Thursday, January 29, 2009

My Sister’s Friend Calls Them Gringolatas

Lately I have been doing a lot more cooking and I tend to be the one to wash dishes and such because Matt has begun working about 65 hours a week at his office, but I am mostly working from home. This is typical of our relationship; we do not really speak about things that need to be done and one of us just ends up picking up the slack when the other can not do so. Sadly in our case that is usually Matt so I guess it is only fair it is my turn to take over the household. Regardless of this current situation, in no sense of the word would anyone ever refer to me as “domestic”. I suppose what proves my point more so is the fact I feel the need to put the word into what would be air quotes if we were having this conversation face to face. Yeah I am definitely annoying air quote girl; this is the part where most of you rejoice that you have never met me. But I digress.

Although I love pasta and sauce and really feel it is the only thing I actually cook reasonably well, it can not be the menu every night so I have begun branching out to new territory for interesting meals that are not too involved (read: too involved will ensure I burn the house down when I forget it is in the oven because something shiny caught my eye and all attention is off the kitchen. This shiny something is likely to be a football game or Facebook). When shopping a few weeks ago I had the gumption to purchase a bunch of pre-packaged items and blend them together to create my own version of baked enchiladas.

Here’s the general gist for making about 10 enchiladas: cook a cup of brown rice stovetop (not really cooking -- rice in a pan and let it sit there 40 or so minutes, easy!), coat the bottom of a 13x9 pan with about a third of a can of green Verde sauce, brown ground turkey with chopped onion & set aside (tofu, chicken, beef, whatever your preference!), mix a half jar of salsa into the rice, open up a can of refried beans, spread layer of beans in center of flour tortilla, top with turkey, rice & a five finger pinch of shredded cheese, fold in sides & roll tortilla, put in pan fold side down & make sure to coat the ends with the sauce, cover the top with a bit of the sauce & sprinkle cheese on top, bake at 350 for about 35 minutes uncovered, top with sour cream and salsa or guacamole if you like. They actually came out freaking fantastic so I told my sister about them one night on the phone.

Let us all remember that Wendy lives in Arizona. Let us also remember that she can cook and makes a mean homemade salsa. Let us finally remember that people in the northeast are not exactly proximate to real Mexican food so although they may have been a nice mix of canned and packaged food-like products, their authenticity was not entirely on the level. So as I finish telling her about them she says “Yeah, my friend calls those Gringolatas.” I laughed for about a full minute because it was not at all ironic how perfect a name Gringolata was for the happy concoction I had just conceived! I loved it; I told her I was stealing it immediately. *

Cooking at home has meant a lot more cookies, a lot less money spent on food but also tragically, a lot more dishes which I really hate doing. I guess the tradeoff is spending all our money for the convenience of having someone else clean up our dinner mess. Considering I would never object at hiring a maid to clean our tiny apartment, the idea is not all that foreign to me. In the end I know I will manage the best I can but a girl can dream. I must emphatically point out however, no matter what slack I am picking up by baking up some yummy meals or running a vacuum across the living room rug, there are some things this girl will never do and as I explained to my sister in law last week, Matt’s laundry is definitely one of them.

*Check out the Urban Dictionary entry for Gringo

11 comments:

Karen said...

Gringolatas - I love it! :) Your enchiladas sound really good. I prefer green sauce over red and like turkey in mine! Good cooking :)

Suldog said...

Great coinage. Gringolatas. I'll have to remember that this coming Sunday. I'll be cooking up some southwest cuisine (in honor of the Arizona Cardinals) and I never get to truly make things spicy (as I like) since MY WIFE can't handle it. I'll make her some... Gringolatas!

pastrywitch said...

Everyone should do their own laundry - I've been doing mine since I was 12 and my dad turned my first pair of good jeans into clamdiggers.....

Krista said...

Hi - I saw your link from someone else's blog. Very nicely done. Not to mention, very gorgeous! Have a nice day!

Krista

High Desert Diva said...

Love the term!

Bridgete said...

I love the new word! Gringolatas!

I have a recipe for an enchilada casserole that I think is delicious. It's similar to this, except you kind of layer the tortillas and filling as if you were making a Mexican lasagna.

Oh, and yes, real Mexican food is one thing I really miss being out here. I need to learn how to cook it, since I can't just hop in my car and head to one of the many, MANY restaurants we had in Portland. So far I can make a pretty awesome fajita, so it's a start. =)

Rosebud Collection said...

What a good name..and I did laugh out loud..Can't make a thing Mexcian, so Gringolatas or not, you did darn good..

Weather is suppose to warm up..Keeping track of your countdown..Can't come soon enough for me..We didn't even have a January thaw..So much for Al Gore and his ideas..

Dave King said...

Mouthwatering...

ginger said...

i won't let another person even think about touching my laundry...that said, those gringolatas look muy bueno esse!

by the way, arizona's not a region for true mexican food either unless a mexican immigrant is cooking it, right? ;) they're more of a southwestern style there. they'll tell you it's the same, but it's not.

now i have to try this and bridgete's soup...ahhhh! now i know how you guys feel reading my blog!!! haha.

TheresaJ said...

What a great name! I may use it too!

Being from California and having an over abundance of Mexican food here, not to mention my ex-husband is Mexican, what you described is what I have seen called "Wet Burritos" on menus in Mexican restaurants/taquerias. Enchiladas are usually just meat or cheese rolled up in a corn tortilla and then covered in sauce and cheese, served with lettuce, onions and tomatoes to put on top. Actually, traditionally, the tortilla is dipped in sauce before placing the meat in and rolling it up, open ended.

As for cooking, I've been rediscovering the kitchen as well -- another side effect of unemployment (although I have been temping for the last month). I just cooked for my Mom's birthday this last weekend -- a traditional Italian meal with lots of courses. It was great fun.

Had to laugh at your "air quote girl" comment. I used to be that girl. Don't do it much anymore. It drove the aforementioned ex crazy... hmmm, maybe that's why he left me. LOL :)

But he's not why I stopped -- don't know why, just did. But you know, it just puts the right emphasis on what you're saying -- at least I think so.

Chris Stone said...

They sound great. If you want to use corn tortillas... cook onion in some chilli powder and oil... take out the onion, add 1/4 cup water and more oil and chilli powder. 3-4 Tblsps. something like that. heat that... and that's what you dip the tortillas in before you wrap them. its awesome. i made spinach and cheese enchilladas for the first time recently. so simple and good.