Sent by Sarah

Warm and topped with shredded cheddar

I don't know about you but when my family eats out, there is a Mexican place we go to about every other time we eat out. The margaritas are strong, the salsa is made fresh daily, and the menu is fantastic. I tend to order the same thing every time-chicken burritos without the red sauce on top. They are simple and amazing. Just shredded chicken with sautéed onions and green peppers rolled up in a large tortilla with melted queso on top. Just typing this makes my mouth water.

At school, I haven't quite had luck finding a Mexican place that even starts to compare to my hometown fave but I thought I would give it a go myself. I started picking out the ingredients used in my hometown burrito but then Carter decided to throw some extras in our shopping cart. Thus we stuck to a dish of "Mexican" flavors but then put our own spin on things. We then added some rice to thicken things up and thus created a jambalaya of sorts? I'm not sure exactly because I have never had jambalaya but the dictionary said it was a spicy rice dish with chicken, shrimp, or sausage and that's what I ended up with so I will call it a jambalaya

I almost forgot to share the best part of this, it's a crockpot recipe so there is less than 5 minutes of prep and the crockpot makes cleaning a breeze too!

Ingredients:
- 1 package of boneless chicken breasts or thighs (I've made this twice, one time with each, and both were successful)
- 1-2 green peppers (depending on how much you like them)
- 1/2 an onion
- 12 oz of salsa (pick based on your degree of spicy)
- 2 15 oz cans of tomato chunks not drained
- 1 15oz can corn drained
- 1 box of long grain and wild rice mix (or 1/2 cup uncooked rice)
- 2 packages of taco or fajita seasoning or homemade seasoning equivalent
- cheddar, Mexican, or queso shredded cheese for topping

Optional*:
- beans
- canned chicken

*The great part about this recipe is how customizable it is! If you like certain things, add them! If you don't like something, omit it!

Toss in everything except for the rice. Give it a quick stir and let it cook.

Clean and chop up your peppers and onion. Throw these in the crockpot. Next, clean you chicken and place in crockpot with seasoning, tomatoes, and salsa. Cook on high for 4 hours or until chicken is cooked through. You can either shred the chicken using two forks or else take the chicken out and cut into tiny pieces. If you want more chicken, you can add some canned chicken at this point.

The mixture should be pretty liquidy at this point so we decided to thicken ours up using rice. Add in rice and cook until the rice is tender. Serve in bowls with shredded cheese on top!

Ready to dig in!

This jumbalya is full of spice and flavor! It pairs really well with tortilla chips! If you are fan of spice or Mexican foods then you really do need to give this a try. It heats up well and I would imagine it also freezes well too.