Chicken Enchiladas with Walmart Ingredients

This is my first blog on blogger.com! I am pretty stoked about beginning to write about my life and everything I learn and love along the way. 

I have a 58-year-old husband who works from home, and a 22-year bonus son in college who lives with us full-time...and if he wants to live with us forever, it would be fine with me because our young man is awesome! He plans to get his own place after college when he is working full-time. 

Anyway, I like to keep those two fed, and I love cooking for them. It's a waste of money to get fast food or order food to be delivered, and it's not exactly healthy. Sometimes what I prepare may not be healthy either, but it's better than fast food.

This blog isn't going to be all about cooking, however my full time job is at Trader Joe's, and I work about twice a month at Chuy's, so expect me to talk about food frequently. P.S. I love eating food, so figure that fact into the equation too. I will talk about ALL the things I love. 

This post is just a quick, easy and LAZY enchilada recipe with most of the ingredients bought from Walmart,  because I was there today. (Sorry, Trader Joe's, I cheated on you.)

I already had a package of flour tortilla at home. I purchased one Tostitos brand Salsa Verde at $3.98, 2 pounds of ground chicken at $2.98 each, a container of whipped cream cheese at $1.98, and a 16 ounce bag of queso quesadilla shredded cheese at $3.98. I got all Walmart/Great Value brand for the other ingredients because I was trying to be thrifty and because I put LOVE into my cooking, so that usually covers for the fact I got store brand.

Sidenote, my husband wasn't a fan of the Tostitos Salsa Verde, so pick a sauce you and your enchilada eaters can all agree upon. For future reference, try the enchilada sauce from Trader Joe's. It's the bomb! 

I used a long glass Pyrex dish (size is 13 x 8, I think.) I sprayed the Pyrex dish with Trader Joe's canola oil spray at $2.49, that I already had at home. Avocado oil or coconut oil sprays are much healthier choices to keep on hand, FYI. 

This entree isn't at ALL about healthy choices though. I was just going for delicious and for having leftovers I can put into meal sized containers that are quick and easy for my guys to heat up.

Here's the instructions for you. 

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Spray your skillet with the oil spray of your choice, and cook 2 pounds of ground chicken. I seasoned the meat with 2 tablespoons of cilantro from a dried spice shaker I had in my spice rack, not with fresh cilantro. You can season your ground chicken however your heart desires.

2. Drain your cooked ground chicken and combine it into a bowl with the whipped cream cheese. I kneaded it with my clean hands. 

3. The flour tortillas I used were small, not huge burrito sized tortillas. I put a heaping tablepoon of the mixture into each tortilla and rolled them so the mixture spreads out within the tortilla and is evenly distributed, then I put each of  the enchiladas - seam side down - into the Pyrex dish.  

4. I poured the entire contents of the jar of Tostitos Salsa Verde evenly, over the dozen enchiladas. 

5. Next, I used 3/4 of the bag of queso quesadilla on top of the enchiladas. We are a family that loves cheese, so you may use more or less than that if you wish. I considered using the entire bag.

6. Place your Pyrex dish full of YUM into your preheated oven and cook for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. 

7. Let the enchiladas cool for about 5 minutes after removing them from the oven and then serve them.

Total prep time was about 25 minutes and cook time was 20 minutes, so this is a great, cheap and easy meal made in under an hour.

And now for my less than stellar attempt for first time blog photos. Feel free to laugh. I certainly did.

Photo 1 shows the enchiladas, pre sauce and shredded cheese topping. The bag of cheese I used is also in the photo to help you find it in Walmart.

Photo 2 is the 2 pounds of drained ground chicken and the whipped cream cheese that will go inside your tortillas.

Photo 3 is the finished product. I have to admit, I think it needed more sauce. Possibly another jar of the sauce of your choice. 

Photo 4 is an extremely blurry photo of the Salsa Verde I used. 

And finally, but completely out of order and sideways to boot, is the enchiladas as I put them into the oven. 

Be patient, this is my first blog..