Chicken-spinach casserole Mexican style

We don't have much food left in the house. We made a family pack of chicken breasts last night. We froze some and my husband made some into stir fry for dinner.

Today I made some into a casserole.

My husband made some penne while I made a cheese sauce. I started with two tablespoons of butter on low heat with a tablespoon of flour. I mixed them with a rubber spatula and then added about two teaspoons chili powder and one teaspoon cumin.

When that incorporated nicely, I measured out 1 cup of soy milk, which I doled out a bit at a time mixing everything together. I gradually added about 3 ounces of extra sharp cheddar and the rest of a can of jalapeño-cheddar dip (about 2 1/2 tablespoons). 

Next I added about 1/4 cup diced black olives and 1/2 cup mild salsa.

Then I added a block of frozen spinach I'd thawed.

We mixed the noodles and the sauce, added the chicken, stirred, covered and baked at 350 for 45 minutes.

Before serving I sprinkled with the crumbs from the bottom of a bag of Simply Balanced organic blue corn/flax chips.

This was very delightful. I could eat all of it. Wind chill is 4 degrees. It was a casserole kind of day.