Sometimes it’s hard to fit it all in – cook dinner, start some laundry, look at emails, play with kids.
In an effort to fit it all in and enjoy it along the way I’ve created “Food & Fun”, a series of quick, healthy meals that give you at least 20 minutes of family fun time during the cooking process. In fact, fun time is a key step of every meal.
Today’s dish is chicken enchiladas seasoned with a game of Animal Thumper. Have fun and don’t forget to let your kids win occasionally 
Chicken Enchiladas:
Ingredients:
12 – 14 six-inch corn tortillas
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium red pepper, chopped
1 packet fajita seasoning
4 seven-ounce cans of Salsa Verde
3 cups shredded cooked chicken breast
3 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheeses
low fat plain yogurt or sour cream
roll of paper towels
aluminum foil
Fill pasta pot with water. Once boiling, add chicken. Boil chicken until fully cooked, about 30 minutes. I suggest you do this prior to the rest of the cooking. It’s easy to throw in the fridge and grab when you are ready to dive in. Feel free to buy pre-cooked chicken as well. I find that whole roasted chickens from the deli are tasty.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Heat vegetable oil in heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and red pepper. Saute until tender, about 7 minutes. Add shredded chicken. Stir in and heat for about 5 minutes. Add fajita seasoning and stir until evenly coated. Remove from heat.
Place mix in a large bowl on the counter. In a second bowl place the cheese.
To warm tortillas, place tortillas individually between damp paper towel sheets. Stack about 12 tortilla high. Heat in microwave on high for approximately 1:30 minutes. For more than 12 tortillas add another 15 seconds. This will make them moist and bendable.
In a glass baking dish cover bottom with one can of the salsa verde. Fill each tortilla with a food mixture and cheese. Roll and place seam side down in baking dish. Pour remaining sauce and cheese evenly on top of tortilla rolls. Cover with foil. Bake until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbling, approximately 35 minutes.
Once timer is set, it’s time to play Animal Thumper.
Gather family around family table. The goal of the game is to mimic each other’s animal gestures (two fingers on mouth for rabbit eating, fingers to thumb motion for lobster claws scratch armpit for monkey action, etc). The last one to gesture or the person to get it wrong earns a point. In this game, the person with the most points looses.
Decide who goes first. Everyone starts by thumping the table with hands like a drum roll. If it’s your turn you can go when you want. Feel free to try to fake people out! Make the animal gesture. Everyone else has to try to keep up. The last person to copy gets the point and goes next. They have to come up with their own gesture ( fish lips for fish breathing).
When enchiladas are ready serve with nonfat yogurt or sour cream.
Tags: creativity, dinner games, family activity, family dinner, family fun, games, healthy recipes, imagibility, kids imagination, unleashing creativity, unleashing fun
