King Ranch Chicken

RECIPE HERE

The verdict was...."it was good".  Here are the things I like about it:

1. It doesn't ask for soup in a can, all the foods are whole and fresh
2. One roasted chicken is the perfect amount of chicken, without using much of the dark meat

Tips-

1. Always shred your own, good cheese.  Preshredded cheese has a starchy consistency to keep it from clumping together and can taste alittle plastic
2. Make 2 smaller pans
3. DON'T over soak the tortillas- mine got too soggy
4. Keep the tortillas whole, as the recipe calls for.  I thought I would be clever and cut them into strips like lasagna and I think I will try whole next time
5. You can adjust the heat if you have kiddo's or people who don't like spicy by using diced tomatoes instead of Rotel
6. Immediately take the peppers from the over and cover them in plastic wrap.  Let them sit until they cool off enough to touch.  The peels come off much easier.
7. Wear rubber gloves when chopping and handling peppers- I keep a box of restaurant gloves in my kitchen to use with peppers, garlic, shallots etc.!!

Cooking

If you know me at all...you know I love to cook.  Being single and living on my own (for the first time EVER really) has resulted in me having a different outlook on dinner.  A dinner of hummus, apples, cheese, nuts or leftover toddler dinner (plain pasta, 1/2 eaten chicken nugget, tots) is considered a good dinner in my book.  13 years of Cooks Illustrated and several other award winning cookbooks are just sitting on my shelf...gathering dust. 

So, I got a nudge when I someone came over and the only thing I had for dinner was Mac & Cheese.  I went through my freezer and pantry and decided to make some food, with love, freeze it, share it or eat it!

With what I had already in my freezer:
Ground Chicken
Chicken Thighs
Italian Sausage
Chicken Sausage

I spent $66.54 at Sam's Club and $33.88 at Walmart ($5 for a Matter T-Shirt)

Recipes to come for:
Make Aheads-

• Shredded Chicken Burittos smothered in Hatch Chili (Made 14 and freezed them without the sauce)
• King Ranch Chicken (used a whole roasted chicken from Sam's and the rest of the tortillas from above)
• 2 Shredded Chicken Quesadillas

30 Minute Whip Ups-

• Skillet Greek Lasagna with Greek Chicken Meatballs
• Chicken Sausage & Pasta with fresh Mozzerella
• Omlets
• Artichoke Dip
• Skillet Italian Lasagna

Dessert-

• Chocolate Chip Scones

Eddie Vedder

I have stated that I am late to the party when it comes to Pearl Jam and Eddie Vedder. True statement! I have stopped checking my FB page at work and deleted the app on my phone because it is a waste of precious time that I don't have enough of. FB being a waste of time that I don't have wasn't enough of a reason to tune it out. It took the Supreme Court to steel my resolve. I know more about politics than most women in my demographic because I think it is important, but not because I think my particular issues and needs are more important than anyone else's dissenting views. The polar "debate" through singular posts make me crazy. Not as crazy as people who post "pray for me, but I can't tell you why" type messages...those take the cake!

...back to Vedder- go ahead and listen to Society (Into the Wild soundtrack) and Patriot and hover above it all and try to see this world and it's people- all of them- from a much less divisive perspective. I always want to just get in the car and drive...far...far away to Montana to be truly alone in nature. Or, as an ex-patriot in France so that I can appreciate what I already have when I hear those songs.

Happy Sunday! It's going to be a long road to November. Seek out truly important news and don't believe everything that scrolls at the bottom of the news feed!

ps. An entire post will be dedicated to the travesty of the Into the Wild soundtrack and Society receiving ZERO Academy Award nominations.