Chicken Chipulos

 

Most of us don't need Cinco de Mayo to add Mexican flavors to our dinner table. And I know there's nothing at all authentic about this Mexican-adjacent recipe. But, if you're looking to celebrate Cinco de Mayo on May 5, this new-to-us recipe was tasty. 

I volunteered to make a casserole dish for a PEO fundraiser. When the committee forwarded the recipe for Chicken Chipulos, I must admit I had to Google "chipulos." It's basically a chicken taco casserole prepared in layers. 

No matter what it's called, it even got a "thumbs up" from my beef-loving husband. So, I decided I'd make it for my next time cooking for the Stafford Core group. Core is an organization that helps individuals and families overcome poverty. Each week, they meet for educational sessions. Just as important, they connect with a community of other people who are there to listen and support them. Each week, community organizations provide a meal for those gathered. I organize the efforts for my church's turn at a meal, usually about once a quarter. Both at home and at Core, I served it with Spanish rice, lettuce salad, sour cream, chips and salsa. For even more Mexican flair, you could also add refried beans, chili con queso and guacamole - or a combination thereof!

While the original recipe used canned chicken breast, I purchased chicken tenderloins that were on sale at my local grocery store. I had seen a recipe for preparing chicken in a slow cooker to use for chicken tacos, so I gave that method a try. I combined two large packages of the chicken tenderloins with one packet of taco seasoning, one packet of ranch dressing mix and 2 cups chicken broth and let the slow cooker do the work. After it was cooked, I refrigerated the meat until the next day, then used a method Jill had told me about to shred the chicken. Doing a little at a time, I put the cooked, cooled chicken in my Kitchenaid mixer with paddle attachment. I let the mixer do the shredding for me, rather than pulling it to shred or chopping it in bite-sized pieces. It worked great, and I will definitely use that method again. 

If you try it, let me know how you like it. It was a hit at Core, too.

Chicken Chipulos

1 can condensed cream of chicken soup 

1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup

1 can (4 oz.) diced green chilies

3 cups shredded, cooked chicken

1 onion, finely diced

8 oz. sour cream

2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

8 10-inch flour tortillas 

To prepare: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine soups, chicken, green chilies, cooked onion and sour cream in a medium-sized bowl. Set aside. 

Rip tortillas into bite-sized pieces and layer 1/3 onto the bottom of a prepared 9x13 inch baking dish. Layer 1/3 chicken mixture on top, then a layer of cheddar cheese. Repeat two additional times, making sure to end with cheese on the top layer. Bake in preheated oven for about an hour and serve. 

 

Notes: 

• The recipe I got from my PEO sisters used 2 cans - 12.5-ounce each - of chicken breast meat. I bought chicken on sale at my local grocery store and threw it in my slow cooker with 1 packet of taco seasoning, 1 packet of ranch seasoning and 2 cups chicken broth. After it cooled, I shredded it, using the paddle attachment of my Kitchenaid mixer. Jill had recommended that method for shredding chicken after cooking, and it worked great!
  
• The original recipe didn't call for cooking the onion ahead of time. However, I wanted to make sure that the onion was cooked through. I combined my diced onion with a little splash of water and covered with plastic wrap, then microwaved until it was tender.  
• The recipe said to rip tortillas. I used clean kitchen shears. 
• While the recipe didn't say to do this, I put a very thin layer of the chicken and soup mixture on the bottom of the pan before adding my first layer of tortillas. My rationale was to prevent burning the tortillas or making them too hard. That worked well. (I still used the bulk of the first third of soup mixture on TOP of the first layer of tortillas.)
  

 

 

Candid Camera: Calf Version

 

Working baby calves is a bit different for me these days. While other people do the work, I stand around and point my camera at cute baby faces. That works for me. Retirement certainly cuts down on the bruised shins, the manure-smeared jeans and sore muscles. 

I admit it: I'm a sucker for baby faces, especially the faces with unusual markings. No. 33 kept catching my eye. But he was not the only one. 

One of these calves is not like the others. (There were other light-colored calves in the bunch. They just weren't in this photo.)

We have turned the daily feeding and care of our cow-calf herd to Tye and Todd Miller, though we still own the cattle. They run our cows with their own herd. When babies are born, our calves get the yellow ear tags and the Millers' get the blue ones. 

During calf-working day, it used to be Randy giving the shots. Now, it's Tye and Todd, along with Norva Lee who keeps the syringes filled and the pour-on applied.

Randy and Tye's friend, Aaron, helped get the calves up the lane, ready for their "doctor's appointments."

