If you're feeling adventurous...

I didn't use to like to cook - in fact, I hated it. And still, nowadays, I would almost always prefer to bake something than to cook a meal. BUT over the last 12 years of marriage and 4 1/2 years as a stay-at-home mom, I have learned to love cooking, or at least like it more than I used to.

I have found that the trick is variety. If I don't have cook and serve a variety of foods throughout the year, I get seriously bored and start to hate it all over again. I'm just not the kind of Mom who can serve Mac-n-cheese or hot dogs or spaghetti or whatever night after night after night and be satifsifed. It's just too boring for me. I need variety to keep me interested in doing it.

Disclaimer: There ARE a couple of go-to meals that I make on a regular basis that are easy and don't take a lot of thought and prep work - if I tried to be Julia Childs every night I think I would probably just lose my mind. Therefore, we do, on a regular basis eat hamburgers, pizza (every Friday night is our family pizza night and we make our own, which is fun), quesadillas, and all sorts of those lame-o Campbell's soup recipes (those have saved me in a pinch many a time). Gotta love an easy dinner.

BUT I am constantly trying new things in the kitchen, and the members of my family are usually really good sports about putting up with some of the random things I have served them.

Here is my latest venture into new recipe territory:

Roasted Tomatillo and Chicken Chilaquiles

It's like a casserole. I saw the video for it online, and as soon as I saw that the sauce was basically green salsa (made up of tomatillos, garlic, jalepeños, onions, cilantro, olive oil, and lime juice), I was sold. Can you really go wrong with that mix of ingredients? By the way, if you've never heard of tomatillos (which I hadn't, before I made this), they are really small bright green tomatos with a husk on the outside (you peel this before using them). They have a delightful light lemony flavor (click on the green salsa link if you want to see a picture of them).

So anyhow, instead of using noodles or rice, this casserole-type dish uses whole wheat tortillas cut up into strips - interesting, no?

Anyhow, so the rest of it is shredded roasted chicken (and yes, I roasted a chicken the day before for this recipe, because I don't think it would taste the same if you just used cooked boneless breasts), more cilantro, green onions, cumin, chili powder, kosher salt and freshly ground pepper (for the exact recipe, click here).

Then you top the whole thing with queso fresco (a soft crumbly mexican cheese that reminds me a little bit of mozzerella - it is soooo yummy, and you can get it at Walmart), and mozzerella.

It was delicious!!! And if you like mexican food, especially green salsa, I am betting you will love it, too.

HOWEVER, as much as I loved the overall flavor of this dish, there are a few things that I would change when I make it again.

#1)I will probably take some of the cilantro out - it was a bit overpowering

#2) I will probably cut down on the green onions, too, just to lower the intensity a bit.

#3) I am thinking that next time, instead of tortilla strips (I don't know that I was crazy about tortillas baked into a casserole - the soft texture bugged me a little), that I will do brown rice and black beans, and then serve the whole thing with whole wheat tortillas to eat as a wrap instead of a casserole. Yes, I think THEN it will be perfect.

Anyhow, overall, it has a really rich flavor with a delicious hint of spices and lime - soooo good!