Basic Cooking Skills: Easy Cheesy Enchiladas...and chicken too

Every other Thursday we will post about different basic cooking skills. Knowing how to prepare meals from scratch is a very important step in becoming self-reliant, which in turn is a crucial component of being prepared. Being able to cook meals for your family will give you confidence, more family togetherness time, and lower your food budget=more money for food storage! If you have a basic cooking skill you'd like to learn, email us! These meals contain perishable food items as this is a different series than our food storage recipes.

Sometimes we need to get dinner on the table fast! Sometimes we need to take a meal to someone last minute. This is no time to slave over the stove to make something good.

This is a simple, fast recipe that is absolutely delicious. We are using the method we talked about last time to cook our chicken. Check it out here. Ten minutes and you're ready to roll!

Ingredients: cooked, shredded chicken (3 breasts), tortillas, cheese, enchilada sauce (I hear "Rosarita's" is the best, but I can't find that in the South.)

Start by grating your cheese. Buying cheese in blocks is usually cheaper and resolves in much fluffier cheese. Monterey Jack cheese is the best for enchiladas but I generally just use what's in my fridge. Today was a combination of mozzarella and cheddar. I would say that's between 3-4 cups (2 quarter ends of a lb block of cheese).

Pour a can of sauce onto a deep plate. Dip the tortilla on both sides into the sauce.

Put the dipped tortilla into an oven safe pan and add a layer of cheese and chicken to the inside.

Roll up the tortilla

And put seam side down in a pan.

You can generally fit seven in a 9 x 13 pan. I'm using one of those plastic "bake in the tupperware" things, so it only fit six.

I've used almost a whole can of sauce and only half the chicken.

Still got a bit of cheese left, let's keep going and fill another pan.

When all the tortillas are rolled up, pour the leftover sauce over the top of the enchiladas.

And sprinkle with any leftover cheese.

This is a quick, easy meal that makes a lot, so you can take to a friend or neighbor who is sick or just stick one dish in the freezer for a meal for next week! I love meals that make enough for us to eat twice. Cook once, eat twice!

At this point you can stick it in the oven, OR freeze it for a later time OR take it over to a friend. They can warm it up in their oven and it will be even "fresher" for them.

This one was for our family. I baked it at 350 degrees F. for about 30 minutes, just until the cheese was good and melted. The chicken is already cooked, so the oven is just for heating it up to make it extra delicious.

How fast and easy was that? And let me tell you....it's delicious. Don't let the cheese and chicken limit you, you can stuff anything you want into these enchiladas--even making them vegetarian by putting in beans and veggies, the possibilities are endless!

Easy Cheesy Enchiladas...and chicken too

2 10-oz cans of enchilada sauce (Rosarita's if you can find it)

3 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

tortillas

3-4 cups shredded cheese (monterey jack or any kind you have on hand)

Dip tortillas into enchilada sauce on both sides. Place a couple spoonfuls of chicken and cheese in the middle of the tortilla and roll up into a burrito. Place stuffed tortilla seam side down into a 9 x 13 baking pan. Repeat until the pan is full. Pour the rest of the enchilada sauce over the tops of the tortillas and sprinkle remaining cheese over top. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 30 minutes or until cheese is melted and enchiladas are warm.