Enchiladas and the S'mores cookie bar

I was lucky and got a candy thermometer for Christmas (thanks to my wonderful mother-in-law) and we finally tested it out with marshmallows. I've been inspired to try other candy again soon, but I think I'll need my husband's help then too! It's kind of stressful as a beginner!

We definitely won't be buying any more Finnish marshmallows which are far too sweet, artificially flavored and kind of expensive (especially if you want American style white fluffy marshmallows). 

The recipe was awesome and detailed, I loved that it had how to use European and US ingredients (gelatin). It was by David Lebovitz and is linked here. 

Like my nails? :) They remind me of being 10 years old but I love how fun it looks! Hot pink and glitter! 

I promptly used the homemade marshmallows in my own version of  a s'mores cookie bar. I got kind of mad that we didn't have graham crackers (to use in all the recipes on pinterest) so I just used the chocolate cookie dough base and called it a day. 

The recipe is HERE. 

I plopped my marshmallows on it, a piece of dark chocolate, added a dollop more of cookie dough and baked it for about 30-40 min. It was ooey-gooey and so rich it was almost gross. 

In other words: delicious, sinful, worth every bite! 

Dollops of cookie dough...what it looked like right before the oven...

Post-oven and positively fabulous! 

The main course for our little dinner party was enchiladas. It's just about one of my favorite meals. 

I was lucky enough (or they were actually) that my guests had never had enchiladas before (?!) so we really wow'ed them.

The internet is full of recipes for enchiladas, I have never used any. I kind of just do it my way. Wanna know how? Here's a few pictures and at the end, the recipe I made up.

(Hubby used to work at a taco/tortilla chain called Moe's so he's the house expert on rolling them up. Professionalism rocks!) ;)

Above is to give you an idea of what lies beneath the cheese, below is the amount of cheese needed (go big or go home!)

The toppings:

The meal. 

Enchiladas Anneli Style
(Makes 12-14)

Heat oven to 200C/375F. Butter your ceramic or glass oven dishes.

600g ground beef
1 packet taco seasoning of your choice (or make your own seasoning through pinterest!)
1 onion, chopped
1-2 cloves chopped garlic
1 can kidney beans (or a small bag of frozen corn, or whatever else floats your boat...)

Cook these things together as if you were making tacos. Add the kidney beans last.


12-14 8" tortillas (we only made 12 because we had small dishes. We had leftovers of all the ingredients and could have easily made more).
500g shredded cheese
1 can/jar of taco sauce/salsa
Jalapenos, chopped (optional)

Put some meat mixture in the middle of the tortilla, sprinkle a little cheese on top (like in the first picture). Roll it up and put it in the greased dish. Spoon (or pour if you are like me) the salsa on top and sprinkle jalapenos on if using them. Use the rest of the cheese to cover the enchiladas. Yum!
Bake until golden brown and delightful, about 20 min.

While they are baking, set up your toppings! We used:
Lettuce, chopped
Red onion, chopped
Tomato, chopped
Fresh Cilantro, chopped (We used to not use it, but it makes it so much better!) 
Sour cream, salsa, hot sauce
Boiled rice

It was an amazing meal. Dinner and dessert both!

Koda loved the company, his best friend Elvi the French bulldog came over to play last night, too. 

Isn't she adorable?!?! The ugliest piece of cuteness EVER! (and I mean that in the nicest way possible because I luuuurve her!)

Before I send you on your way... let me share melted chocolate s'mores cookie bar goodness.

Thanks for reading and I'm sorry if you just drooled on your keyboard. ;)