Shredded Bliss

I'm all about shredding these days.  I do the 30 Day Shred DVDs by Jillian Michaels,  I play some mean guitar hero, and best of all I like shredded meats.  Mmmm.  Last night we had enchiladas for dinner and man, they were good.  The great thing about shredded meat is you can do it whenever you have time and throw it in the fridge and turn it into something later on.  This is how I do it.

In a little bowl combine 1/2 tsp chili powder, 1/2 tsp garlic, 1tsp cumin, 1/4 tsp salt.  This is enough spice mix for 3 chicken breasts.  Pat your chicken dry and season both sides.  Heat about 1 TBS of olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat.

Lightly brown the chicken on both sides before adding a can or two of Rotel (the original has a little kick to it but they also make a mild version, either will do just fine).  I added a 1/2 can of diced tomatoes, because I only had one can of Rotel on hand. Squeeze the juice of 1/2 a lime in there.  Yum. If you feel it needs a little

more liquid to cook in, add a little water (maybe a 1/4 to 1/2 cup at the most).

                          

Reduce heat to low.  Cover and let lightly simmer for about 25 min or until cooked through.

Once cooked, remove chicken to a cutting board.  Using two forks, pull the meat apart until all is shredded.  Return the meat to the pan and let cook a tad longer if there is extra liquid that you want to cook down.  Now you can let cool and refrigerate for later use in tacos, burritos, tortilla soup, or what ever else you feel like.  Since Nelsy has had a hankering for enchiladas, that's what we had. In the past he has made some really good enchilada sauce from scratch, but that can be a little time consuming.  The canned stuff works just fine!

So you just warm your corn tortillas, put in a little chicken and a little plop of shredded cheddar (another shredded thing I love).

Roll those puppies up and put them in a baking pan.  Next, pour about 1 1/2 cans of enchilada sauce (enough to cover) over the top and sprinkle on some shredded cheddar.  Bake in a preheated 375 oven for 25-30 min or until it's a bubbling, lightly browned melty pan of goodness.

(I'm so happy there are leftovers in my fridge right now!)  Serve them with a little yellow rice if you like and a side salad.

Avocados and light sour cream are perfect with this meal, especially if you make them a little spicy.

See, who needs to go out to eat when you can make things that taste this good at home!  Dig in. (And now I'm going to do my shred video so I can have this for lunch today too.)  

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