Cheesy Southwestern Chicken and Rice

As I am getting ready for the big move, I knew that one day the stress would hit me and that day has come. I am definitely a ball of nerves. Figuring out the logistics of a cross country move is time consuming, overwhelming and expensive. Did I say expensive? And student? Those two words never really go together. After doing my due diligence about moving options -- I have come to the conclusion that if you want it done right and cost effectively...gotta do it yourself.

To distract myself, I wanted to re-cap some of the fun stuff I got to do while on the interview trail. Like...celebrating my birthday! Thankfully my birthday fell on a weekend I was not interviewing. And the next interview up was in North Carolina, which just happens to be where my cousin lives. He was so sweet and when I landed, he surprised me with an ice cream cake (one of my favs!).

He then took me to this sweet town called Ashville to do some sightseeing but mostly a lot of eating.

First stop was grabbing some brunch. Fried chicken and biscuits, anyone? Yesssss...gotta love my attempt at being healthy with a side of salad to my FRIED chicken HA!

Then we strolled through all the cute little stores -- and by stores I meant dessert stores where I ate till my little birthday heart was content. Birthdays are days meant to be diet free. Where calories are a foreign word and do not exist. A day in which it is impossible to gain weight. You did not get the memo? Glad I told you!

We finished the night at a local gastropub in the city my cousin lives in that had some delicious food. My favorite was the wonton, ahi-tuna tacos with a wasabi glaze. It was so so so drool worthy.

Now to the food. Ever have those days where you look into your pantry and refrigerator and think -- what am I going to make? And I really need to use these up. Well that was me with this recipe. Googled the ingredients that I had and wanted to get rid of, made a few little tweaks and voila ... easy one skillet meal! And did I mention yummy? ;)

Cheesy Southwestern Chicken and Rice

Adapted from Yammie's Noshery

INGREDIENTS

2 tbsp. butter
1 1/2 tbsp. garlic
12 oz. frozen bag of three pepper and onion blend (thawed)
1 3/4 c. corn of frozen corn (thawed)
1 15 oz. can of black beans
2 c. shredded chicken, cooked
1/2 c. salsa
1 packet of taco seasoning
2 1/2 c. cooked rice
1/2 c. sour cream + additional for garnish
1 c. shredded cheese + additional for garnish

Optional: Cilantro or green onions for garnish

DIRECTIONS

In a large skillet melt butter over medium-high heat. Once heated, saute garlic until slightly browned and fragrant, followed by onion-pepper blend, corn, beans and shredded chicken. Cook until warmed through and no residual liquid remains. Stir in salsa and taco seasoning and add salt and pepper if needed. Fold in cooked rice. Lastly, stir in sour cream and cheese. Garish as desired.

Enjoy,