Fajitas!

Fajitas are one of my family’s favorite dinners. I could probably serve it once a week without anyone complaining. They love it that much.

I’m not sure why – I don’t feel like I do anything special – but they absolutely love them.

I thought I’d share my recipe with you – just in case you’ve never made these yourself at home before. I think they are better than the restaurant version.

The secret, to me, is two-fold: lots of seasoning and time. Time makes the meat tender. Seasoning makes it flavorful. I don’t use any fancy ingredients; no special spices or exotic foods. You can buy any of this at the grocery store:

I cut my chicken tenders into smaller, thinner slices. Sometimes I do the same for the meat (depending on how thick it was cut at the store). I slice my onion thin and the bell peppers I leave a little thicker because I like that taste when I bite into my fajita. The refried beans I don’t put in the fajita meat when they are cooking, but I do heat them and serve them on the side to put in the fajita when it’s made at the table.

So, let’s get this recipe going here:

First, brown your meat in a little oil in your skillet:

I put all the meat in together. It’s probably not how the Food Network folks would do it, but I (am lazy) don’t have time to cook each part separately and put it aside while I cook the rest. Just toss it all in, I say.

When the meat is cooked, I add the tomato and seasoning:

Once I get that incorporated and let a little of the juices from the tomato cook off, I add the peppers and onion: (I don’t normally do yellow, just happened to have them on hand)

Let it all simmer for a while – until the veggies are tender and you’re ready to serve. I love this skillet I inherited from my mom – I can set it to “Low” and let things stay warm under the lid until we’re ready to sit down to eat dinner together.

Serve with warm tortillas, sour cream, cheese, lettuce, tomato, salsa, etc.

fajitas

Ingredients:

2 pounds steak, sliced thin
1-2 pounds chicken tenders, sliced very thin
2 bell peppers, julienned
1 large onion, julienned
1 can Rotel tomatoes with chiles
1 packet taco seasoning
Cumin
Chili Powder
Garlic Powder
Salt/Pepper

Instructions:

Slice your steak & chicken into thin strips. Season lightly with salt & pepper & set aside.
Slice your peppers and onion into thin strips. Set aside.
Heat your skillet with some oil and add the meat. As the meat is cooking, sprinkle liberally with cumin, chili powder and garlic powder.
Sauté the meat until it is browned and then add the can of tomatoes and the taco seasoning.
Simmer until most of the juices from the tomatoes has cooked off.
Add the vegetables and cook until the onions are translucent.
Serve with warm tortillas, sour cream, cheese, lettuce, tomato, salsa, etc.

Chicken Stir Fry

I mentioned earlier this week that I’d made an absolutely awesome chicken stir fry for dinner the other night. I also made some terrific fried rice. (you can check out that post if you want the fried rice recipe)

I promised, at the time, that I’d share the recipe for the stir fry, so here it is!

I filled mine with all sorts of yummy vegetables. You can use some liberties here – use what you have, or what you find at the grocery store.

I put broccoli, carrots, garlic, Napa cabbage, onion and bell peppers in ours.

Next time, I’ll probably add some water chestnuts, bok choy and maybe some bamboo shoots. I just didn’t have any this time. You could also add some snow peas, shredded cabbage… the possibilities are endless.

The girls break out in hives when they see that many vegetables on a plate, so they ran for cover and opted for the fried rice with chicken only, pleaseandthankyouverymuch. But, they ate their entire dinners and there were “secret” veggies hidden in the fried rice so I didn’t worry too much.

SuperMan and I thoroughly enjoyed the stir fry, however. And we enjoyed the leftovers for lunch the next day, too. So good.

Give this a try sometime you have a craving for some “Chinese” food. I think it is so much better than the takeout you get. (and cheaper!)

