Last night I was determined to get my Susie Homemaker on. I was never the little girl who grew up and thought, “I can’t wait to cook dinner for my family one day!” But now, as I’ve entered this strange thing called adulthood (if you must call me an adult), I figure that I better have some recipes I can pass down to my kids one day, just like my grandmother did with her kids, and my mom to me.
A huge step in my cooking life happened last Thanksgiving. I stayed in Los Angeles for my first Day of Thanks away from the family. I made my first Thanksgiving dinner without my mom or aunts and I think it went pretty well. If anything, I tried HARD. I wanted that meal to be the best it could be. It was good, but now I know things that I’ll change for the future: I am going to mash my own potatoes, because the boxed kind isn’t going to cut it. Seriously, they were woof-tastic. But the turkey was juicy, the sweet potatoes were delish, and the green bean casserole and stuffing was super. YES! I can cook.
We still haven’t gotten the gas turned on. I know what you’re thinking: LAZY! But honestly, it’s not a laziness issue, it’s a time issue. I don’t have the time to take off of work to stay and wait for the gas company to show. We will get it turned on eventually, especially once it gets colder here. Anyway, in lieu of not having a stove or oven, I decided to utilize the crocpot I purchased several months ago. The thing was literally in the box until I busted it out last night.
What was I going to make? Tacos. Yep. I needed some good mexican food, and if I’m not at Chuy’s, La Margarita, Blue Mesa or Uncle Julio’s, I don’t like anything other than my mom’s mexican cuisine.
So here is how you can make my new specialty, Green Chile Chicken Tacos!
You’ll need:
A package of boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1/2 cup of salsa (I bought Rotel)
4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon of chopped canned chipotle chiles (I bought green chiles, which are delicious… I could eat them out of the can)
1 teaspoon of chile powder
Coarse salt and pepper
Taco shells (I got these white corn shells that are low in trans fat)
Shredded cheese, lime wedges, sour cream for garnish
This takes about five minutes to prepare.
– Put chicken, salsa, garlic, chiles, chile powder and salt and pepper in crocpot. Cook on high for four hours, or you can cook on low for eight hours like me.
– Voila! Eight hours later, the chicken is so tender it’s literally shredded itself in the pot. All of the juices create a super delicious aroma and it fills the house perfectly.
– It serves four, but since I was making them just for me, I get leftovers! Cha-ching!
– I served the tacos with one spoonful of Rotel, some cheese, a squeeze of lime, green chiles and a dollop of Daisy sour cream (I’m not a huge sour cream fan, but it offered a nice coolness to the spicy and warm chicken)
These were perfect since I wasn’t feeling well today and stayed home from work. Also a necessary “comfort meal” since I’ve been missing baby Mommis’ home cooking! Next recipe: Turkey Chili. Mmmm!
Kirbie Johnson 