A few weeks ago I was attending a work dinner and ordered a side of grilled vegetables to accompany my meal. I started to eat, and cut a bite of what I thought was a miniature bell pepper. Within seconds of closing my mouth to chew, I realized I was horribly mistaken—it was not an innocent bell pepper but some sort of super spicy pepper! I swallowed as quickly as I could and did my best to continue conversation, praying no one could notice the look of panic on my face. My mouth went numb and I tried to discreetly take a large gulp of wine in an attempt to calm my mouth. Within a few minutes all was well again, but you better believe I did not finish the rest of that pepper!

These enchiladas are spicy, but not in a mouth numbing, brow sweating kind of way. The homemade sauce has quite a bit of chili powder it is, but the spiciness is tempered by the filling ingredients which aren’t spicy in the least bit. A coworker passed this recipe along to me and I was sold when I saw the chocolate chips in the ingredient list. The amount of chocolate is minimal, but it’s just enough to give it a twinge of molé flavor (remember those Mexican brownie chocolate cheesecakes? Chili powder and chocolate work!). Like most enchiladas, you can fill these with just about any meats, beans, or vegetables that you like. I opted for a combination of chicken with zucchini, sweet potato, and bell peppers but these could just as easy be made vegetarian (use vegetable broth).

Looking for an even milder enchilada recipe? We love these avocado cream enchiladas!

One of our favorite wedding gifts was a backyard fire pit and in the four years since then, we’d made use of it as much as we can. This fall, we really failed. One weekend we stocked up on a bunch of firewood and s’mores fixings, only to have an insanely warm October evening where we were all sweating without the help of a fire. In the weeks that followed, we kept looking for another fire opportunity but couldn’t seem to find a free night…until suddenly it was too cold to sit outside—fire or not!

So what’s a girl to do with graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate bars, but no fire to turn them into s’mores?! Make indoor chocolate covered s’mores of course! These s’mores on a stick lacked the nostalgia of sitting around the glow of a fire watching your marshmallow puff up and brown, but one bite and you’ll have forgotten how they were made! Heating the s’mores in the oven makes for perfectly browned marshmallows (no burnt ones in sight!) and coating the entire s’more in an extra layer of chocolate turns this beloved treat into something downright decadent. You could omit the sticks if you prefer, but it did make it easier to hold and dip the s’mores. I get a little worried about chocolate-dipped anything because mine always turn out so much sloppier and messy looking than I intend, but these couldn’t have been easier. Go heavy on the sprinkles if you need to cover up any mistakes!

If you don’t have a fire pit or you, like us, missed out on s’mores season, chocolate covered s’mores are just what you need!