Chicken Fried Rice

Sauce:

1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 Tbsp sesame oil
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp cornstarch

Stir Fry

1 pound chicken, cut in bite-sized cubes
1 tsp dried ginger
2 Tbsp minced garlic
1-2 cups broccoli florets
1-2 cups Napa cabbage, julienned
1 bell pepper, diced
1 small onion, diced
1 cup carrot, julienned & diced finely
(any other veggies you want to add)

sesame oil

In a large measuring cup, whisk together the ingredients for the sauce and set aside.
In a large wok or sauté pan, heat sesame oil (about 1-2 Tbsp).
Sauté chicken until cooked; 7-8 minutes.
Add ginger, garlic, carrots, onion & pepper. Cook 2-3 minutes.
Add the remaining vegetables. Cook, stirring frequently. Veggies should be crisp, yet tender.
Pour the sauce mixture over the vegetables & chicken. Stir to coat everything thoroughly and let simmer for a few minutes to thicken.
Serve over fried rice or steamed rice.

Chicken Fried Rice (thoughtsalonglifeshighway.com)

Chicken Fried Rice

I had a hankering for fried rice on Tuesday. I had planned to do leftovers (quesadillas) for dinner, but I kept thinking about the fact that I needed to pre-cook some chicken for Wednesday night’s dinner and if I was going to do that, why didn’t I just make some stir-fry chicken and fried rice?

So, that’s exactly what I did.

And I have to say, it was one of the best stir-fries I have made and most definitely the best fried rice. Totally awesome.

I made it in stages – making the fried rice first and storing it in a pre-heated sauce pot (heated by boiling some water in it and then pouring the water out) while I cooked the chicken stir fry.

I found the source recipe for my fried rice here, but, of course, I modified it to suit my family’s tastes and what I had in the pantry. The only change I think I’ll make next time I make it is to add some toasted sesame seeds and maybe try to sneak in some more veggies. (diced teeny tiny so the kids will eat them)

This would be a good meal all by itself. With the edamame (soy beans) and eggs, you have your proteins and the addition of some veggies would make it a good, rounded meal. And it tastes SO GOOD.

You can find the edamame in the freezer section at the grocery store. Just be sure you get the hulled version. I wouldn’t want to be shelling soybeans if I didn’t have to!

Fried Rice

Ingredients:

1 egg, beaten
1 cup rice (cooked, yield ~2 cups)
Sesame Oil
~ 1 cup carrots, diced fine
1 cup shelled edamame
1/2 onion, diced fine
1 tsp ground ginger
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1/4 cup soy sauce (reduced sodium)
2 Tbsp brown sugar

Instructions:

Cook rice. Let cool.
In a large skillet or wok, spray pan with nonstick spray. Add your egg and cook until scrambled. Remove to plate and clean skillet.
In the same skillet, heat approximately 1 Tbsp sesame oil.
Add vegetables to the skillet & sauté until the onions begin to become transparent, stirring frequently. (about 4-5 min)
Add rice to skillet. Cook until the rice is browning and becoming crispy. Depending on how hot your skillet is, this can take 5-9 minutes. The pan does not need any additional oil or moisture at this time. You are trying to brown the rice.
While the rice is browning, whisk together the ginger, garlic, soy sauce & brown sugar.
One the rice is browned, add the egg and the soy sauce mixture to the rice/veggies and stir well.
Drizzle the rice with a little more sesame oil and serve.

I served it to the girls with some of the chicken I cooked for the stir fry that SuperMan and I ate with the rice. They gobbled it up happily.

(that’s a o sooo good food MB says) – I found this typed in my blog writer after I got back from taking the girls to school. I guess that is her editorial contribution. Smile

I’ll share the stir fry recipe later this week. It was the perfect accompaniment to the fried rice. I can’t wait for lunch today to eat the leftovers!

It’s Monday… again.

Hello, all, and happy Monday (I think – it is probably too early to tell just yet)

After a happy, but busy, weekend, we’re kicking off the week with a countdown to spring break… the girls and I can hardly wait. Not waking up at 5 AM is certainly something to look forward to! We have not finalized our plans yet… they have changed several times in the past week or so and so I’ve just about decided to not worry about PLANS and just roll with the tide. Maybe we’ll stay home, maybe we’ll go somewhere. Just not sure yet.

