The make-ahead dinner that doesn't feel like compromise

take all my favorite ingredients and add zero effort

Here’s my hot take for today: self-care isn’t about sugar scrubs and massages and sensory-deprivation tanks. It’s about taking care of yourself, including your future self, so your days are calmer, your mental health is stronger, your boundaries are firmer.

Does that sometimes include sugar scrubs and massages and sensory-deprivation tanks? Hell yeah. But a lot of the time, it’s boring meal prep, make-ahead dinners, and washing and chopping fruit for the week. It’s taking care of Wednesday’s self when you have the time on Sunday.

It’s making this really confusingly delicious casserole when you have the time and the extra cooked chicken today… so you can eat it when you don’t have the time (or the extra cooked chicken) in the future.

Or you can eat it today, whatever. Self-care.

I wrote this recipe when I was preparing for my abdominal surgery, knowing full well I’d be put off by the idea of toiling over a stove, hunched at an uncomfortable angle, when I was freshly post-op. I would have made this, had the idea occurred to me, when I was prepping to have each of my babies. I love going into big chaotic times with a freezer full of food. I just feel… taken care of, but by my own self.

Here’s why you’ll love it:

• It freezes beautifully,

• reheats beautifully,

• and bakes fresh beautifully, too.

• It has all my favorite flavors and

• hits the spot whenever you need something comforting but full of flavor.

It’s really flexible, so just… do whatever. It’ll be fine. Rip, tear, chop—whatever. It’ll all work out. Tell your future self I said hi!!

Green Chicken Enchilada Bake (Make Ahead & Freezer Friendly)

Ingredients
3 cups shredded cooked chicken
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack or queso quesadilla cheese
1 (28 oz) can green enchilada sauce
1 (4 oz) can diced green chiles
12 corn tortillas, torn or cut
1/2 cup sour cream or Greek yogurt
1/2 teaspoon cumin
Cilantro, lime, red onion for serving

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375°F (if baking now).

2. Mix enchilada sauce, green chiles, sour cream, and cumin.

3. In a 9×13 dish, layer:
   Sauce
   Tortillas
   Chicken
   Cheese

4. Repeat layers 2–3 times.

5. Bake 25–30 minutes, until hot and bubbly OR cover tightly and freeze up to 3 months.

Freezer Reheating
Thaw overnight in refrigerator.
Bake at 350°F for 35–45 minutes, until heated through.