Pieces of potato that I picked out of the bottom of my oven.
Just when I think I finally have a handle on how to cook for my family, I blow up a baked potato and find myself on my hands and knees scraping off veggie shrapnel from the far right corner of my oven.
Seriously? How hard is it to bake a potato? You wash it, poke it a bunch of times with a fork and viola! It’s ready to toss into the oven. I’ve done this a million times.
Well apparently this time I missed poking one last week – or I only poked it half as many times as I should have. Because while I was waiting for dinner I heard a loud boom and peeked into the oven to find that one of the potatoes was hollowed out with it’s insides shattered in a million pieces on my oven floor.
Dang.
The best part? The oven was too hot for me to clean up the mess and I forgot about it for several days. It wasn’t until I started smelling some serious charred food while preheating the oven a week later that I remembered the potato pieces.
Unfortunately the oven was too hot to wipe out so I found myself carefully wrapping my hands in hot pads and scraping out as much of that poor potato as I could. Then I started preheating it again. All the while hoping that I didn’t set off the smoke detector – something that happens frequently around here.
The corner of my oven where a potato exploded last week.
I was trying to make enchiladas – one of my favorite recipes. (Thanks to my friend Joanel.)
When your husband walks in from work, takes one whiff of the kitchen and asks if we need to go out to eat, you know you have failed as a housewife.
Luckily, the enchiladas turned out just fine. We may have eaten dinner a little later than normal, but we did eat a home cooked meal. I think I have shared this recipe before, but just in case, here it is. If I can cook them, anyone can. I’m all about easy recipes. But then again I thought baking potatoes was easy. Guess again!
Enjoy!
Green Chili Enchiladas
Green Chili Enchiladas
Ingredients:
– A Cup or So of Sour Cream
– 1 can of Cream of Chicken Soup
– Milk
– Onion
– A Small Can of Green Chilies
– Cheese
– Tortillas
– Cooked Chicken
Take some sour cream and the can of cream of chicken soup and combine them in a bowl. Add milk until it’s creamy. Then add the can of green chilies and onion. Take a tortilla, smooth a spoonful of the creamy sauce in the middle. Then sprinkle a handful of chicken and cheese on top. Roll into a burrito shape and put in a greased cake pan. Repeat until almost all of the creamy sauce is gone. Save about ½ cup.
Smear the saved ½ cup over the top of the burritos. Sprinkle with a little more cheese. Then bake at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes.
Boogers on the Wall 
May 10, 2013 @ 09:23:39
I think you’re thinking about this all wrong! 🙂 I can’t tell you the number of times I have blown food up. I’ve never made a large meal without leaving the kitchen looking like a tornado hit it. I don’t have enough fingers to count the number of times I have “slaved” away literally all day on a meal, just to taste it, realize how bad it sucks, and decide to go get a pizza instead. I can’t tell you the number of times I have gotten halfway through a recipe only to realize I don’t have all the ingredients, and either improvise with something on hand, or ruin/burn it while I “quickly” go to the store for that missing item. I’ve left things in the oven for a week before remembering they are there. Same goes for the microwave, though it’s usually sooner when I find those ones, since I use the microwave more… “Oops” is a very common word heard in my kitchen. There is almost always at least one part of my homemade meals that none of my kids will eat, and Curtis only eats it to show the kids they should.
Yet even with all that I actually consider myself a really good cook! I make healthy, homemade meals way more often than not. I know what constitutes a healthy meal. I know how to get my kids to eat veggies, albeit they’re usually covered in cheese sauce, or ranch or butter. We eat lots of fruits. I have a handful of meals I can make very last minute, without checking the recipe (although one of them is mac and cheese). And I know I can make anything I want, be it candy, bread, pie, salsa, soufflé, etc; though it may not always turn out perfect (I think the secret there is to just not be afraid to try).
I know you’re a good cook! I’m positive you fit all the same “requirements” I listed in that second paragraph. You just need to give yourself some slack! And just go with it if you occasionally have to replace your homecooked meals with a quick pizza. 🙂
May 16, 2013 @ 07:18:42
This made me smile Elise. And feel 100 times better. I think you are right about the home cooked meal thing. My kids eat home cooked meals 9 meals out of 10 and I think that is very important.
I love that you also try sometimes to make recipes you don’t have all the ingredients for. I do that all the time. I often use the Internet to find replacement ingredients. And remember how I borrowed lemon juice from you a couple of weeks ago? Thank heavens for friends and neighbors. 🙂
I guess I’m going to have to relax about eating out when I mess things up. Although part of the reason I cook at home so much is to save money. I just have to keep trying 🙂
May 16, 2013 @ 08:49:23
Saving money and eating healthy meals that I know all the ingredients for are the main reasons I cook too. I do the best I can, but sometimes life gets too busy, or things go wrong, and all I can do is try again the next day. I try not to make it a big deal. I’ve often wished for more close neighbors I could borrow ingredients from!
May 22, 2013 @ 22:55:58
I think you are right Elise. I just need to keep trying. Just remember I am just a block away if you need to borrow anything!