Second Time Around

I'm a BIG fan of leftovers.  I love that I don't waste uneaten food, but what I love even more is that cooking leftovers usually means there's less mess in my kitchen.  Less mess means less cleaning, which means more time to spend with any show on Bravo Don and Price.

I also love when I get to re-purpose leftovers (do you like how I'm using trendy HGTV terms on a more Food Network type post?) and turn them into an entirely different meal than what they originally started out as.  This is actually pretty easy to do when you make something like pulled pork or a brisket (not as easy when you are working with leftover lasagna).  And in my house, being able to disguise leftovers is a GREAT thing because I may be married to someone who likes and appreciates my cooking, but who can only handle the same meal for so long (maybe twice if I'm lucky and he LOVED it the first time).

I was very happy last week when the planets aligned and I was able to turn a crock pot meal (hardly any clean up on the original meal) into a Mexican delight (with very little prep/clean up) the second night! As Price would say, "Awesome Pants!"

I think I'll call this dinner,  Play It Again Pile Up

Up til now, every paragraph I have written begins with I.  I am feeling very self-centered I suppose, maybe all the fame has gone to my head.  Sorry, I will get back on track now....

On Wednesday, we had Bacon Chesseburger Chicken for dinner.  It was pretty good (as soon as I put everything in the crockpot, I was like, "you TOTALLY should have made it this way", but it was too late, so I'm planning on making it MY way very soon.  If it turns out like I think it may, I'll share the recipe).  There was a lot left over, even after Price and I had it for lunch on Thursday.  Friday night, I didn't feel like cooking, but we didn't really want to go out, so I busted out the leftover chicken and stared at it for a while. And then I opened the fridge and stared at its contents for a while.  And then I went to the pantry and stared at it for a while.  And then as if someone waved a magic wand, items began floating into focus...

Leftover shredded chicken
Whole wheat tortillas
Spinach
Cheese
Avocado
Black beans
Rice
Salsa
Sour Cream

Almost all of my favorite foods stacked on one plate.  So easy!  Here's all you have to do

Start a pot of rice (or use leftover rice, or omit it altogether).  Place leftover meat (this recipe works great with ANY meat- chicken, pork, beef or leave meatless if you prefer) in a skillet or small sauce pan to reheat.  Heat 1 tortilla per person in the oven until warmed (or if you're like me forget they're in the oven and don't remove until puffed up like a balloon...).  Heat one can of black beans.

Once everything is heated and rice is cooked, start piling everything on a tortilla...

 I placed spinach on the bottom to sneak in a vegetable that Don doesn't care for.

Next, rice and beans.

Then chicken and cheese.

Finally top off with any condiments, you could even use plain yogurt instead of sour cream to cut out some fat.

If you ignore how the chicken was made, you could lead yourself to believe this is a low cal, low fat meal.  This meal that came together at the last minute was the perfect Friday night dinner- quick, easy, not much to clean up- and nothing was leftover!