Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

In honor of cinco de mayo I made my yummy chicken and spinach enchiladas last night! Of course I made way too much but Rick assured me it wasn't possible to make too many of my enchiladas! So many people incorrectly assume that cinco de mayo is Mexico's Independence Day but Mexico's Independence Day is actually September 16. Napoleon III's ultimate goal was to establish a French empire in the Americas. The French were passing through Puebla on their way to attack the capital, Mexico City. The Mexicans were outnumbered by the French however in the Battle of Puebla on cinco de mayo the Mexicans were victorious! Cinco de mayo has become a celebration of Mexican culture and heritage! So today we celebrated the Mexican culture in class with our end of the year fiesta. My students brought all kinds of delicious foods from my favorite tres leches cake, churros, and of course chips and salsa. I literally ate all day! I'll leave you with my recipe and I'm off to Zumba to work off all those calories!

Enchiladas Fantasticas

Ingredients:
1 pound chicken breasts
2 cups PACE Picante Sauce, divided
1 package (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, squeezed dry
2 teaspoons ground cumin, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 package (8 ounces) regular or light cream cheese, cubed
12 flour tortillas (7") warmed
1 can (14 1/4 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Cheddar cheese

Optional toppings:
shredded lettuce
ripe olive slices
avocado slices
sour cream

Steps:
Grill chicken breasts and shred or dice. Transfer to 10-inch nonstick skillet.
Add 1 cup picante sauce, spinach, 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin and salt.
Cook and stir 5 minutes or until most of the liquid has evaporated.
Add cream cheese, stirring until just melted; remove from heat.
Spoon about 1/3 cup filling down center of each tortilla; roll up and place seam side down in lightly greased 13 x 9 inch baking dish.
Combine tomatoes, remaining 1 cup picante sauce and remaining 1/2 teaspoon cumin; mix well.
Spoon over enchiladas.
Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until hot.
Sprinkle with Cheddar cheese; return to oven 2 minutes to melt cheese.
Top as desired and serve with additional picante sauce.