Recipe - Mexican Chicken Stew

Here is another favorite of mine... so easy to make - no recipe to follow!

Whenever Hy-Vee has whole roasted chickens on sale in the deli, I am always quick to pick up a couple. I make my husband pick all the skin off the chicken, and give me the good lean pieces of meat. While he is doing that, I sautee a chopped onion (red, white, yellow.... whatever you have!) and a couple cloves of minced garlic. (Throw in some jarred minced garlic if you don't have any fresh) I let the onions and garlic cook until I can smell them. Oh yes, and I also put in some Chipotles in Adobe sauce. They are smoked jalepenos... a couple of these babies go a long way. I chop up a couple of those and throw them in the pot while the onion and garlic are cooking. Then I throw in the pieces of chicken, and let them mix with the chipotles, onion and garlic for a couple minutes. While the chicken is picking up some flavor from the chipotles, I pop open a can of black beans (be sure to rinse), and garbanzo beans (chickpeas), and a can of crushed, diced, chopped, kicked, punched... tomatoes. My husband's aunt dropped off some canned tomatoes fresh from her garden from last summer, so I used those instead of canned. Throw the beans and tomatoes in. I also threw in a can of diced green chilis, some spinach, and about a cup of frozen corn. I also dumped in a box of reduced sodium chicken stock to thin it out a bit. I brought it to a boil, but the lid on, turned it down to simmer, and I  am currently letting it simmer and it's filling the house up with a wonderously delicous smell. I will let it simmer for a couple hours, and then dispense the stew in two cup increments in plastic freezer bags, and have lunch for me and the girls FOR DAYS.

One thing I have learned in cooking is that you don't have to strictly adhere to recipes. Now, in baking you have to. If you don't put in the flour or put in too much oil... you're going to have a mess! There is so much more freedom in cooking. After a while you figure out what foods you love and what foods you like to cook with, and just focus on playing around with those! After the soup was simmering, I found a red pepper in the fridge that I would have loved to have put in the stew. But, I like to sautee my red peppers first and it was too late for that... so I will save it for breakfast and put them in my scrambled eggs.

Anyways, here is a run down of the ingredients, but like I said - put your favorite ingredients in!

Roasted chicken, skin removed (light and dark pieces)
Onion
Garlic
Spinach
Chipotles
Frozen Corn
Garbanzo Beans
Black Beans
Canned tomatoes
Reduced Sodium Chicken Broth

Another tip: If you are going to take the time to cook, take the time to make a double batch and freeze the leftovers. Whenever I am in a pinch to feed the myself or the kids, I always look in the freezer first to see if some of my homemade yummy and healthy dinners can be popped in the microwave before I ever think about going to McDonalds. Saves money and my life.