Surviving Sandy, Enchilada Style

Hurricane Sandy is finally starting to die off in the PA/NJ/NY region, but not after leaving millions without power and hundreds of trees collapsed over houses, cars, roads, and fences... We're thankful downtown Philadelphia didn't get hit too hard, and our hearts and prayers go out to all of you that were more affected by Sandy - especially you guys in NYC or north Jersey!

Both of our schools were closed yesterday and today. For some reason, being "stuck" at home (as opposed to choosing to stay home) made studying unbearable enough that we barely got anything done! But we plowed through the day and, just as the storm started hitting the hardest, rewarded ourselves with a comforting dinner and movie. (Side note: We never watch movies because it's too much time away from studying and other responsibilities. So this was not a small deal.)

So if your electricity's still on, and you're stranded at home for another day or two (like us), give this recipe a try! I didn't change anything from the Pioneer Woman's Enchilada recipe, so visit her website to learn how to make it - and to see photos that do better justice to the meal than our measly point-and-shoot attempts :)

Our version - Enchiladas con Sandy

I started by simmering this enchilada sauce for 45 minutes, which smelled so good...

This recipe involves a lot of chopping. You should chop chop chop while the sauce is simmering.

Oh, a tip: The original recipe calls for canned diced green chilies that, I assume, are not supposed to be spicy. I used fresh Serrano hot peppers instead, and put less than the recipe called for to even out the spice. If you want to use hot peppers like me, I'd suggest halving the amount altogether. Hubs found that the spiciness took away from the other flavors, although I didn't mind.. but then again, I like everything extra spicy. ;)

Dipping corn tortillas in the sauce: don't let it soak for too long!

Meat, olives, peppers, and cheese; then rolled up and placed seam down into the pan.

We improvised on the cheese: cheddar + leftover mozzarella + leftover Habanera sandwich cheese. I like wandering off the recipe.

These smelled so good in the oven. Oh my gosh. Look at that cheese (and don't think about your arteries).

I don't usually make high-calorie meals like this, but hurricane weather allows for some special circumstances. Right?

I think this was a pretty darn good meal, all things considered. It was my first time making enchiladas, and I didn't really know what an enchilada was before I decided to make it, and I'm not a huge fan of Mexican food to begin with (it's Mexican, yes?).

A great dinner for stormy weather. :)