Chicken Enchiladas

These took a while to make (had to simmer the filing for about an hour to get it nice and tender), but they were well worth the wait.

Kyler slathered his in cheese....

I didn't because I'm not a huge queso fan (pardon the shadow here)...

Chicken filling:
2 chicken breasts
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 red pepper sliced into strips
1/2 green pepper sliced into strips
1 small yellow onion diced
1 clove crushed garlic
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 diced medium sized tomato
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in medium saucepan and add onions and garlic. Cook until brown and then add peppers, tomato, seasonings, chicken and broth. Stir and simmer at a medium low heat. After about 45 minutes, remove chicken breasts, shred and return to pan. Cook for another 15-20 minutes.

Enchiladas (not so homemade...ew, I'm like crazy Sandra Lee!):
1 package fresh tortillas
28 ounce can of enchilada sauce (we went with mild red by La Victoria)

Heat enchilada sauce in a shallow pan. Cover the bottom of a deep baking dish with sauce. Dip each tortilla individually in the warm sauce, roll chicken mixture in tortilla (keeping the meat all on one side before rolling is a good way to keep them from falling apart). Line rolled tortillas up side-by-side in pan. Top with remaining sauce and top with as much, little or no cheese at all. Bake at 450 for 30 minutes.

Amazing High Altitude Doughnuts and El Taco Rey

This weekend Kyler and I are in Colorado Springs visiting our friend Becky from college. I've never been to Colorado before and I'm loving it! I'm so incredibly jealous that Coloradoans get views like this on a daily basis.

Also great about my trip so far - the food.

Today we headed to the tippy top of Pikes Peak, which has an altitude of 14,110 feet. At the shop on the summit, the snack bar had some pretty amazing high altitude doughnuts (they need to use a special mix to get them to set up correctly at such a high height).

 

Kyler ravishing his doughnut:

Later that day, after many gorgeous sites and a tour of a Olympic training facility (Becky has a friend that fences for the USA team, so he showed us around....kind of awesome!), we made our way to Becky's favorite Mexican joint, El Taco Rey.

The place defines hole-in-the-wall (they don't have plates, everything is served in Styrofoam take out containers. Portions were huge and prices were low. I got a ridiculously filling taco combo for $7.30, which included 3 tacos (I did 2 shredded chicken and 1 beef), re-fried beans, rice and a fresh tortilla. I consider myself a sauce connoisseur, and the complimentary house red salsa had a perfect balance of spice and flavor (re: hot but had flavor). I also loved that the owner and her son were bickering at the counter after we ordered - added a certain je ne sais quoi.

Basically, today was delicious.