Planning some grill cooking this week – the weather is so beautiful, it is hard to resist dinner on the grill. On Saturday, we cooked our entire meal on the grill. I made these yummy three-cheese potato pockets. They were so good. Although, next time I make them, I’ll probably only put the onion in the pocket for SuperMan. Too much onion for the girls and me. But yummy nonetheless.

We grilled ribs, corn (wrapped in foil and slathered with butter) and the potato pockets. It was a yummy, yummy dinner. Made especially good because there were very few dirty pots to wash. (my dishwasher is dead)

Sunday night we had guests for dinner – our friends from our Bible Study group at church. I made a nacho bar. I have to say that this is a terrific idea when you are feeding a crowd. I would think it would be great for a bunch of teens, too.

I made shredded “taco” chicken in the crock pot on Saturday and then browned ground beef on Sunday for a second crock pot-full. We had toppings galore – cilantro, onion, lettuce, olives, cheese, jalapeños, three kinds of salsa, and on and on and on. I also made a cheese dip with some Velveeta and salsa. Yeah, not the healthiest, but it sure was good.

I served this warm bean dip as a side item, but most of us just put it on our nachos. It was a huge hit (another one of my finds from Pinterest)

Everyone was able to fix their own plate of nachos to their liking. I have to say, there were very few leftovers and I like it that way!

This week I’m still working out my menu plan – so far I know we’ll be doing the following:

Monday: Creamy chicken & rice (crock pot)

Tuesday: Leftovers from Sunday – probably turned into quesadillas

Wednesday: Asian Chicken Salad (new recipe for us) – I’ll share this recipe later this week. It’s a yummy salad recipe shared by a friend. After I’ve made it, I’ll let you know all about it!

Thursday: Slow Cooker Salisbury Steak (new recipe for us) Big Girl has a doctor’s appt for her tummy so we will go with slow cooker recipes to make it easier for mama.

Friday: Pizza night

Saturday: Grilled goodness (not sure what yet)

NEED MORE IDEAS?

You can find more yummy recipes on orgjunkie.com where you can find some great recipes and menu plans.

I’ll be back tomorrow with some updates to my Project Life pages.

Menu Plan Monday 2.6.12 (thoughtsalonglifeshighway.com)
Menu Plan Monday (thoughtsalonglifeshighway.com)
Menu Plan Monday ~ 27 February (thoughtsalonglifeshighway.com)

Six New Recipes to Try Soon

The weather is changing, and so is my palate – out go the heavy soups and stews and in come the lighter foods – grilled fare and salads.

Here are a few recipes that are on my list of things to try out soon:

Asian Chicken Salad – this one was served by a friend at a get-together last week. It was soooo good. We all enjoyed it and the guys went back for seconds! She serves it “buffet style” so that everyone can put the things they want in there and leave out the things they don’t. I will definitely be adding this to our menu plan soon.
White chicken enchiladas – this is another one a friend made and we fell in love with. I actually made this one for dinner last Saturday. The girls loved it – as did SuperMan and I. However, the tortillas get gummy when warmed over so this is not one to plan for having tons of leftovers. Freshly cooked, it’s delicious, though. And super easy.
Warm Bean Dip – thinking I may try this one night for a meatless dinner option. The girls are not much for beans, so it will be interesting to see how they like it. But, smothered in cheese may make it worth trying. We will see. I may serve it with some type of salad or just make it a “dip” dinner and serve with some tortilla chips and salsa.
Another easy dinner idea (and a favorite around here) is baked potatoes and salad. Here’s a nifty baked potato idea I may try one night.
Grill cooking means hamburgers at some point in the month, too, but I always have a hard time with the bun – breads like buns and I don’t get along anymore. So, when I found this recipe, I decided it is also a must-try-soon recipe – Hamburger Wraps – where the “bun” is a tortilla! I love, too, that we can fix each one to suit everyone’s tastes.
The girls have recently discovered the chocolate-chip granola bars at the grocery store – I have let them have them as a treat but have been on the lookout for my own version of this treat so that I can better control the contents and (lack of) additives that they have. I stumbled across this recipe on Pinterest and think I’ll give it a go one day soon.

