Messy Play: Tri-Tip Enchiladas

On Sunday we headed back to the New Children's Museum for another afternoon of fun.  This time we tried more of the hands on activities.  There was drawing with chalk, stamping Valentines, coloring with colored pencils, and molding clay into...well, Thatbaby is obsessed with balls, so that's what we made.  Lots and lots of clay balls.

The only thing Thatbaby wasn't interested in, was painting.  Vehemently shaking his head no, backing away from the paint area, and clinging to me as though the paint might contain live venomous snakes.

I guess this isn't too surprising, considering that lately Thatbaby has been a little particular about messy hands.  He now requires a napkin with meals, so that he can wipe his hands and mouth.  And yet, at the same time, he apparently plays with slime at daycare and still mostly prefers eating with his hands to a fork.

Especially with enchiladas.  Which might be due to the fact that he likes to pick out his favorite part - the black beans.  No matter what else I put in an enchilada, there must always be black beans.  But that doesn't mean we always eat vegetarian enchiladas.  I love Trader Joe's tri-tip, premarinated and ready to go.  All I have to do is cook it and we have meals for days.  It shreds so beautifully, it works well for any "steak" type dish.  This week alone we've had tri-tip quesadillas and tri-tip enchiladas.

 Tri-Tip Enchiladas

 1 lb tri-tip, cooked and shredded

8oz tomatillo salsa

1 can tomato sauce

1 cup shredded colby jack

1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can diced green chiles

1 pkg flour tortillas

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Combine the salsa and tomato sauce in a saucepan over medium heat.  Cook until heated through. 
2. Reserve 1 cup of the sauce, and stir the tri-tip into the remaining sauce.
3. Stir in 1/4 cup of cheese.
4. In a small pan, heat the black beans.
5. Place just enough sauce in a baking pan to coat the bottom of the dish.
6. Heat the tortillas in your favorite way.  In the center of each tortilla, place some of the tri-tip, black beans, cheese and chiles.  Roll the tortillas up and place seam side down in the baking dish.
7. Pour the remaining sauce on top and any remaining cheese and chiles.  Cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes.