HUNGRY NO MORE: Chicken Enchiladas

Making Chicken Enchiladas with Rice

That’s right! On a notably cold and rainy morning, the Insiders convened to warm up the kitchen and practice some of their food-making skills. Of course, food doesn’t just make itself. It’s a process, which is why the Insiders got together at a nearby Harris Teeter a week earlier to gather some of the ingredients they would need for their dish, chicken enchiladas. We had the chance to wander the isles of the grocery store to find our needed ingredients and get a feel for how much it was going to cost...turns out we were able to make about 10 enchiladas, (big enough to fill one person up each), with rice, for about $30. Which is a pretty cheap dinner for 10, (about $3 per person to cook for ourselves, which is much cheaper that a less healthy fast food run). 


With the ingredients found and purchased, the Insiders came together to make their chicken enchilada dish. 

A step-by-step instruction guide helped to clear any of the confusion for our beginner cooks. Some of the steps were easy and quick -- measuring out the ingredients for instance -- while other steps were more challenging. Removing the fatty parts of the chicken proved to require a particular attention to detail. In the end, the dish came together remarkably well!

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With our dish made we discussed a few things about the home-cooking experience. The Insiders remarked on how helpful it was to have a step-by-step list of instructions (this was especially important for our first-time cooks). We also talked about how social both cooking and eating can be. The "fast-food" craze being only a recent phenomenon, human beings have long held cooking and sharing a meal as a social experience for nearly all of written history. By incorporating home-cooking into our routine, we carry on that tradition and can make a sometimes tedious task into a social event.

INSIDER THOUGHTS:

• The overall cost of making a dish for many was less than buying a fast-food meal for one (somewhat surprising!)
• People are generally impressed by cooking skills. It's a great way to inspire family, friends, acquaintances, and even romantic interests...
• There are many ways to use cooking to bring people together. Dinner parties, get-togethers, holiday dinners, dates... these are all wonderful ways to use one's cooking skills
• Overall, cooking is a step-by-step process that requires finding a recipe, purchasing ingredients, setting aside time to cook, and inviting people over to enjoy the food. While it takes time and effort, the end result is far worth the time put into it.

With this dish done, we're still looking for more material for our "Aspie Friendly" recipes -- simple, comfortable foods that don't require too much work. If you would like to contribute to this project, please email Allie Lindborg at allison@icanhouse.com or Erik Nance at erik@icanhouse.com and let us know!