Creamy Mexican Chicken {easy}
life is hard; food doesn't have to be #94 [vol3, 6.5]
Someone made this for our family after the birth of Caroline, 12 years ago. It freezes perfectly. Crowd pleaser. Make it and thank me later. It is extremely versatile. No wrong method or ingredients. Use what you have and what you love. Omit most anything.
Ingredients
chicken, shredded
beans
corn
salsa, rotel, tomatoes
cream cheese
rice or quinoa made separately
Instructions
Make the Creamy Southwest Chicken and serve over grain of choice. Or, add more broth or tomatoes and eat as soup.
chicken - buy rotisserie, grill it, or I used an Instantpot to cook about 3 lbs of boneless breasts seasoned with smoked paprika, salt, cumin, chili powder and fresh chopped garlic in a cup of salsa and a cup of broth. Use less chicken if you aren’t cooking for an army or planning to freeze any; adjust other quantities as well. After cooking the chicken it looks like a lot of liquid. Don’t fret. Shred the chicken with 2 forks and amazingly it is eventually mostly absorbed. Taste and adjust for salt.
beans - I like to make my own from dried but canned works too. Rinse and drain 2-3 cans. Black or pinto work well or most any variety.
corn - I used a bag of frozen because it was organic. 99% of corn in America is genetically modified and I work hard to keep GMOs out of my gut. If buying organic you are not buying genetically modified.
tomatoes - use what you have and love. If your people hate the chunks, buy crushed tomatoes instead of rotel. Just remember crushed tomatoes won’t have the same flavor so be sure to add more chili powder, cumin and possibly smoked paprika.
cream cheese - I used one block but 2 would have been even better. Sour cream works in a pinch too - just be sure to add sour cream at the very end and not to boil it.
rice/quinoa (make separately) - I made both in broth (water works!). My husband does better with quinoa and the kids prefer rice. I ate a bit of both.
Can’t stress enough: taste and adjust as you go. Add spices and salt along the way and don’t dump them in at the very end for best results.
Do you have a garden? Hide allll the veggies in this! Chop peppers, shred some zucchini or squash. Let abundance be your guide.
Books I’m Reading
In January I began reading through the Bible in a year. I do this every 5-10 years. I just finished 2 Kings and started Luke and Ecclesiastes. There are days of drudgery and days of profound insight. There’s nothing new under the sun. God is faithful even when we are faithless.
From the library, in no particular order:
These Precious Days by Ann Patchett - she’s an American author & Nashville bookstore owner. I have enjoyed this collection of essays about her life.
Tell Me More - Stories about the 12 hardest things I’m learning to say by Kelly Corrigan. Also a collection of essays; not quite what I hoped for but is a good read to turn my brain off before sleep. This was a recommendation by Modern Mrs. Darcy, a newsletter I subscribe to. Crazy enough Modern Mrs. Darcy lives in Louisville and I’ve been a follower of her recommendations for years.
Conan Doyle for the Defense by Margalit Fox - True story of a sensational British murder, a quest for justice and the world’s most famous detective writer. My librarian of a husband brought this home for me to read. In case you, like me, are familiar with Sherlock Holmes but had no idea the author was Conan Doyle… well, now you know. The book is interesting because I’m unfamiliar with British culture and scene at the turn of the century. And obvs knew next to nothing about writer Conan Doyle. I’m about 1/3 into the book and will probably finish. I don’t finish all the books I start. Do you?
Recipes I’m Making
It happened this week. I didn’t lock my car at church and someone filled it up with zucchini and squash. Just kidding. Chris Voelker asked before blessing me as the very happy recipient of a mother lode of zucchini! I made these muffins with butter, substituted shredded zucchini for pumpkin, used 1/2c less sugar. Baked in loaf not muffins (pic with kids).
Roasted discs of zucchini with a no salt seasoning from Costco (added my own sea salt) and made a raw zucchini salad with feta, pasta and pickled onions.
Tourist in My Town
Our library is promoting a cultural pass this summer. It’s an opportunity for kids (and adults!) to see museums and other places of interest for free or reduced pricing. Yesterday we went to Yew Dell Botanical Garden in Crestwood. Friends who told us about the cultural pass invited us to go with them. I will never say no to an invitation to visit a botanical garden.
I geeked out in every way learning about flora and fauna in our new state! I remember, in the 4th grade (?) doing a leaf project where we had to collect a large amount leaves, identify them, and put them on a poster board. It was the beginning of my love of green things. Yesterday I discovered new-to-me varieties of deciduous trees to include: fern-leafed beech, wolf eyes dogwood, bigleaf magnolia (the leaves were at least 18” long!), cinnamon bark maple, and lacebark elm. Best of all was a recommendation for a nursery in Nicholasville who specializes in evergreen trees. Spring House Gardens is active on Instagram if you wanna fun follow. I want to plant tress for every holiday now.
Life is hard, food doesn’t have to be,
Julie