On Thanksgiving morning it was a crisp 18F degrees when my intrepid husband ventured out to run the Turkey Trot in a nearby park. What was surprising was not that he insisted on running the 5K in the frigid air, since he is impervious to weather when he runs, but that my 5-year old son was not deterred by the weather, either. After the 5K, the two of them ran the 1-mile “family fun run” together.

After the first 100 yards, my son turned to my husband and lifted his arms to be carried. My husband responded with: Little Dude, you can walk or you can run, but I’m not carrying you through this race!

And so he did: he ran the entire mile and believes he won since he got a little goodie bag at the end (which he did not share with his sister!). He’s a runner, like his father.

I didn’t go. For one thing, standing on the sideline in 18F weather is not my idea of fun, and I am not a runner. I would have pushed my daughter in the stroller for the fun run, but it was just way too cold for me. And I am definitely NOT a runner.

Instead, I prepared my contribution to the Thanksgiving feast: mashed chipotle sweet potatoes.

I peeled, chopped and boiled the potatoes until tender, then mashed them with a hand masher. Then I ran them through a ricer, to make them really smooth and creamy, with a stick of organic butter (I used 11 sweet potatoes!).

At this point, I was torn: should I add Cajun spices or chipotle powder? So I scooped spoonfuls into small bowls and did a taste test. The Cajun spices, which were my first inclination, were simply too noisy. The chipotle brought a sweet-hot smokiness which was irresistable. The chipotle it was.

I left half the sweet potatoes plain, for the less adventurous at the table and the kiddies. I had thought to garnish it at the last minute with some ginger-infused melted butter, but time got away from me. Just as well, as that might have been too much for some.

The chipotle version was a hit with those who appreciate the spicy side of life. My stepmother raved — of course, she has been known to win jalepeno-eating contests in her day, so she knows a good spicy flavor when it comes around! I brought the leftovers to a potluck a few days later and they were a huge hit there as well.

Sometimes it’s fun to put a little twist on something familiar. 🙂

In our family, we make sure to have enough leftovers from Thanksgiving to send everyone home with containers of turkey, stuffing, potatoes, etc., so that everyone can enjoy the week of turkey leftovers!

Yesterday, I used up most of the turkey making meal-size servings of turkey enchiladas to freeze. Now, on a busy winter night, I’ll be able to reach into the freezer and pull out a tin of turkey enchiladas, pop it in the toaster oven to thaw and heat, and – voila! – dinner is ready.

I like to use tins as they go from freezer to oven, and I like to have ones that fit into my toaster oven, so that I don’t have to heat up my entire oven and waste energy.

My mother-in-law passed along this quick and easy recipe for enchiladas:

Spoon some Enchilada Sauce into the bottom of the tin and spread it around (this will help keep the enchiladas from sticking to the pan). Spread corn tortillas with beans (I used vegetarian refried black beans this time) and pile on a stripe of pre-cooked chopped turkey or chicken. Roll each into a tube and set into the tin until the base is covered. Cover liberally with enchilada sauce and sprinkle with some grated cheese. Repeat with another layer of enchiladas and sauce. That’s it!

I had intended to puree some spinach to spread into my enchiladas as well, but didn’t have any frozen and the fresh leaves I found in the bottom of my fridge were so old that they smelled pretty vile when I put them in the food processor. Oh well. So much for good intentions. I’ll have to remember to serve these with a side of veggies for a balanced meal.

By the way, I realize that when I embedded the YouTube video on this site, it broke the blog table. Sigh. Hope to have it fixed soon. Thanks for your patience!