Saturday night I had grand plans of making this recipe: Spicy Enchiladas with Pumpkin Sauce. We went to Fred Meyer and found out that there’s still a pumpkin shortage. We went to another store and found jumbo sized cans, but I didn’t think we’d ever use all of it.
I discovered some pumpkin puree in our freezer that a friend had given us last Fall! I defrosted it and thought we were good.
We had gone to a local Farmer’s Market Saturday and had a bunch of fresh veggies for the dinner.
We followed the recipe instructions for the Pumpkin Enchiladas but the texture just wasn’t turning out right.
I think we added too much water or something. It wasn’t really a puree–instead it was a pumpkin/water liquid. 🙁 Damn! We debated whether or not to continue with the recipe or give up on the pumpkin. I had some Rotisserie Chicken that I was going to use instead of the Rosemary Chicken the recipe called for. We decided to give up on the pumpkin. The texture was all wrong and I felt like the enchiladas would be ruined by the “soup.”
Instead of the Spicy Pumpkin Enchiladas–we saved dinner and made chicken enchiladas.
Luckily there was one can of enchiladas sauce in the pantry. Dinner was saved!
We used the miniature tortillas and made 5 enchiladas.
Enchilada sauce, sliced black olives, chicken, cheese and chopped green onions. Topped the enchiladas with more shredded Colby Jack cheese and a little sharp white cheddar. Baked for about 25 minutes or so.
While the enchiladas were baking, Michael made his awesome guacamole.
Chopped garlic and jalapenos:
The guacamole turned out great. It always does!
The enchiladas turned out GREAT! I’m really glad we abandoned the potentially disastrous pumpkin enchiladas. The chicken enchiladas turned out wonderfully and the few little shavings of sharp white cheddar were delicious.
Dinner was served! And it was wonderful!
QUESTION: How do you save kitchen disasters?
Morgan @ healthy happy place
good job on the quick thinking! We typically just eat a frozen pizza or something when my recipes go wrong!
Lisa Eirene
Ha! I think Michael would have loved to have pizza as our backup.
Carbzilla
I might be a food hoarder but I think I would have added pureed veggies to the pumpkin to make it into a keeper soup, and then moved on to the chicken enchiladas as you did. I can’t bear to throw out food.
I still find organic pumpkin in the stores and Big Lots might have it. Doesn’t seem to be as much of a shortage as it had been. It has too much sugar for me lately so I’m skipping it.
Katie @ Health for the Whole Self
Way to go with saving the dinner! I’m not always as quick on my feet, unfortunately.
Nicki
No dinner recovery for me tonight! Mac & Cheese! Oh man, so so so so so GOOD!! 😀
Lisa Eirene
Oooh you tried the recipe?? I am so glad you loved it!
Nicki
I did! Simply amazing. 🙂 Only one slight modification was the topping. I didn’t add it, just not my thing.. LOL. but it was amazing none the less! 🙂
Emily
your enchiladas look amazing! good save 🙂 I just found your blog, I really like it!
Lisa Eirene
They were REALLY good!
maija
Surfing around & found your blog. I think the homemade pumpkin puree was probably a lot more liquid-y than the canned stuff (that’s usually pretty thick stuff – they probably strain it or something in the canning process). Has there been a pumpkin shortage? I hadn’t heard of one, but I’ve noticed that you usually don’t see pumpkin puree until fall/Thanksgiving time. It’s harder to find other times of the year, as I think they just don’t stock it in stores.
Lisa Eirene
I’ve been seeing other bloggers talk about a pumpkin shortage. I was surprised to hear it from a store clerk too. I think you are right about the puree. Maybe next time we’ll try with canned and see if it’s better.
Kassi
Hi Lisa!
I just wanted to point out that if you bought those massive containers of pumpkin you can just freeze the leftovers! That’s what I do. In fact, I pulled out a frozen chunk this morning and plopped it in my oats at the end of cooking time. That way, you get to score the (usually) better deal on a massive container of pumpkin. To make life easier, I put it in a zip-top bag and freeze it so it’s a thin layer. That way, breaking off pieces doesn’t require any heavy machinery 🙂 (I use the same trick for tomato paste!).
Those enchiladas look tasty!
Lisa Eirene
That’s a fantastic idea. Thank you!
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