How about you? Have any good recipes you’ve been wanting to try – or that you have tried and would like to share?

Just a little muffin, man

I have a new favorite muffin recipe. One that my friend Cindy shared with me.

If you know Cindy, you know that there isn’t anything that she makes that isn’t yummy-yummy-good. I love going over to her house for get-togethers. I know the food is going to be good and, most likely, there’s going to be something I’ve never tried before. Cindy is not afraid to experiment and to share the benefits of her experiments with her friends. And I am lucky to be one of those friends who gets to eat her goodies.

Like these muffins.

She said they are called something like “six week muffins” which sounds like they are pregnant, so I don’t think I’ll call them that.

I think I’ll call them yummy muffins.

To disguise a few of the ingredients from my children and emphasize the fact that they are so, so good.

(I won’t tell you how many I have eaten today… but it is >1 and <10 Smile – not really… well, yes, really, but no where close to 10. that would just be crazy…and I’m not crazy… well, not much, anyway)

I made some in a monster muffin tin – one that makes those jumbo sized muffins. (another reason why eating 10 would just be nuts – and unhealthy)

Those big mamas are going to the kids’ teachers at school tomorrow. It’s teacher appreciation week so I’m sharin’ the love with some breakfast muffins.

The regular sized ones I’m keeping around here for us to have for snacks, and breakfast, and snacks…and whenever-we-feel-like-we-need-a-muffin-treats.

They’re so good. And Cindy says they are good for you, too.

I can’t wait to play around with the recipe a little. I was thinking I might substitute applesauce for the oil and maybe add some diced apples next time. And some apple pie spice. Or pumpkin pie spice. Or chocolate chips.

Who knows.

What I do know, though, is that I will be making them again.

You need to try them.

Seriously.

Oh, and I guess I should warn you, this makes A LOT of muffins. I made 12 “regular” muffins and 12 “jumbo” muffins and I still have about enough batter left to make at least another 12-24 muffins.

But, Cindy says that she keeps the leftover mix in the fridge in a sealed container and keeps it to bake with all week. I guess that is why it is called “six week muffins” but we will never know because the mix has never made it that long at her house and I know that it won’t at mine, either.

Okay, enough chatter. Here is the recipe:

Six Week (Yummy) Muffins

1 15 oz box Raisin Bran cereal (I used the store brand)
5 cups self-rising flour
2-1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 quart (4 cups) buttermilk
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup raisins or cranberries (or both)!!
1 large can of pumpkin
2 Tbsp cinnamon (I used 2 1/2 Tbsp)
1 – 2 tsp vanilla

Bake at 400 degrees for about 12 to 15 minutes.

note:

With the jumbo muffins I made, I dropped the oven temp to 350 and baked them for 30 minutes, just to make sure they cooked inside without burning on the outside.

Menu Plan Monday 2.6.12

Whew! What a whirlwind the past two weeks have been! I feel like I’m on a crazy ride at an amusement park and I’m just ready for the spinning to stop…

Hoping this week is a little less spastic and crazy, but who knows!

BUT! I am glad that I have my plan in place for our dinners this week. One of my sanity savers is knowing what we’re having for dinner and not getting caught off-guard with one of those “Uh, oh, what AM I cooking tonight?!?” moments.

Menu Plan:

Here’s what we have planned this week:

Monday: Country Fried Steak, gravy & mashed potatoes
Tuesday: Chicken Quesadillas (made with leftover crock pot Mexican chicken from this weekend – recipe below)
Wednesday: Asian chicken stir fry
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Sloppy Joes
Saturday: Chicken Parmesan
Sunday: Mom’s day off (eat out for dinner after church)

Great Menu Idea for a Gathering:

We had our small group over for this weekend and I made a Nacho Bar for dinner. I had all SIX of my crock pots on the counter (I should’ve taken a picture!) filled with yummy goodness. I made ground beef (seasoned with Rotel tomatoes with chiles and taco seasoning) the chicken (below) and then had another crock with black beans and refried beans (it was a divided crock) and another with a cheese dip to top off the nachos (Velveeta & Rotel)

On the side, I had the following toppings:

shredded lettuce
diced tomatoes
diced red onions
cilantro
chile peppers
jalepenos
sliced black olives
three kinds of salsa (including my Tomatillo-Avocado salsa)
shredded cheddar cheese

Everyone LOVED it. I think I’ll be doing it again for another get-together. It was easy because I could do so much ahead of time and then the set-up for the dinner was fairly simple.

I made the cutest sweet “nacho” dessert (found on Pinterest) which was what my baby crock was holding – the chocolate to drizzle over the top…

Crock Pot Mexican Chicken

Here’s the quick, easy and super-yummy crock pot Mexican chicken recipe I made:

1-2 pounds boneless, skinless, chicken breasts (or thighs)
1 package taco seasoning (I use the low sodium variety)
1 jar salsa (I use Newman’s Own Mild)

Place the chicken in the crock pot. Sprinkle the taco seasoning on top of the chicken & pour the salsa over it. Then cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4-5 hours. Shred chicken, return to crock pot (with the salsa juices) and serve. Makes great filling for burritos, tacos, nachos or quesadillas.

I may even make some chicken tortilla soup with some of the leftovers!

Need More Ideas?

You can find more yummy recipes on orgjunkie.com or Balancing Beauty & Bedlam, where she has her Pantry Challenge going on again for another month!

Ooey Gooey Goodness

I have mentioned before (once or twice) about how much I love Pinterest. I’m finding so many good things there – crafts, scrapbooking inspiration, and most importantly, new recipes to try.

I have also mentioned before (once or twice) about how I am so not a morning person. I don’t really get going until mid-day, mentally, and so the early mornings required of being a mommy of school-age children is rather challenging for me. Most days, I feel somewhat like a zombie shuffling through the routine. But, I like to have something warm and yummy for my girls to eat before they leave for school.

So, imagine my pleasure when I stumbled across this little gem on Pinterest last week. I knew it had to be somewhere in our future – it looks like a super-easy version of Monkey Bread.

So, this morning was the morning. I modified the recipe to suit what I had on hand and received no complaints from the monkeys in the house. They said it was like a cross between cinnamon rolls, biscuits and pancakes. Well, that is probably because it is!

I didn’t use the fancy tube pan – I just used my trusty loaf pan – same basic principle but much easier for me to dig out at 5:30 in the morning. (I said it was early, didn’t I?)

You can get the recipe over on Pinterest for the original version. Or you can use mine here. I think they’re so close they are virtually the same.

Great idea for a quick breakfast treat.

Gooey Breakfast Goodness

~1 Tbsp cinnamon (I just estimated)
~4 Tbsp butter
~1/2 c sugar (or brown sugar)
~1/4 cup pancake syrup
1 can Pillsbury Grands Biscuits

Preheat oven to 350.
In a large measuring cup, combine first four ingredients. You may want to melt the butter/syrup in the microwave for about 1 minute to make the mixing easier. Mix well.
Pour about 1-2 Tbsp of the syrup mixture in the bottom of a well-greased loaf pan (just enough to coat the bottom.
In the pan, then stand biscuits on their sides like little soldiers marching along.
Pour the remaining syrup mixture over the biscuits and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar if desired.
Bake at 350 for about 30-40 minutes.
Allow them to cool for a couple minutes before diving in to the yummy goodness. Can be rewarmed in the microwave if any are left over.

Comfort food

When it’s cold and gloomy outside (like it’s been the past week or so)

or when someone is not feeling well (like I’ve had around here off and on for the past week or two)

it’s a good time to turn to the foods you know will not only fill you up but that will comfort you and make you feel good, too.

Big Girl has been under the weather today. So, my initial menu plan for Asian Chicken stir-fry was probably not going to be a good choice. She’s got a tummy bug and any kind of Asian food is not a good choice when you have a tummy ache.

