southwest chicken casserole

Hello my name is Aimee and this is a real life adventure...

Winter break has given me seemingly more time to do the things I normally do not have time for. For instance the other night I went to my Mom's to work on my sister Bee's super secret Christmas present and decided to make dinner. Of course everyone else was busy shopping (Mom), out with friends(Abbey), and visiting Sedona (Bee, p.s. I am super jealous) so Emily and I invited my prospective dating future (more on him later) over to help eat the giant casserole I concocted.

I would like to pause here and point out that this is the beginning of a new series I am titling "Queen of Domesticity" cause it's kind of ironic.

After slaving away for forty minutes we ended up with a version of a southwest chicken casserole, Spanish rice, re-fried beans and tortillas. I made Emily and Prospect boy try it first.

*It was delicious*

So here's the recipe:

3/4 28 oz can of diced tomatoes

1 4 oz can of diced green chilis (the small cans)
1 4 oz can of diced jalapenos
1 10 oz can of cream of mushroom soup (you can use cream of chicken instead, if you prefer)
1 bulb of garlic
1/2 yellow onion (diced)
1lb of chicken
2 cups of mexican blend shredded cheese (or any type of cheese you choose)
salt
pepper
garlic powder (my dad says you can't get enough garlic, it keeps the vampires away!)

1. Boil the chicken in a stalk pot (or any pot you can fit it into) until the middle is white.

2. Shred the chicken on a plate (I usually do it by using two forks).

3. In a frying pan combine a little oil with the entire bulb of garlic (crush it either with a knife or a garlic press) and the diced onion.

4. After the onion and garlic brown, add in the shredded chicken and sprinkle generously with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.

5. Add in soup, tomatoes, green chilis, and jalapenos.

6. Stir the mixture and let it sit over medium-low heat for a few minutes.

7. Transfer mixture from frying pan to a casserole dish and cover with cheese (I suggest piling it on so you can't see anything but cheese).

8. Set oven to broil and bake casserole until cheese is melty and brown.

9. Serve with Spanish rice, re-fried beans, and tortillas. Enjoy!

After consuming almost the entire pan the three of us agreed that adding a small can of diced black olives would be heavenly.

Do you have a favorite recipe to share?