Bon Voyage!

It would appear that I've been a little fixated on Mexican food this week. 3 nights in one week. What can I say? I love it. Mexican food is one of the things that make living in Southern California tolerable. Those poor people on the East Coast...most of them wouldn't know a jalapeno if it smacked them in the face. And they probably all think Del Taco or Taco Bell constitutes "mexican" food. So sad!!!! Literally one of the great failures of East Coast cuisine. Although I'll give them their props for crab cakes. Mmm. Crab cakes. Ok, I'm drifting. Back to the topic at hand. Mexican food.

Mmm.

Tacos. Or anything Mexican-food-ish really.

However, tacos were earlier this week. Last night I spent time with their cousin, the enchilada. Man oh man. Good stuff.

Chicken Enchiladas

Serves 2 (with leftovers....holla!)
Ingredients:
2 small chicken breasts
10 corn tortillas
1 10oz can La Victoria Enchilada sauce (go with anything Spanish-sounding)
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
**1 small can diced green chiles
**1/2 onion, chopped

Bring 4 cups of water up to a boil and throw the chicken in. If you want to season the water with bouillon, go right ahead. Cook the chicken all the way through, should take 10-15 minutes.
When the chicken is done, take it out of the pot, and shred with 2 forks. You don't have to go nuts, just make sure you get nice bite-size pieces.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Put the tortillas on a microwave safe plate and cover with a damp paper towel. Heat them for about 30 seconds, to soften them. This makes them easier to work with, and less likely to break on you.
In a 9x13 inch Pyrex, place 1 tortilla at a time, fill with about 1-2 tablespoons of the chicken. Then roll the tortilla, and rest it on the seam. Continue this process with all the tortillas.
Cover the enchiladas with the sauce. The 10oz can is just about the perfect amount.
Sprinkle the shredded cheese on top and bake for about 15-20 minutes. The cheese should be nice and melty and starting to brown.

Notes on this recipe...I call for chiles and onion, but I didn't have any, so mine were a little plain last night. C'est la vie. I do recommend using them if you have them though, they really bump up the flavor.

I've spent the better part of today being exhausted due to a little too much fun last night. Captain America was a very good movie. It was very well made. And the acting didn't make me want to die inside, so kudos to the team who put it together. However, didn't get to sleep until about 5:00 this morning. Marga Cat has been a wee-bit scatterbrained today. And the day isn't nearly over. Tonight Mike and I are babysitting my cutie-pie nephew. Caffeine is a very good thing today. And very much needed. Tomorrow I'm getting the last of my bag packed, and then tomorrow night I'm off to Miami. Meeting family there and taking off on a 7-day Western Caribbean cruise. I. Am. So. Spoiled. But seriously, how lucky am I? Not only does my family just rock to begin with, they want to do extremely fun, awesome things with me. I'm blessed people. So if any of yous out there ever hear me complain, you have my absolute permission to tell me to STFU!

With the babysitting tonight, there is no cooking afoot. So this will likely be my last post until I get home on July 31 and get back in the kitchen where I belong....(Did I get that right Mike?? Haha!)

Have a good week. Do fun things. And above all else, cook!