Chimichangas

Dear Lauren,

When I talked to you the other day and you told me you'd had a bad day, were overwhelmed with school work, and all you had in your pantry was pasta and olive oil, I had a bad day too. When you have a bad day, I do too. I called Dad at work and told him about your bad day and my bad day and he said, no worries, he would fix it. And then he drove to see you at school. He took off work early and just drove over.  He took you to the store and got everything you needed and wanted and more. Plus he bought you socks.

Bad day fixed. For all of us.

Later, I was thinking maybe you might want to try keeping some other things on hand, besides pasta and olive oil, so you can make this quick dinner I recently made when you're out of groceries and when you're really busy.

Here's the tip - I've been buying rotisserie chicken. I take the skin off, then take the meat off the bones and break it into bite-sized pieces and then I measure out one cup of meat and put it in a Ziploc. I label it and I date it. Then into the freezer it goes. It's been great for quick dinners like I made tonight. I just mix up a few things and heat it and dinner's done.

You can also use this recipe with leftover Thanksgiving turkey! I'm obsessed with cranberry sauce so I plan on trying  to substitute the tomatillo salsa with cranberry sauce. I'll report the results back to you, ok?

Chimichangas
adapted from this recipe

1 cup chicken breast, cooked, torn or cut in bite sized pieces*
1/2 cup shredded cheese (I used cheddar but Monterey Jack or Queso Fresco would be lovely.)
1 green onion, sliced, all parts (cut off the root)
1/2 teaspoon Mexican oregano
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
1-4.5 ounce can chopped green chiles
1 can fat free refried beans
4 8-inch flour tortillas
cooking spray
a jar of tomatillo salsa
sour cream

Preheat the oven to 500. Cover a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil.

Stir together the first 6 ingredients in a bowl. Spread about 2-3 tablespoons of refried beans down the middle of each tortilla. Divide the chicken mixture between the 4 tortillas, also down the center of each tortilla. Roll up the tortillas and place them seam side down on the baking sheet. Spray lightly with cooking spray. Cook for 6-7 minutes. Watch them the last minute so they won't burn.

Put two chimichangas on two plates and drizzle about 2-3 tablespoons of tomatillo salsa on each one. Serve with a little sour cream on the side. Serve with steamed or roasted broccoli or cauliflower. Or to make it interesting, you can always add the vegetables inside the tortillas with the meat mixture and beans.

Love,

P.S. I love you. I'm really looking forward to you being home for Thanksgiving. xoxo.

P.P.S. You can freeze shredded cheese in cups or half-cups. Call that Great Tip #2.