Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner - Getting Creative with Leftovers

Mindy here, and with our house now under contract (meaning no more showings), it's time to cook again. Except now it's with a dual purpose -- sustenance, yes, but also purging the pantry and the freezer. I started with the freezer the day before Easter, firing up the smoker to cook some bone-in chicken breasts and ribs. I always smoke more chicken breasts than we will eat in one sitting and then freeze the rest to use for quick meals like this one.

I knew I wanted to do something with shredded chicken, but what? I thought about those "bowl" meals that keep cropping up at restaurants and decided to use that as my guide.

I had a little bit of onion and some bell pepper, so I tossed those into a skillet with a little bit of oil, then added my chicken.

Tex-Mex sounded kind of good, so I threw in a can of diced tomatoes and green chilies (aka Rotel).

One can definitely wasn't enough for that amount of chicken so I added a second and stirred it all together.

Things were still looking kind of dry, so I added about of cup of chicken broth from a container I had in the fridge.

That's better.

Now for some spices.

I threw in a tablespoon of chili powder and a teaspoon of cumin.

Gave that a good stir before adding about a cup/cup and a half of cooked rice and a can of black beans, drained and rinsed.

Mix that all together.

Hmm... Something was still missing, but what?

I went to the freezer.

Aha!

Tex-Mex usually has some element of corn, so added a half a cup of frozen niblets.

Stirred it all together and let it simmer for about ten minutes. 

Y'all the aroma was amazing.

So with my stomach growling, I spooned some into a bowl and topped it with a little bit of shredded cheese.

Okay, so whenever you throw things together, you're never quite certain what you're going to end up with. However, when hubby says, "This is amazing. I hope you plan on making this again," you know you've hit pay-dirt.

And, in addition to a fabulous meal, I ridded the pantry, fridge and freezer of a few items. Mission accomplished on all counts.

Whoo-hoo!

So we are now less than a month away from the big move. My mind is swimming with a million things that need to be done. For every item checked off of to-do list, it seems five more are added. Cancelling utilities, change of address notifications, setting up utilities on the other end... 

Oy!

Yet I refuse to stress. God's got this. Our job is to simply follow His lead.

Happy Tuesday!

Mindy Obenhaus lives in Texas with her husband and the last of her five children. She's passionate about touching readers with Biblical truths in an entertaining, and sometimes adventurous, manner. When she’s not writing, she enjoys cooking and spending time with her grandchildren. Learn more at www.MindyObenhaus.com