Kickin' Chicken Enchiladas

I have been scouring Pinterest for cheap and easy recipes that will feed the mouths of babes easily... The more mouths it feed and the less it costs, the better. If it is delish, that is WAY better. :) I found a recipe that I thought was a winner so I decided to give it a whirl. It didn't even have a name, but it seemed pretty easy. You just dump a few canned goods on top of some FROZEN chicken meat into your crock pot, add some cream cheese, and cook it 6-8 hours. Done.

Let me back things up by saying that I enjoy following fellow blogger, The Pintester. She is HILARIOUS! She is a little crude, so for my mother-in-law (and likely, most of my husband's fam), I don't recommend. You probably wouldn't appreciate the humor or language used. If you dare to visit the website, don't say I didn't warn you. Either way, I love reading through her fails and wins, and most of all, getting the comfort in knowing that I am not the only one who sees these amazing pins that seem so attainable and then fail so hard... I say all of this because one of the things she is well known for is not having the proper ingredients. Here is where I got my big-booty ego and decided to wing it.

The recipe called for:

• 2.5-3 lbs chicken breast tenders, FROZEN
• 1 can whole kernel corn, drained
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can rotel
• 8 oz block cream cheese

This is the picture from the original blogger. Original Blogger

You are supposed to put the FROZEN chicken tenders at the bottom of your crock pot, then put your cream cheese on top of it. Then dump in the canned ingredients. Cover and let cook on low for 6-8 hours, stirring every 2 hours.

First of all, I had chicken breasts, not tenders. I hate shopping at the dang Walmart that is close to my home because I can never find the tenders which is what I prefer, but I am not willing to drive further away to a bigger store where I will spend way more money to get chicken tenders. So I settle every time on the chicken breasts.

Second, I only had about 3 oz left of my cream cheese, not 8 oz. To make sure I didn't lose cheesiness (... is that really a word??) and creaminess, I added a can of cheddar soup to the mix.

Third, I also struggled to find Rotel at this stupid Walmart during my last trip. Granted, I was suffering from a serious migraine, toting an extra child in addition to 3 of my own, my husband was in an electric cart-thing due to a broken leg (looooong story), following me asking too many questions, and I don't know the layout of this store, yet. Not knowing the layout of my regular grocery store tends to cause me a high (I mean EXTREME - not exaggerating) level of anxiety. For this reason, I prefer to go with my husband and no children and treat it as a date so he can help me remain focused and not go crazy. I found the canned tomato section last time but for the life of me couldn't fine Rotel. Since then, we went back for our next grocery trip and Jeremy walk right up and grabbed it. I swear, they were not there. Must have been out of stock or saw me coming... I did, instead, have "tex mex style diced tomatoes," which were used as an alternate.

So aside from substitutions and adding some minor seasoning, I followed the instructions. After 8 hours (since I used breasts, I wanted to ensure thorough cooking), I served this Mexican stew-esque dish wish pan-warmed tortillas.

Jeremy and I both thought it was "okay" and filling, but a little lacking. It could use some fresh cilantro if used to make tacos to give it that fresh taste, or maybe a dallop of sour cream? It was too soupy as-is for us. We had a ton of leftovers and weren't real sure what to do with it, but in our current financial situation, we were NOT going to waste the food. So we debated over options, but then I came up with a good one we could both agree on... Enchiladas. :)

Genius!!!

So basically, you take this mixture you just created above, and roll it into corn tortillas. I did mine dry tonight but they kept breaking. You could dip them in warmed chicken broth if you want so they are more flexible and have more give without the tear. I just had kiddos running around like mad and parents coming to pick them up soon and wanted to start working on homework with the kids to get them all finished up at a reasonable hour tonight. So you fill the tortilla, roll it, place it in a baking dish. Continue doing so until you have filled the dish. I had enough (with our LEFTOVERS) to fill two dishes, so you may want either two LARGE or three small dishes. Once you have used all of the filling and are done rolling, open a can of green enchilada sauce and pour over top of each of the dishes. I used a large 28 oz can for ours because we like ours with lots of sauce - and I apologize, but the can was all jacked up from being dropped and I forgot to get a picture. Our family prefers to buy the blocks of cheese and shred by hand (for cost-effectiveness and for taste/quality), so I then shredded about 16 oz of the Colby Jack marbled cheese to top it all of. Next, just pop them in the preheated oven and bake at about 375 degrees for 45-55 minutes or until the cheese is nice and melty and browning on top.

Here is the final recipe:

• 2.5 lbs chicken breasts/tenders, frozen
• 1 can whole kernel corn, drained
• 1 can black bean, rinsed & drained
• 1 can rotel
• 1 can cheddar soup
• 4 oz cream cheese
• 16 oz Colby jack cheese, shredded
• corn tortillas
• 28 oz green enchilada sauce
• 1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes, optional
• 1/8 tsp sea salt, optional

Step 1. Cook chicken (frozen), corn, beans, rotel, soup, & cream cheese on low in crock pot for 6-8 hours or until cooked through, stirring every 2 hours as needed.

Step 2. Roll filling into corn tortillas and place into baking dishes until dishes are full. Top with green enchilada sauce. 

 Step 3. Top with shredded cheese as desired and place in oven to bake for 45-55 minutes at 375 degrees or until cheese is melty and browned on top.

Ta da!!!