I have a confession to make. Some nights, I’m too tired to really cook. Some nights, I just don’t want to. I’m sorry! I WANT to be that person who makes everything from scratch every single night, I do! But sometimes, I’m just not. That pesky day job (and the second job, the kid, the pets, the man, the house, sometimes pure laziness….) just really gets in the way.

The problem is, on those nights, I still don’t really want to get fast food or order in, either. What’s a girl to do? Well, I try to keep a few basics on hand for nights like those.

One of the things I keep on hand are some frozen, mesquite grilled chicken breasts. They can be quickly defrosted in the microwave and used in an easy recipe or, on a really lazy night, just warmed up and slapped between some bread for a decent warm sandwich. I also like them for recipes that call for “cooked chicken,” which unfortunately, usually means “canned chicken.” While canned chicken is fine for some things, it is pretty bland, kind of mushy and all canned things tends to have too much sodium.

Thanks to Sam’s Club, these frozen chicken breasts take cooked chicken a step up. They are mesquite grilled, so have some decent flavor, are white meat, so pretty healthy and do not have loads of added sodium. And they are perfect for lazy nights.

This is one of our favorite quick, lazy-night recipes. It’s very easy, quick to throw together, hearty, filling, tasty and fairly healthy. If you wanted to take it to the next level, by all means, cook your chicken fresh, adding your own spices and flavorings to kick it up a notch. But on a lazy night, when you still want something delicious for dinner, this one is a winner.

Although I haven’t done it yet, these would be easy to customize – add beans, use beef or pork instead of chicken, use a salsa verde instead of the red salsa, etc.

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Oven Fried Chicken Chimichangas

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups cooked chicken, chopped or shredded
• 2/3 cup salsa
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, freshly ground
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped green onions, including some tops
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 4 burrito sized flour tortillas
• Cooking spray
Garnishes (optional)
• Shredded cheddar cheese
• Sour cream
• Guacamole or chopped avocado
• Chopped green onion
• Chopped cilantro
• Chopped tomatoes

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray.

In a bowl, mix chicken with next six ingredients (salsa through cilantro). Lay one tortilla on baking sheet. Place 2/3 – 1/2 cup of filling down center of tortilla. Fold sides over filling, tucking in ends and place seam side down on baking sheet. Repeat until all tortillas are filled.

Spray tops and sides of tortillas with cooking spray. Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve immediately with desired garnishes.

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Copyright 2011 DontForgetDelicious.com and Valerie Tate Williams

Nutritional Info (not including garnishes) calculated with BigOven Recipe Software

Chicken Chimichangas