Recipe of the week: Shredded Chicken Tacos

As a private chef, I am always in search of the best recipes. Though we tend to focus on flavor, texture, color, and smell as a means of qualifying the "best" in the culinary world, there are also other, more practical factors to consider. Time (preparation; active and inactive). Convenience (accessibility of ingredients) Nutrition, and lastly, the Kid factor. The best family recipes balance these 4 factors, and taste great!

Kids love meals that are messy!! It makes them taste better.
Since the way children interact with food is vastly different from adults, be prepared and know that:
Breading= vacuuming
Sauce= bath
Finely shredded cheese= JUST DON'T GO THERE! (unless it's melted)

Here's something that the kids (ages 2 1/2, 4 1/2) love lately!

Shredded Chicken Tacos serves 4

For the chicken:
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2T vegetable oil
1t each dried oregano, onion powder, garlic powder, ground coriander, chili powder, ground cumin, salt, and pepper (add some cayenne pepper or 1 diced jalapeno for some heat if desired)
1 8oz can tomato sauce
1c chicken stock

1 can black refried beans
4oz spinach puree

8 flour or corn tortillas

Toppings (pick a few, or all of them)!
light sour cream
shredded cheese or queso fresco
favorite salsa (salsa verde is great with these)
shredded lettuce
diced avocado

To prep the chicken:
Preheat oven to 300 F.
In an oven-safe skillet, heat 2T oil over medium heat and add chicken breasts. While 1st side is browning , season with all the spices listed above. Flip after about 2-3 minutes, and season other side. Cook an additional 2-3 minutes. Add chicken stock and tomato sauce, bring to a boil. Once boiling, remove skillet from heat and cover with foil and place in oven for 1 1/2 hours.

Closer to mealtime, heat black beans and spinach puree in a medium saucepan. Season with a little salt, set aside.
Prep toppings.
When chicken is ready, remove from oven, take off foil and shred with a fork while holding the chicken breast with tongs in your other hand. Drizzle a little of the pan sauce onto the tacos. Serve.

Kid tip: melt cheese onto the chicken, then let them create their own tacos! Enjoy!

Birthday

 One of the best things about having a birthday in January is that you get a second-chance at receiving things that were on your Christmas list. Something that was on my list this year was a paper cutter! Nothing too fancy, mind you; I don't know if I could keep up with those crazies who have the cartridges and all that jazz. Are you one of them? :)
 Armed with an hour or two and a Michael's gift card from the MIL I picked up this sweet puppy right here

and decided to make some thank you cards to test it out!

Happy Saturday!

One.

The first blog post. Awkward. But we have to get this out of the way, so hang in there.

 Welcome to my world: a 20-something, trained chef, married young, working as a nanny & private chef, dog-owning, craft-loving, bargain-hunting, left-handed vegetarian California girl now living in Chicago.

Let's do this.