Mexican food time

CAN YOU believe i'm posting again? ummm, yeah, have a little more free time on my hands since kev officially started school on tuesday and i don't have a job yet. so i guess i blog...and do other much more productive things, i assure you (like kill gnats and such). it was kind of weird for kev to start school (even though that's obviously why we moved here). we figured out he hasn't been a full time student since 2003. kind of shocking. even though it has only been 2 days, i can tell he is really enjoying it and loving this new season of life (hopefully that continues when he has 500+ pages to read in a week and papers due). i should have taken a picture of him on his first day of school and posted it on facebook with everyone else...my little student.

anyway, quick update about the gnats, i feel like the vinegar trick is really working! yay! one caveat...i was informed you are also supposed to put a little dish soap in the vinegar so it changes the surface tension and somehow makes them drown. i can't tell you the satisfaction i get every time i see dead gnats at the bottom of the cup. makes me feel successful. i also had kev pour ammonia down our drain (read that on the internet) and went out and purchased sticky paper today as well as more vinegar. apparently gnats are common in this area with all of the moisture...this secretly made me feel relieved that we weren't dirty people they were drawn to.

i thought i would post a little recipe we tried a couple of nights ago. several things drew me to this recipe:

1. love me some mexican.

2. love simple recipes.

3. love me some green chilis.

it was honestly really nice to try something new because i have really been stuck in a rut as far as menu planning.

Quick and Easy Green Chile Chicken Enchilada Casserole

INGREDIENTS:

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves garlic salt to taste 18 (6 inch) corn tortillas, torn in half 1 (28 ounce) can green chile enchilada

sauce 1 (16 ounce) package shredded Monterey Jack cheese 1 (8 ounce) container reduced fat sour cream

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a medium baking dish.
2.	Season chicken with garlic salt. Arrange in the prepared baking dish. Bake 45 minutes in the preheated oven, until no longer pink and juices run clear. Cool, shred, and set aside.
3.	With metal tongs, char each tortilla half over the open flame of a gas stove burner for about 1 minute, until lightly puffed.
4.	Pour about 1/2 inch enchilada sauce in the bottom of a medium baking dish, and arrange 6 tortillas in a single layer. Top with 1/2 the chicken, 1/3 cheese, 1/2 the sour cream, and 1/3 of the remaining enchilada sauce. Repeat. Coat remaining tortillas thoroughly with remaining enchilada sauce, and arrange on top of the layers. Sprinkle with remaining cheese, and top with any remaining enchilada sauce
5.	Cover, and bake 45 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool slightly before serving. Recipe taken from allrecipes.com Here are a few thoughts/changes about the recipe: I didn't char the tortillas (way too complicated in my books). I combined the sour cream to the chicken and added an extra can of green chilis (see #3 above). I only used 2 large chicken breasts...chicken is expensive people. I actually planned on adding a can of pinto beans to the chicken mixture (beans=cheap protein) but I forgot. I sauteed a green bell pepper, red bell pepper, and 1/2 an onion and added that to the layering (per a recommendation by another cook). I removed the foil the last 15 minutes. It probably could have been cooked a little longer because it was still a little moist (but not super runny). The leftovers were fantastic! If I made it again, I would probably have the chicken precooked and shredded because it would make it a much faster recipe. Hope you enjoy!