Chicken Enchiladas & Can Strainer

Tomorrow we are hopefully finally going to go buy the new range. Just the thought of being able to bake again has motivated me to post and to go through my recipes to figure out what I want to cook or bake for you next. I'll post 2 recipes today just to prove how excited I am. This recipe is one of the last meals I made in the oven before it decided to no longer cooperate.

This gadget is something that at first I didn't think I'd need. I went to a Pampered Chef party not long ago and they were explaining what this was. First they were describing how to use it on cans of veggies and fruits. That sounded nice, but once they showed how it works on a tuna can, I immediately added it to my order form! For regular cans of veggies and fruits you place it over the top of the can so when you tip it over everything stays in the can. For tuna, which I hate draining, you set it inside so you can squeeze the liquid out of the tuna while draining it. I don't like tuna, except for tuna salad on sandwich or crackers, but I hated trying to squeeze the liquid out using the can top and then smelling like tuna all day long. This thing is wonderful!!! In the following recipe, I used it to drain the olives. I hate when you dump the can of olives out after draining and you still have a bunch of liquid that makes a huge mess. With this nifty gadget, I can set the can inside it and then set it in the sink drain and while I'm working on the chicken and the rest of the recipe, it can sit there and drain. I come over and shake the can once in awhile to get the olives to rotate to get the liquid out of their centers. I use this thing all the time. I love it.
This has to be one of my most favorite meals to make. I like enchiladas, but I don't like enchilada sauce so and this recipe doesn't have one drop in it (you could add some if you wanted to). It is actually 3 different recipes that I experimented with but thought each one was missing something. Combined together they aren't missing a thing. I didn't take a picture of an individual serving because once these come out of the pan, they don't last long and because it's really messy once it comes out of the pan and I was afraid of getting the cheese sauce on my camera. The leftovers are really good, too if they last long enough to have leftovers. Enjoy!!

Chicken Enchiladas

1 chicken bouillon cube or 1 teaspoon granules

3 pounds chicken breasts

4 ounce can green chilies with juice

1/2 cup yellow onion (about 1/4 of an onion) finely chopped

2 tablespoons garlic powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon chili powder

2 (10.75 ounce) cans fiesta nacho cheese soup

1 cup milk

6 ounce can black olives, sliced (optional, but recomended)

sour cream, salsa, etc.

1. Dissolve bouillon cube in 1/2 cup hot water to make broth.

2. Place chicken in skillet in single layer. Sprinkle chilies, onion, garlic, salt, chili powder over chicken. Add broth. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce heat to medium. Simmer 30 minutes or until chicken is tender.

3. Remove chicken from skillet with tongues, shaking off vegetable pieces. Let stand until cool enough to handle. Using fingers, pull chicken into coarse shreds.

4. Mix nacho cheese soup and milk together.

5. Strain veggies from broth and add to chicken, add 1/4 cup of soup mixture (or more if needed) to chicken, also.

6. heat oven to 375 degrees F and great a 4 quart baking dish.

7. To make enchiladas, along 1 side of each tortilla jelly-roll fashion; place seam side down in baking dish. Spread remaining soup mixture over each enchilada. Cover with foil.

8. Bake 35 minutes or until hot and bubbling.