Winter Squash Enchiladas with Homemade Green Sauce

Winter Squash Enchiladas  Rating: 8

Yes, I am aware it is the middle of summer but can I help it when our garden and even our co-op produce basket produce winter squash in June and July?  Be flexible.  We were and made these. Look at that picture.  See how one of the enchiladas exploded?  It is revealing the yumminess that was inside.  Butternut squash, poblano pepper, corn, cilantro, onion, bell pepper--yum!  This was pretty labor/time intensive with the roasting of the peppers, baking the squash, and making my own green enchilada sauce.  The result was good but I feel I spent too much time in the kitchen on this one.

Look at those colors we got to eat.  I used red onion instead of a sweet, and orange, green, and yellow bell peppers instead of red because I was using what we had in the fridge.  I went with canned corn and store bought corn tortillas for ease, otherwise I may have done myself harm or at least shed tears.

Green Enchilada Sauce  Rating: 8

I was tempted to just go buy some canned sauce but I had all the ingredients just sitting in my fridge so I thought I'd give it a shot.  This sauce was simple and gave good flavor.  I halved the recipe and it was the perfect amount for the enchiladas. I poured the hot concoction into the food processor and pulsed it a few times to get is smoother.

Neal said he noticed not heat (spiciness).  I said it was near borderline for me.  The kids said, "ouch."

Mexican Enchilada Sauce

Mexican Enchilada Sauce  Rating: 10

Don't bother buying canned red enchilada sauce.  You have everything you need in your pantry and you'll know what you are putting in your body.  This is easy and yummy. Ole!

If you want total comfort food make homemade corn tortillas for your enchiladas.  These tortillas are a 9 or 10.  We started making our own when we started reading ingredients on packages and got Neal a tortilla press for Christmas.

Pineapple and Ham Stuffed Sweet Potatoes and an Asian Slaw Dressing

The Ham and Pineapple Stuffed Sweet Potatoes (Rating: 7) was a recipe I found in his book Fresh Start: Your Child's Jump Start to Lifelong Healthy Eating which we borrowed from our local library.  The salty sweet combination was great.  We don't eat ham very often but we had some in the freezer to use up.

We served it with an Asian slaw of shredded cabbage and cucumbers and scallions.  I topped it with chopped peanuts and a dressing I got off some Internet message board.  It also earned a Rating: 7 but I don't think it'll make a repeat in our house.  It was good but there is more out there.

Asian Slaw Dressing

for one small head of cabbage 

1 Tbsp. peanut butter

2 Tbsp. mayonnaise

2 Tbsp. sesame oil

1/2 tsp. red chili flakes

2 1/2 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar

2 Tbsp. soy sauce

Mix well and toss with slaw.