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Joyful By Choice

  • About Me
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Easiest Chicken Enchiladas

May 14, 2016 Annette Barton

My chicken enchiladas, nope these are not authentic Spanish or even Mexican Enchiladas but man are they good! I like to not be bound by a recipe… It's just dinner.... roll with it! Creating food is very relaxing to me, and I think it's because I don't stress over measuring or weighing.  This drives my daughter crazy! She likes to be able to recreate something just like before and that drives ME crazy!! To each their own in the cooking world! When I'm baking or creating candy I measure exactly but not in my dinner creations. If you need exact measures, when I make them again, I will take the moment to write it all down for you. Just let me know if that's what you need… It's a good lesson for me and I can leave the recipe in the family recipe book for my daughter! But I'm sure she's made these enough that she's got this one in the bag now! 

                                                     

Cooked Chicken,  Roasted, barbequed, smoked... Your preference
Roasted Poblano Peppers or Chilies (optional) diced  Cheese – queso, Monterey Jack, cheddar or a wonderful combo of all. 
Green enchilada sauce. 
Flour tortillas

My rule of enchilada thumb is corn tortillas for red sauce and flour tortillas for green sauce.  Brown rice tortillas work well if you gluten intolerant or just reducing glutens in your life.  
But honestly do what your family and you like… It's your dinner and/or breakfast! 


I use the leftover Money Chicken to make this recipe…(On my blog)  If I have any lefover, of course. If not I'll buy a rottisserie chicken or two to make this yummy recipe.  My kids and husband love this not only for the intended dinner but will hide it in the fridge for breakfast with eggs the next day. So I make a lot of these when I make them for all to enjoy! 

Shred chicken off the bones and no skin. Doesn't need to be chopped unless you have little ones, you know your home, do whatever you need to do to adapt for your family. 

Take fresh flour tortillas, I line them in half on a rimmed cookie sheet like tacos. 

Then I start with a little chicken in each one, about ¼ cup each depending on the size of my tortillas and how hungry my crew is, I then add a little cheese of choice, then I put just a little green enchilada sauce inside, taking each one now I roll them up on the same sheet, (I like easy prep work on the same pan) once they are all rolled up I put the rest of the enchilada sauce all over them and top off with more cheese.  In the 350 degree oven for 30-40 minutes until  they are golden and the cheese is melted.  

I serve these beauties with black beans and Spanish seasoned  brown rice, avocados or guacamole, salsa and sour cream and tortillas chips of course.

Some times I need to change it up, I put the black beans inside with some roasted peppers and onions  and/or roasted corn too. 

I have also done this casserole style, just layering like a lasagne in a glass 9 x 13 pan. Really it's about the flavor and what works best for your family. 

Sure you can make your enchilada sauce, and yes it's better. But sometimes you just need dinner up and ready in a flash I always have green enchilada sauce on my shelf in the pantry. When I can make the enchilada sauce, I'll make a bunch and freeze it up for next time. I just choose my battles some days and roll with the family requests. I always go for organic, natural and homemade to the best of my ability and budget. 

In chicken Tags chicken, enchiladas, mxican food, dinner
4 Comments

$$$$ Money Chicken $$$$$

May 4, 2016 Annette Barton

It's money chicken!!! Because it's money every time!!

I have had training as a chef and have catered for many over the years! I know it's more more things in my life that I do!  I am a “jack of all trades” but this recipe comes from a friend and it came from her friend and of course I just had to change and tweek it a little to be my own!  But here it is for you to love and to change yourself! This is the dinner I make when I'm running in from the grocery store and need to have dinner up quick and groceries put away at the same time. This dinner is requested by my family, time and time again...  if they only knew how easy it was! 

Roasted broccoli and baked sweet potatoes are all in the oven too! Everything in this quick dinner is foil lined so it's the easiest dinner to clean up. If you don't foil line, totally ok by me...  but be warned it’s a doozy to clean up. Dinner will smell amazing and the prep work is nothing! 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees as soon as you walk in the door!

Wash and pierce the sweet potatoes, I keep them whole and unwrapped but placed in a small foil lined pan to catch the sugars that roast off of them.  I personally don't use a microwave to cook with, but you could do the sweet potatoes in the microwave if your oven space is smaller. 

Broccoli florets on another foil lined pan, season with olive oil I use the misto sprayer with garlic roasted organic olive oil from Costco. If you don't have a sprayer, just drizzle it on the broccoli and toss around. Season with sea salt and cracked pepper, you can add any season you want to this one, just try to not match up to what your putting on the chicken below or everything tastes the same.  I've done it... its still great! Ok let this set on the broccoli for about 10 min, there is better crunch, when the oil sets in a bit andif the broccoli is floret up and stem down. 

Bone-in chicken thighs with skin a many as you need to cook for your family, I always make more for leftovers it's better than the store bought rotisserie chicken. 

Season with any of the combos play with them make them your own. 
That's it for prep work! 

Line a large rimmed cookie sheet with foil (DO THIS!) or you will hate me make sure the foil is on good and tight no holes. 
Place a cookie rack in the pan and spray with oil, coconut oil, whatever you like, but do this or you will hate me during clean up! 
Put the chicken thighs on the cookie rack that is inside the foil  lined cookie sheet,
Place chicken and broccoli in the hot oven, where the sweet potatoes already are in 35-40 minutes later you have crispy, crunchy, deliciously moist chicken that I can't seem to make enough of for my family. The darker the broccoli the better my family loves it! It gets crunchy and flavorful, something totally different. 

Make sure your chicken is done with a temperature probe. No under done chicken sushi is allowed on my watch. Always bring chicken to 170 degrees, it will come up a bit after you pull it from the oven. Temperature probes are cheap if you don't have one buy one, they are well worth the investment. Just always make sure it's working! 

By the way, if there are leftovers, the chicken skin isn't good the next day enjoy the forbidden skin today if you like it, many days the leftover chicken is stripped of its skin and devoured at my house... johnny on the spot, sometimes even argued over!


My Money Chicken Spice Combos:
#1Montreal Chicken spice one of my favorite easy go to seasons. 
#2 Ground Pepper and Celery Salt
#3 Garlic powder, salt and pepper
#4 Citrus blend by Simple Organics in the grinder top. 
Honestly, I haven't made one my family didn't gobble up. 

Some other dinner combos I have come up with using Money chicken are: 

Curry powder with steamed brown rice, or cauliflower rice, sautéed mixed veggies 

Your favorite taco seasoning combinations is fabulous with fajita veggies and taco makings. 

An idea for leftover chicken is next on my food list… 

In chicken Tags dinner, food, chicken, easy dinner
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