Chicken Enchiladas

These are my favorite enchiladas to make. They are SO good. They take a long time though, so plan ahead when making these babies!! Also, they are not the healthiest meal you will ever have, so I only make them once in awhile for a special yummy dinner. YUM!

Here's the recipe (it comes from Allrecipes.com):

Ingredients

• 2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast meat - cut into chunks
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
• 1 1/4 cups sour cream
• 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies, drained
• 1 (1.25 ounce) package mild taco seasoning mix
• 1 bunch green onions, chopped, divided
• 1 cup water
• 1 teaspoon lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 5 (12 inch) flour tortillas
• 3 cups Cheddar cheese, shredded, divided
• 1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce
• 1 (6 ounce) can sliced black olives

Directions

1. Place the chicken in a large pot and add water to cover. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the chicken pieces are no longer pink, about 10 minutes. Shred chicken by placing two forks back to back and pulling meat apart. Set the shredded chicken aside. Meanwhile, combine the cream of chicken soup, sour cream, and chili powder in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, then turn off the heat and cover to keep warm.
2. Heat the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the onion; cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the shredded chicken, chopped green chilies, taco seasoning, half of the bunch of chopped green onion, and water. Allow to simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in the lime juice, onion powder, and garlic powder; simmer for an additional 10 minutes.
3. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Stir 1 cup of the soup mixture into the skillet with the chicken mixture. Spread the remaining soup mixture on the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish.
4. Fill each tortilla with chicken mixture. Sprinkle Cheddar cheese over the chicken filling before folding the tortillas, reserving half of the shredded cheese for topping the enchiladas. Fold tortillas over the filling and place seam-side down in the prepared pan.
5. Pour enchilada sauce evenly over the enchiladas. Cover with the remaining 1 1/2 cups of Cheddar cheese. Sprinkle the reserved chopped green onions and the sliced olives on top of the cheese. Bake in the preheated oven until filling is heated through and the cheese is melted and bubbling, about 25 minutes.

Now what I do:
I don't add the green onions, unless I have them, and even then I only add them to the top for extra color. Also, I don't think I've ever added three cups of cheese to this recipe. More like 2 cups.

First boil 2 lbs. of chicken breast. I found the chicken breasts I was buying were around 1 lb. per breast, so I just used two of those. Warning: boiled chicken is pretty stinky, but it is easy to boil (and Steph, you don't have to touch it!). Then after it cools for a bit start shredding it with a few forks. This is the most time consuming part of this recipe, but shredding is totally worth it in the end. I usually do this step in the morning and put the chicken in a Ziplock until I'm ready to use it.

Keep shredding, shredding, shredding, and you'll soon have a lovely pile of shredded chicken.

Then add the can of cream of chicken, the sour cream and the chili pepper to a small sauce pan. The recipe says to boil it and take it off the heat and keep warm. I just put the heat on medium/low and just stir it a few times as I'm preparing the rest of the meal. (P.S. Please don't pay attention to how dirty my stovetop is in these pictures!!!)

Chop your onion and saute in butter until they are clear.

Then you add the chicken, water, taco seasoning, and can of green chilies to the pan. (Notice I had to get a bigger skillet, I didn't realize you added everything to the onions, so make sure you start with a big skillet...it will save you time and a dirty dish) Simmer this for 10 minutes.
Side note: I used a packet of taco seasoning tonight, but did you know you can make your own?? I love this recipe here. 2 1/2-3 Tablespoons of homemade taco seasoning = one packet.

Then add the lime juice, onion powder, and garlic powder.
COOKING TIP: I will usually read the whole recipe, and measure everything out before I start cooking. You will save time, and if you have to add ingredients to something that is already simmering you don't have to worry about burning it as you measure stuff out. Also, if you get to the end of a recipe and you don't have an ingredient you don't waste food, your time, and you don't have to run to the store before dinner. (I guess if you read the whole recipe you won't have to switch your onions from a small skillet, to a large skillet because you already know what comes next...oops)
Okay, back to the recipe....simmer this for 10 more minutes...keep an eye on it and stir it a few times because the chicken sops up all the water and juices quickly.

In the meantime shred the cheese, or you can already have this step ready if you measure everything before beginning.

Add a cup of the sour cream mixture to the chicken (I usually add about 1 1/2 cups of it)

Spread the rest of the sour cream in the bottom of you pan.

Add some chicken mixture and shredded cheese on a tortilla.


Roll and put seam side down into your pan.

Continue until you are done using the chicken mixture. I usually have about 6 large enchiladas.


Add the enchilada sauce and cheese (and olives and green onion if you have them.)