Easy leftover fajitas.

My family loves fajitas.

LOVES them.

I love them too.  I love having just a little bit left over for my lunch the following day too.

(Don’t care so much for the fact that my hair still smells like them all night though…)

I have tried to find ways to cut down the cooking time on this favorite dish.  Cut down the cooking time, time that I get to babysit a pan on the stove, so I can play more, of course!

I have found a couple of tips recently that have helped me, and I thought I would share.

First off, I started using the left over chicken after we have roasted chicken.  We pick the chicken clean after we are done eating it (usually on a Sunday).  It makes for good quality time with the hubbs. ;)

(But this week, it made for good quality time with my momma.)

The next day (cause I am weird with left overs like that..) is when I use it.

This cuts down on cooking that chicken in the frying pan, and thus, babysitting..  or chicken sitting, I guess.

Then I will start my onions in the pan with just a little canola oil and garlic salt.  Just after I get those on, I take my peppers, cut them in half, de-seed them, and place them cut side down on a cookie sheet.  I put them under the broiler (on high) for just a few minutes until the skin is blackened.

(This cuts down immensely on the stove cook time.)

After those are done, I let them cool and then slice them up and add them to the onions.

Closely following into that pan is the chicken that is already broken up into bite-sized pieces (time saver!!!) to mingle with the peppers and onions.  I add my seasonings and let it simmer and heat the chicken through.

I think we all know what to serve this stuff with (minus the guac for me!).

I have recently found a new favorite way to eat it.  I have to admit that I thought I was a total genius, I even posted my genius on Facebook, only to have a “duh” moment after.

I will take tortilla chips (yellow corn chips please!) and sprinkle grated colby jack on them, microwave them just long enough for the cheese to get gooey, top that with the fajita mixture, then lettuce, tomatoes, and sour cream.

Yum.

Now for the “duh” moment..

One of my favorite restaurants, Costa Vida, does this same thing!  I have only seen them in person topped with sweet pork, and they are called, helloooo…  “Sweet Pork Nachos”.

I am such a blonde.

(Not that that is a bad thing to all you blondies out there!)

They are tasty nonetheless.

And here is a sneak peek at that fun project I did for my class:

Pulled Pork..

I know!!
I am all about food lately..
Just wait, I have even more coming!
This is another family favorite, thanks to my days when I would actually watch Good Things Utah, and our (then) new found love of Texas Roadhouse.
Merrill no longer loves it, he claims we don't need to go there to get the pulled pork..  mine is better.
Or so he says...
It has also been posted here.

Rib City's Pulled Pork

 

1 small 2lb-4lb pork butt "bone in", or pork collar, or roast bone in or no bone

1 bottle Liquid Smoke

1 Package of Knorr Vegetable blend spices (or Season Salt,Celery Salt,Pepper, Salt, Montreal BBQ Spices,Garlic powder mixed together)

1 bottle Rib City Sweet BBQ sauce ( I used Bull's Eye, Hickory smoke)

Spread all spices on Pork Roast or Butt forming almost a crust, or thick layer.
Tear off 2 big pieces of foil to cover roast.
Pour 1/2 bottle liquid smoke into foil with roast. Wrap the 1st sheet then wrap it again with the 2nd sheet so the juices cannot escape when cooking.

Place in a shallow pan or cooking tray. Slow cook on convection bake or regular oven at 375 for 4 hours and then 275 for 4 more hours.

Unwrap and pull bone (if any). Take a fork and make sure that the meat separates easily. Leave cooking juice and put in bowl and pull with forks or gloved hands.

Add BBQ sauce.

This one was a real winner... no one could stop eating it. It was so tender, the foil was the only thing keeping it together.
I also started cooking it in the crock pot so my oven isn't tied up all day..  it is great that way too.  The only downside, you don't get the delicious crusty outer pieces like you do when cooking it in the oven.
We like to serve it with baked potatoes, or mashed, or french fires...  or steak fries. ;)  We also like Rhodes Texas Rolls with honey butter.  The left-overs are awesome!!