 

Todd asked if I missed the work. He offered to let me join in. However, it looked like they had it handled.

Peekaboo!

 

 And that gave me free reign on checking out the cute babies ...

 

... And the cute helpers.

 

Life Lately

 

How many years is a generation? 

What's your favorite piece of equipment?

How much is it when you add your two ages together?

 

Inquiring minds want to know - at least, inquiring minds in Mrs. Kylie Meyer's second grade classroom wanted to know! 

 

(Mrs. Meyer - after politely asking if we minded sharing our ages - had the students do a little mathematics on their own to come up with the answer. Now that's a good teacher! (And ... mental math has never been my best skill.)

 

Randy and I spoke to the Stafford second graders Monday on Farming: Then and Now.  We have visited the second graders for several years now. As with any quality teacher, Mrs. Meyer gave us an assignment. She wanted us to compare the "then and now" of farming. The second graders are learning about comparison and contrast. Mrs. Meyer helps to illustrate the concept by inviting community members with different backgrounds to talk about their professions or interests and compare them, then and now.

 

Every year, I'm thankful to my mom for putting together family history books for all the grandchildren. She made my job creating the PowerPoint easy because of the old farm photos she compiled in a three-ring notebook. I added some old photos from Randy's side of the family, along with some from our farming days. (There are examples of the photos in this blog post.)

 

This reporter was thrilled to see a few of the students had actually jotted down a note so they could remember their question during the Q-and-A time.  

It's always a pleasure to see the current "crop" of second graders. This year's class is small, but they were polite and inquisitive. 

 

STAYCATION

 

 

Last Thursday, we went to Dodge City for a Kansas Wheat event at Boothill Distillery. Randy had reservations to play golf the next morning in Dodge. But a sprinkly, foggy day changed the plans. (We won't complain about rain. In fact, we'd like to order some more.)  

 

So, instead of golf, we took the round-about way home and drove to Greensburg's Big Well Museum. Anyone in Kansas will remember, but for others: The rural Kansas town of Greensburg was virtually destroyed by an F5 tornado on May 4, 2007. While most of the town's buildings were reduced to rubble, the town decided to build back using "green" construction - appropriate in a town called Greensburg, right? 

 

These are some of the signs collected and saved after the tornado.

 

Both Randy and I remember visiting the Big Well on school trips when we were students ourselves. The Big Well, an engineering feat, was completed in 1888, with its 109-foot depth and 32-foot diameter originally serving as the town's water supply.

 

During our school field trips, we also remember seeing that "1,000 space rock" advertised in the salvaged sign above.  Now, the world's largest pallasite meteorite has a place of honor in the new museum. The meteorite is a blend of olivine crystals and metal.

 

The current site is much more impressive than the original. Now, the museum tells the history of Greensburg, along with the story of the tornado and the rebuild. For an empath, it's hard to see and remember the destruction and the lives lost.  But it's an inspiring story and an inspiring museum - good for a day trip.

Looking up

Looking down

We also ate lunch in Greensburg and toured the museum (home to a soda fountain) and the library. (I didn't take any photos there.)

 

FAMILY TIME

 

I've posted to Facebook about some family events recently, but I wanted to have the record in my blog posts, too. We treated the whole family to supper at The Blind Tiger in Topeka to celebrate our 44th wedding anniversary. We were so glad everyone could be there. 

 

Bonus event: This was the same weekend the girls had regional 4-H Club Day. Both had qualified for presenting at the regional event after getting top blues at the county 4-H day.

 

 Kinley's multi-media presentation was on dog shows. She got a purple.

 

 

Brooke's was a demonstration on making crafts with air-dry clay. She also earned a purple ribbon. 

After lunch, Brooke and I had a side trip to Barnes and Noble. (I tell her parents I'm glad to accommodate Brooke's book habit. They also visit the library, but we have fun at the book store, for sure!)

 

 

BIG BIRTHDAY

After all that excitement on Saturday, we couldn't have a regular old day on Sunday. We helped my dad celebrate his 91st birthday with a pizza party, cake and ice cream.

 

 

Kent, my dad, me, Lisa and Mom. Darci was in Pratt County a couple of weeks ago.

After the dessert, my dad was looking for his cowboy hat that he used while on the 1953 Kansas State University Livestock Judging Team. 

 

 Success! 

 

A LITTLE BASEBALL

 

We met Randy's sister, Kathy, her husband Dave and daughter Emily and cheered on the K-State Bat Cats in their baseball game vs. the Wichita State University Shockers last week. It's always fun to see lots of scoring. We did. K-State was triumphant - 13-10. And popcorn for supper? Yes, please!