The Best He Has Ever Had

My husband grew up in Southern California, and proclaims to be an expert on authentic Mexican cuisine. I do not challenge this, as I grew up in Western Kentucky and frozen burritos were the only Mexican cuisine I was ever exposed to. So thinking only of him I have been experimenting with different ways of making enchiladas.

Television cooking queen Sandra Lee opened my eyes to buying more chicken on the bone because it costs so much less than the boneless variety. I hate meat on the bone, so the very fact that I embraced this money saving idea is a major growth factor for me. And since I'm trying (in small ways) to be more health conscious, making them with chicken just seemed like a good idea. So recipe after recipe I presented my creations to my husband and he graciously gave me an "it's good" on every effort.

One magical day when I was exhausted from working all day and wrangling a toddler all night, I happened to notice that there was a cooking suggestion on the enchilada sauce that said "place your favorite frozen burritos in a pan and cover with sauce for a quick meal preparation." Anything that promises "quick" is right up my alley!

So on my next grocery outing I happily cruised by the frozen food section and picked out my favorite "El Monterrey" chimichangas. After my next crazy work day I picked up my child from the babysitters and headed home knowing dinner was only minutes away and all I had to do was throw it in a baking dish and wait. So in went the chimis, covered it with sauce, baked for 30 minutes then covered it with cheese. Dinner was then served.

My husband snarfed down as many as he could stand, then looked at me and said "these are the best enchiladas you have ever made!"

All those hours spent baking and ripping chicken from the bone, mixing different ingredients, and hand rolling tortilla trying to make it look pretty...gone in an instant.

So, while feeling good that he enjoyed his meal I couldn't help but take a moment to do the math. That would be an hour of prep time and $3.40 for the chicken thighs, $1 for the sauce, not to mention the other ingredients such as tomatoes, cilantro, peppers, tortilla, cheese, etc. Or five minutes and $2.98 for frozen chimichangas, $1for sauce and some grated cheese.

My past efforts may have been thwarted, but at least I can feel good about "the best" being pocket book friendly and incredibly tasty. And afterall, isn't the taste the only reason we eat in the first place?

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