What’s for dinner tonight

By Stacey, on January 24th, 2010

I found this recipe when I was pregnant and trying to stock our freezer with something not made with ground beef. It’s made the regular rotation because it’s fairly easy, if a bit messy, and it’s really easy to modify according to your tastes.

You can find the original recipe here at Frugal Mom; I’m going to post it with a few minor modifications that we’ve made (my changes will be in purple). Enjoy!

Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients for Cooking Day:

1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
2 Tbsp. butter
1 boiled chicken, deboned, skinned and chopped (if we don’t have a whole chicken, I just bake 4 chicken breasts instead)
1 – 4 oz. can mild green chili peppers chopped
1/4 cup flour (it calls for this but never actually uses it, I presume it’s meant to be added to the cheese sauce as a thickener but I don’t always do it)
3/4 tsp. of salt
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup sour cream
3 Tbsp. butter
3 oz. each of Monterey Jack cheese and Cheddar Cheese, shredded (we use a Tex-Mex blend and it’s great)
12 6-inch tortillas
1 cup salsa
1 cup black beans

Cooking Day Instructions:

Saute onions and green peppers in butter. Add cooked chicken, green chili peppers, salsa, black beans, and any seasonings you like – we use a bit of Cajun seasoning to add some extra flavour.
In separate pan heat chicken broth and cream of chicken soup. Remove from heat and mix in sour cream and 1/2 cup of the cheese. Stir 1/2 cup of the sauce into the chicken mixture.
Dip each tortilla into remaining sauce to soften; fill each with the chicken mixture.
Roll up and arrange seam side down in a baking dish prepared for freezing. Pour remaining sauce over enchiladas and sprinkle with remaining cheese. To freeze use the foil and plastic wrap method (see below).

Serving Day Instructions:
Thaw completely. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.

Foil and plastic wrap – Do not use this method until your foods have cooled down!

I use this method of freezing when I am freezing things such as meatloaf or lasagna. It is for items that use a particular pan and need to keep a particular shape. To use this freezer method you must begin by lining a pan first with foil . Then put a layer of plastic wrap on top of the foil. Make sure that you use enough wrap to cover the entire dish. Put the food item into the dish and seal all the foil and wrap securely. You don’t want to allow any air to get to the food. Place the food, in the dish, into the freezer. Leave it in there for a couple of hours or until the food is frozen enough to hold the shape of the dish. Remove the dish from your freezer and leave the food in the freezer. Now when you are ready to cook you can thaw the food slightly, remove the foil and plastic wrap and place in the baking dish to finish thawing. This is a great method because you don’t tie up all your baking dishes in the freezer and your food fits perfectly into the baking dish when it is time to cook!