Recipe: Trash Nachos

Things you should know about me: my mother did in-home daycare when we were little, which is awesome because it meant she was home with us, and also that we constantly had other kids to play with. The other things it meant is that we were pretty poor, because my mom was kind-of a stay at home mom, and that you are what was put in front of you - because she was not going to cater to 7 little kids. I have a very sensitive gag reflex (insert dirty joke here), so sometimes I got away with not eating what the other kids had if it made me throw up, which a lot of our meals did. However, my FAVORITE thing my mom made when we were growing up (caveat: my mom is not, I repeat NOT, a woman who cooks) was nachos. She would take stale tortilla chips - nothing went to waste in our house! - shredded cheddar cheese and throw 'em in the broiler for a few minutes. It was the best snack ever.

Other things you should know about me: I have a tendency to throw leftovers into a pot and call it "trash _____". Trash pasta. Trash salad. Trash punch. Whatever. I know, super appetizing. But, when you hate leftovers like I do, it has to become a new creation for it to become edible to me. After our Memorial Day cook-out, we ended up with TONS of leftovers, including the better part of a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store. Even when it's fresh, that's not appealing to me, so you can imagine how I felt about it leftover. I was, however, extremely proud of what I came up with for dinner last night, when neither one of us was extremely hungry because it's hotter than hades out already. So here's my "recipe" - if you want to call it that. You have to remember that everything listed was already in my fridge, so feel free to make adjustments based on what you have in your fridge.

Trash Nachos

• Rotisserie Chicken (cooked)
• Tomato
• Lettuce
• Fat-Free Sour Cream
• Low-Fat Shredded Cheddar Cheese
• Tortilla Chips
• Velveeta-Fat-free Refried Bean-Salsa Dip*
• Black Olives
• Taco Seasoning

• Line a baking pan with aluminum foil
• Cover pan with tortilla chips (stale or otherwise!)
• Cover chips with shredded cheddar cheese
• Shred chicken into frying pan and heat on medium heat until beginning to sizzle
• Add 1/4 packet of taco seasoning (more or less depending on how much chicken)
• Add a tiny bit of water (optional)
• Broil chips on high until cheese is melted / bubbling
• Reheat Dip in microwave (you could also use just refried beans for this)
• Layer chicken, beans, veggies and sour cream over chips - ENJOY!

*super easy and delicious, equal parts velveeta & refried beans in the microwave, with a few spoonfuls of your favorite salsa. serve hot with tortilla chips