So, enter Plan B – soup.

Potato Soup, to be exact.

I absolutely LOVE potato soup, but don’t eat it very often since my surgery. It’s pretty much a carb-fest (which is why it is so good) and my little tummy doesn’t like a carb-fest very often. But with Big Girl’s tummy needing something soothing, I decided to make her some.

As a matter of fact, Potato Soup was my food of choice as a girl. We had a family friend that would make it for me whenever I asked and I absolutely loved it. I’ve never had a match to what she used to make. It was just the right mix of creaminess and chunks of potato. Absolutely divine.

I found a crock-pot recipe on Pinterest (I love that website!) and edited/altered to suit what I had on hand and what I knew my family would like.

All I can say is YUM. It is sooo good. I can’t wait to serve it to everyone tonight. (that’s black bean soup in the baby crock pot – I’m trying out a new recipe and will post when I get it mastered)

I’ll toast some bread in the same fashion my family friend used to make – she would cut bread slices into “fingers” and toast them until they were golden brown and crispy. Then you dip those into the soup – heaven. Absolute heaven.

Topped with some cheddar cheese and a sprinkle of pepper, this is simply divine. This is the closest to Mary’s soup I’ve ever had.

Comfort food at it’s best.

I hope you’ll give it a try sometime. (And I’ll be sharing the Black Bean Soup recipe soon, too – it’s yummy but I’m still working on consistency. Once I get that right, I’ll post the recipe)

Here’s the Potato Soup recipe:

Crock Pot Potato Soup

1 32 oz bag of Southern-style hash brown potatoes (the chunked kind, not shredded)
1 box of chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken soup
3/4 cup diced onion (I used the frozen diced ones)
1 Tbsp minced garlic (about 2 cloves if you use fresh)
Salt/Pepper
1 package Low fat cream cheese (not fat free) (should be room temp)

Add all ingredients (except cream cheese) to the crock pot.
Cook on Low for 6-8 hours. (If you are going to be home, start it on high for about 2 hrs and then drop it down to low for the remainder of the time)
About an hour before serving, put the cream cheese in the soup. Use an immersion blender to mix the cream cheese into the soup and to puree the potatoes. If you don’t have an immersion blender, you could scoop out some of your soup into a blender of food processor and mix the cheese into that soup and then add it back to the crock pot and mix it all together.

Serve with shredded sharp cheddar cheese, diced cooked bacon, diced scallions (if you desire) and toasted bread “fingers.”

A few recent recipe successes

I thought I’d share some recent recipe successes I’ve had – things that were new to us to try – and mostly stuff I’ve found on Pinterest. It’s my favorite new recipe site!

not sure this soup has a name, but if it did, it should most definitely have cheese in the name of it. It’s kinda like Chicken Tortilla soup met cheese dip and had a baby and this is the love child. Very good and great on a cold winter day.
I made these biscuits for breakfast one morning. The kids wouldn’t eat them (I think because they were both sick and I made them with whole wheat flour) but SuperMan and I loved them. (I made me-maw’s biscuits from this post)
I made these sausage balls a while back (for Christmas) and they were a huge hit. The secret is cream cheese in the mix. Makes them very moist. And heck, if you’re eating sausage balls, what’s a little cream cheese? It’s not exactly diet food.

And here are some things I want to try but haven’t yet:

I was planning to make these cheesy garlic biscuits for dinner one night (or, rather, with dinner. Not for dinner, although I could certainly get on board with cheesy biscuits for dinner.)
And this pasta is called Angel Pasta. I’m thinking it looks an awful lot like an adulterated Alfredo, but I’m going to give it a try.
And this cake just looks divine. I’ve already decided it’s going on the menu for the next get-together I have. Oh.my. I need an excuse to make it, have one piece and give the rest away.

What about you? Any recipes you’ve tried lately that your family has enjoyed? Any you have on the list of “to try soon?”

Join me on Pinterest for some fun!

But, I warn you… It is addictive.

fajitas

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Instructions:

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Chicken Fried Rice

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Stir Fry

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