#596 busy weekend

Yesterday I went out Christmas shopping with T. I had a mission: to buy for everyone on my list other than T and MT. I almost succeeded, but I got tired and my knee started aching. T and I had both had probably more than enough together time, so I still have to finish, but I'm much farther along than I was before. :) I really don't mind shopping. I like trying to find something that I think the recipient will enjoy. But it is tiring to be out among all the other shoppers and my wallet is a bit lighter today, that's for sure!

Remember last week I talked about accomplishing the five things I gave myself to do? I didn't do quite so well with my list today, but I'm still pretty happy with what I did get done. I have to admit, I was pretty worthless today. After yesterday's shopping frenzy, I was certainly in no hurry to go out and about. But I did make it to yoga (and it felt great!) and I cleaned my fridge and did a bunch of laundry. I also cooked.

I've been wanting chicken enchiladas, but I didn't really want to mess around with rolling them up and actually making enchiladas, so I made an enchilada casserole. It was like Mexican lasagna. It was good too! Here's what I did:

Buy a roasted chicken from the deli and peel off the meat. Shred the meat with two forks.

Chop up half an onion and cook it in a little canola oil along with some chili powder, a pinch of cayenne pepper, some cumin and salt and pepper. When the onions were soft, add the chicken along with a little salsa to moisten it up. Let that cook for a few minutes over low heat.

Drain and rinse a can of black beans, then added a can of corn to the beans. When they were both drained, stir them together.

Take a large can of enchilada sauce. Coat the bottom of an 8x8 pan with some enchilada sauce.

Cut several corn tortillas in half and line the pan with the tortillas, straight side against the sides of the pan. Make sure you cover the entire pan.

Put down a layer of corn and beans.

Put down a layer of the chicken mixture.

Cover lightly with cheese. (I used a mixture of sharp cheddar and pepper jack.)

Repeat the sauce, tortilla, corn/bean, chicken and cheese layer.

Finish with a layer of tortillas, sauce and cheese.

Cover the pan with foil and bake for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

After 30 minutes, remove the foil and bake for another 15 minutes or so.

Allow the casserole to set up for about 5 minutes when you take it out of the oven.

Enjoy!

MT and I thought it was very tasty. It's filling. I made a mistake and had another half serving and now I just feel really full. But it tasted so good I couldn't help myself!

I also made some cookies tonight. I've really been in the baking mode lately. I saw the recipe on a bag of peanut butter chips. The cookies were chocolate peanut butter cookies. There was a lot, so I made up a bag for MT to take to work and a bag for me to take to work, and I left a few for us here at home, too. I certainly don't need four dozen cookies hanging out in my house.

Well, I better get to bed. I've got a big week coming up at work, and I want to get a good night's sleep. The alarm goes off pretty early - I've got a spinning class to get to at the gym at 5:30 AM, so good night everyone!