Easy Chicken Fajitas

Something I love to make because it's easy and totally tasty, are chicken fajitas. For 2 people and some leftovers I use:

2 chicken breasts
1 green pepper, sliced into strips
1/2 a large onion, sliced into strips
1/2 packet of italian dressing packet

I use some olive oil to start cooking the chicken on the stove. Then when it's about 1/2 way cooked, I throw in the green pepper and onion and italian dressing packet. I used to use taco seasoning, but I found that the italian seasoning is slightly more healthy (less sodium, etc). It also tastes sooo delicious!

I use flour tortillas, and top with cheese, sour cream, cilantro and sometimes diced tomatoes.

Here is the only picture I took, the fajitas still on the stove:

Homemade Baby Food

I decided that I'm going to make Dane's baby food instead of buying it from the store. I'm really excited about it and did my first batch today. It's REALLY easy and doesn't take long at all. I started with butternut squash.

(Photo courtesy of aroundcrownsville.com)

The first thing you do, is cut it lengthwise like the picture above. Then you scoop out the seeds (like you would a pumpkin). You then put it "meat" side down in a baking dish and cover it with about 1 inch of water. You bake it at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes to an hour. If you stick it with a fork and it goes in easy, then it's done.

After it's finished cooking, you scoop it out of the skin and put it into a bowl. I used a cookie scooper, makes it super easy. I added some of the water that I cooked it in, to make it the consistency I was looking for. I used my hand immersion blender to mix it well. Then I put it into ice cube trays. One "cube" is about 1 oz. After it was frozen, I dumped the cubes into a ziplock bag, labeled it and it stays good for 3 months!

I took out 2 cubes and put them in the microwave for about 30 seconds, mixed it up, made sure it wasn't too hot or cold and Dane just ate it all up!

Menu with a recipe

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you have some fun plans for this evening, or have already celebrated! We went on a date Saturday night, so we'll be having dinner in tonight. It's always so busy on Valentine's night.

So, here is our menu for this week:

Monday - Herb Crusted Pork Tenderloin, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, Asparagus and Rolls (a nice Valentine's day dinner)

Tuesday - Club Sandwiches and homemade fries

Wednesday - Chicken Enchiladas and chips and dip

Thursday - Bacon/Tomato Pasta, Caesar salad and garlic bread

Friday - Breakfast Burritos

Saturday - Shish Ka Bobs

Sunday - Chicken Quesadillas

I'm going to give you the recipe to the Herb Crusted Tenderloin. It's absolutely delicious, it seems so fancy and it's the easiest thing you'll make probably.

HERB CRUSTED PORK TENDERLOIN

Ingredients
1 (2-pound) boneless pork tenderloin, with fat left on (the ones that look like a log)
2 teaspoons of salt

2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried thyme or 2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon dried basil or 2 teaspoons fresh basil leaves
1 teaspoon dried rosemary or 2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary

Directions
Preheat oven to 475 degrees F.

Place the pork loin on a rack in a roasting pan. Combine the remaining ingredients in a small bowl. With your fingers, massage the mixture onto the pork loin, covering all of the meat and fat.

Roast the pork for 20 minutes, then reduce the heat to 425 degrees F and roast for an additional 30 minutes. Test for doneness using an instant-read thermometer. When the internal temperature reaches 155 degrees F, remove the roast from the oven. Allow it to sit for about 20 minutes before carving. It will continue to cook while it rests.

The cooking times will vary, but it's best to use a thermometer to know when exactly it'll be done, then there's no guessing. Yum! I can't wait to eat it now! :)

(Photo courtesy of foodnetwork.com)

Mozzarella Sticks

For Super Bowl Sunday we had my brother, Chris, and sister in law, Megan, over for the game and some yummy treats! Megan made some awesome pulled pork sliders and 7 layer bean dip! Delicious! I made some little smokies in bbq sauce and mozzarella sticks. Here are some pictures of the feast along with how to make homemade mozzarella sticks. (Ridiculously easy by the way).

7 Layer Dip

Unassembled pulled pork sliders

Mozzarella Sticks:

Block of mozzarella cheese

Flour

Eggs (about 2)

Italian Bread Crumbs

Vegetable Oil

First, you cut the mozzarella cheese into the size of the sticks you want. Then you put the flour, eggs and bread crumbs in separate bowls. I don't know how much, I just eye ball it. You can easily add more if you need it:

Then you dip the cheese into the flour, then egg, then bread crumbs.

Heat the oil on the stove. I usually do a medium-high heat. You can drop some bread crumbs in and if it's sizzling then you know it's ready.

This is what they look like ready to go in the oil:

You drop it in the oil and let it go for only about 5-10 seconds. Completed goodness:

This week's menu with a recipe

Here is the menu of what we've made so far this week and what is coming up in the next few days:

Saturday - Hamburgers, pasta salad
Sunday - Homemade Ravioli with homemade pasta sauce (I don't know why I didn't take any pictures
Monday - Pot Roast
Tuesday - Taylor's Tacos (with the leftovers from the pot roast)
Wednesday - Pizza
Thursday - Bean Burritos
Friday - Baked Potatoes with chili
Saturday - BBQ Chicken Salad
Sunday - Navajo Tacos

With each menu, I will include a recipe from one of the meals. This week it will be Taylor's Tacos. It's called that, because our friend Taylor shared this recipe with us and it's great, because we can use leftover pot roast meat. (Thanks Taylor!)

TAYLOR'S TACOS

Since the roast is already cooked, you don't need to do much more than just heat it up on the stove and shred it. You can add a little bit of water every once in awhile, so it doesn't dry out. Then you just add these spices to the meat:

2 t. instant minced onions
1 t. salt
1 t. chili powder
1/2 t. cornstarch
1/2 t. crushed red pepper
1/2 t. instant minced garlic (I use fresh garlic, one clove)
1/2 t. ground cumin
1/4 t. dried oregano

I would say we end up with about 1 pound leftover roast, so you can of course double, or half the spices, depending on how much meat you have. (I actually buy a big roast, so that I will have leftovers to make this the following day.)

Then we fry corn tortillas on the stove. We use about 1/4 cup of vegetable oil (to liberally cover the bottom of the pan) until it's warm enough to heat up the tortillas and make them crispy.

Last but not least, we make some pico de gallo to top our tacos with. I use equal parts tomato, onion and cilantro. About 1 roma tomato, 1/4 cup of onions and 1/4 a cup of cilantro. A dash of salt and some lime juice.

Then of course, you can add sour cream, guacamole, cheese, etc. Whatever your little heart desires. ENJOY!

I will have pictures on other posts, I just started this and didn't think to take pictures :)

Starting Out

From the inspiration of friends, I have decided to create this blog. It will help me keep track of my weekly dinner menus, recipes I find and also to be able to share this all with you. I am in no way an expert, I just enjoy making good food. I learn along the way and accept all feedback on ways to make things better. I would also love to add your recipes on here, so feel free to share them with me so we can pass them along. I hope you enjoy. Bon appetit!