Welcome to Paula's Kitchen

Hi food lovers!!! Welcome to my new blog!! Those of you  who have been following me on my "easy recipes" blog, I hope you will follow me on my new blog- Paula's Kitchen! I have recently began my own home based business by the same name, and am now catering small jobs and baking treats for friends and clients in the Kanata/Ottawa area, as well as doing some catering business for a friend in her cafe in Kanata! I am very excited and am hoping to have all of your support in my new endeavour! So, without further delay, here is my first recipe! It is an easy Mexican lasagna which I decided to try out on my family a few days ago and they loved it!!!! So, try it and any feed back would be most welcome!

Easy Chicken Mexican Lasagna

Ingredients:

Left over chicken, shredded, about five cups
6 medium size tortillas
1/2 jalapeño pepper, chopped finely
1/2 onion, finely chopped
Splash of oil
3 cups of salsa, divided, plus more for the top (as much or as little as you desire)
3 Tblsp butter
3 Tblsp flour
3 cups milk
1/2 cup cream cheese (room temp works best)
Chili powder ( I used about 2 Tblsp, but you can use as much or as little at you like)
1 tsp cumin
Shredded cheddar cheese (try the new habanero shredded cheese for extra kick!)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
Spray a 8x12 casserole dish with cooking spray

In a small fry pan, sauté the jalapeño  pepper with the onion and a little splash of oil, until softened, and set aside to cool a little bit. In a bowl, combine the chicken with the jalapeño and onion mixture, half the chili powder, the cumin, and a cup of the salsa. Set aside. Melt the butter on med heat in a medium sauce pan, then slowly add the flour, whisking the whole time. Whisk the flour and butter for a minute or so, then slowly, whisking the whole time, add the milk. Let the milk mixture come to a boil, slowly (you don't want to scorch the milk!) whisking every minute or so, until it begins to bubble, and thicken. I only takes a minute or so once it bubbles. Add the cream cheese and the rest of the chili powder. Whisk until the cream cheese it melted in. Set aside to cool a little bit.

Line the casserole dish with two tortillas, and start layering with the chicken mixture first, then the milk mixture, then some shredded cheese, the salsa, and then begin again with a layer of tortillas. You should have enough for three layers, ending with tortillas, but really, it's up to you how many layers you want - more chicken per layer equals less layers! Just be sure that you have enough milk mixture left over for the top - I cover it with the milk mixture, and then dab some salsa on top and top with shredded cheese!

Bake for 20 minutes and serve!!! I served it with home made guacamole and sour cream but it really is good as is! Hope you enjoy it!
Cheers to all,
P