November Challenge day 16 & 17

I have avoided Costco for the past few weeks for the pure reason that Lil D associates Costco with cheesy pizza.  You see...I typically plan my Costco runs at lunch time so I can feed him a $1.50 lunch of cheese pizza...no eating out...no Costco pizza...no Costco runs.  Unfortunately, there were a few things that I could no longer go without.  So today, AFTER Lil D's lunch and nap...we hit the store.  (Actually, if I call it a store, Lil D corrects me..."no mom, not store...Costco".) Luckily, there were samples a plenty and Lil D was content wolfing down a variety of delicious morsels...yes, he did ask for pizza...but that was easily diverted with "we'll have dinner when we get home".  Oh...and when we left the store, he informed me, "that was fun mom".  Costco can be fun even if you don't have lunch there....success!

So...what did we eat today?

Lunch...Leftover pasta from last night's dinner and sandwiches.

Dinner: chicken & spinach tortilla bake (courtesy of Rachel Ray)

photo: Rachel Ray magazine

Chicken & Spinach Tortilla Bake

1 T EVOO

4 Chicken cutlets (about 1lb)

salt and pepper

1 1/2 C store bought salsa verde

3/4 C ricotta cheese

4 large tortillas cut into wedges

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

3 cups baby spinach

2 C shredded pepper jack

Preheat oven to 450*. In a large skillet, heat EVOO over med/high heat. Season chicken with Salt and Pepper, add to the pan and cook, turning once, until cooked through (about 5 minutes). Let cool, then shred meat

Whisk together the salsa verde and ricotta; season with salt and pepper. In a greased 9-inch square baking dish, layer 1/3 salsa mixture, tortillas, chicken, onion, spinach, and pepper jack. Repeat 2 times. Bake until golden brown (15 to 20 minutes) Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

***This was a yummy dish, but, I did a few things different....and will do even more next time. I did like it, but with a few tweaks I think it could be a fam favorite. Mr. T really liked it and Lil D actually ate a fair share...(once he picked the "salad" out...like mother like son:)

What I did different:
-I used some of my left over rotisserie chicken...saved me a ton of time not having to cook and shred chicken tonight.
-I only used about 1/4 of a red onion...and it was plenty.

Next time:
-I will use sour cream or cream cheese instead of the ricotta. I'm not a huge fan of ricotta and didn't love the texture it gave the salsa.
-I will leave my spinach on the side. I don't really like cooked spinach, so this did nothing for me. I would rather douse it in a raspberry vinaigrette with craisins.
-I will use a different salsa verde, or make my own. Mr. T LOVES the brand I used, but combined with pepper jack cheese it had almost too much kick for me. Next time I will either tone down the salsa or use monterrey jack cheese.

What I really liked about this dish...you could do a variety of food combinations to make this good. Shredded beef or pork, red salsas, beans, the list is endless.

Want to know what is so great about Day 17 of the challenge...I don't have to cook...just throw together a salad for dinner at the neighbors....hurray!

On a side note...I packed up a heavy box of jewelry and left it in the "trusting" hands of USPS today...and sadly, with no jewelry to make, I was almost bored during nap time.  No worries, I have all sorts of Christmas projects to get working on...just wanted one down day before the fun begins again!