The Ever-changing Wesner Kitchen

There are now 2.  Two Wesner kitchens, that is.  One in NC and one in IN.  This is because we have one household in Indiana, with my Hunk O Man's job and the twins who live with him while they go to college -- and then there's me and the Kid, who's finishing high school in NC before heading off next August to college here in NC.

And then there are the two other ones in NC, at their respective colleges.

This is a hard separation.  It makes me appreciate those families who have a member in the military, who is gone for a length of time.  It's just difficult to be away from the ones you love, especially when it's your husband!

The two main kitchens, in IN and NC, are unpacked.  But some of them remain in OH, in storage.  This is starting to sound like some kind of riddle, isn't it?  I'm starting to think I'm a woman doesn't have real a kitchen.  I just have kitchen appliances and gadgets spread all over the midwest.

One thing I can say for sure, however, that the kitchen in NC (where I am) currently smells of burned noodles.  I tried chicken and rice casserole using noodles.  Not a great idea - there is a reason why tuna noodle casserole is made the way it is.  You have to cook the noodles before you put them in the oven.  You just can't do the same thing with noodles that you can rice.

I hear that the IN kitchen had chicken enchiladas last week.  Apparently they were fabulous.  Not that I think they weren't -- I just think that things usually taste better when it's the first time you've made them from a recipe your mom gave you.

So that is the state of my kitchen.  I'm hoping to make it smell really good with caramel apples in a few minutes.  We'll see how that goes.  I'll keep you posted.

Tortilla Chicken Cassarole

You know, I realise that I haven't written anything in here since 2010.

HOWEVER . . . my kids keep calling me to get recipes.  It is so easy to just direct them here!  Ah, technology - give them a link, do as little work as possible.  I am very spoiled.

Anyway - here's a great recipe I found on Pinterest and tried.  Yum!  I kind of played it by ear, adjusting the ingredients so that it would only feed 2 of us.  It still made a lot.  It's a lot like lasagna, which means you can increase or decrease the ingredients as you like.  It's also kind of like Tortilla soup, which I love -- perfect for a cold day.  Enjoy!

Tortilla Chicken Casserole

8 flour tortillas (big enough to cover a round cassarole dish or pie plate)
3 cups cooked chicken, shredded or chopped
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped (I used a roasted one I got in a jar)
1 can black beans, drained
1 can corn (the mexican corn is great for this), drained
1 tsp. chili powder
3 cups salsa
1 1/2 cups sour cream
Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
Cheddar cheese, shredded
Fresh cilantro, chopped for garnish

Preheat oven to 350.

Spray a casserole dish with your choice of non-stick spray.  My dish looked kind of like this:

It's nice because it has a lid, and you'll need to bake this dish covered.

However, you can always use a deep quiche dish, or a  nice  heavy pie plate.  Your choice.

In a small saute pan, heat olive oil.  Cook the onion and red pepper until onion is translucent.  Add the chili powder.  Then add in the black beans and corn.  Simmer a minute, and then remove from heat.

In a medium bowl, mix the sour cream with the salsa.  Set aside.

In your casserole dish, layer your ingredients:  Place a tortilla in the bottom.  Cover with the salsa/sour cream mixture.  Top with the veggie mixture, and then cover that with the
cheeses.  Repeat this process until you reach the top of your baking dish.  Finish the last layer with cheese.

Cover and bake @ 350 for 25-30 minutes.  Then uncover and bake an additional 10-15 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly and beginning to brown.  Let stand 10 minutes before serving for ingredients to finish cooking and set.  Add chopped fresh cilantro over a dollop of sour cream to garnish.

Serve in pie-shaped wedges.  Makes enough for at least 6 people with leftovers.