Sweet and Sour Chicken..

One of our favorites!
I have been cooking this for quite some time..  we are entering our tenth year of marriage, so at least that long.  Long enough, that as I got out the recipe tonight to make it (and I do only to make sure my measurements are what I remember them to be..) I thought it's high time it was promoted from my fluorescent green post-it note, to somewhere more permanent and worthy.
Hmmm...  blogworthy?
I do think so..

Sweet and Sour Chicken

1 can pineapple (chunks, tidbits, sliced, pick your favorite)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons corn startch
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup cider vinegar
4 beef bullion cubes (or 4 teaspoons if you use another form of bullion like I do)
green pepper, seeded and sliced
Chicken breasts (this recipe can make enough for 4 breasts)

Drain pineapple and save juice.  Set aside pineapple and add water to the juice until you have 1 1/2 cups of liquids.  In a large saucepan, add the liquid mixture, brown sugar, salt, cornstarch, and the cider vinegar.  Whisk over medium heat until the cornstarch is well dissolved.  Continue stirring and watch for it to thicken.  Once it stars to bubble and thicken, add the bullion and soy sauce.  Continue stirring.  Reduce heat so it is at a simmer.  Add raw chicken, either whole or cubed, the pepper and pineapple and let cook until the chicken is no longer pink.  Serve over rice.

Now we like to mix it up at our house..  we began breading our chicken and cooking it in a separate pan to PF Chang it up.  To heighten that, we started serving it over cooked angel hair pasta.  Any way you choose, you can't go wrong with this sauce!

Sunday dinner.. Homemade Pizza.

Yesterday, we enjoyed a totally non-traditional Sunday dinner..
No chuck roast or ham here.. no chickens were roasted.
We were layin' back taking it easy..


We made pizza!
Our (my) favorite dough recipe involves 6 ingredients:
- yeast
- water
- sugar
- flour
- salt
- olive oil
You take a cup of warm water, and add a tablespoon of yeast. Add a teaspoon of sugar and let it activate.
Meanwhile, mix two cups of flour with abut a tablespoon of salt.
Add your yeast/sugar/water mixture to the flour and salt, and mix well.
After it is well combined, drizzle about a tablespoon and a half of olive oil, and knead until smooth.
Let raise for 30 minutes. Bake at 500. It cooks fast, so watch out!
Depending on how thick you like your crust, it will make between one and two 13 inch pizzas.
We like it thin around here, so we get two pizzas.
We buy our mozzarella in a big block, and slice it, none of that puny grated stuff, that makes a nice cheesy layer of melted goodness...
Our toppings usually stay the same, I was bummed cause we didn't have any black olives in food storage.. Merrill wasn't too broken-hearted.
Meanwhile..


I am working on Peyton's quilt.
I'll share details on that soon. :)

Princess Pasta

Wanted to celebrate Cinco De Mayo yesterday...
Kinda didn't get to the store...
This is so not Mexican, but is so yummy! With a name like "Princess Pasta", how can my girls refuse it?
2 tablespoons butter (or margarine)
1 tablespoon minced onion
4 ounces mushrooms, sliced
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 ounces of ham, cut in thin strips
1 tablespoon parsley, minced
1 pound short pasta (I use penne, mostaccioli works too)
1/2 pint whipping cream
1 cup grated parmesan cheese, divide 3/4 cup, and 1/4 cup for garnish

In a large pot, cook pasta according to directions on the package. While pasta is cooking, melt butter in a skillet on medium heat. Add onion and salt and saute until translucent. Add mushrooms. When those are cooked, add ham and parsley but remove from heat. Do not cook ham.
When pasta is done, drain completely and return pasta to the pot on medium heat. Pour in cream and stir until cream begins to bubble. Add 3/4 cup of cheese, and stir well. Remove from heat and add the ham/onion mixture. Garnish with some parsley and cheese.
Yummy!