Baked Chicken Fajitas

I can't believe I haven't posted this recipe yet!  I've made it about half a dozen times and each time it's so yummy and everyone raves about it.  It's a very simple, tasty dish that is easy to throw together in the evenings.  My current tactic is to have Zak prep the veggies, since I'm not a fan of cutting onions or peppers.  He has it done by the time I'm home from work, I throw everything into a big pan and bake for 20 minutes.  Simple and delicious, makes a ton and is great for leftovers!  The original recipe can be found here, below is what I've modified for us. 

1 - 1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
1/2 onion, sliced
1 (total) bell pepper, seeded & sliced (I usually do 1/3 from a red, orange/yellow and green to give it a variety of color & flavor)
1 (15 oz.) can diced tomatoes, drained
2 Tbl. vegetable oil
2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. taco seasoning

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Lightly grease a 9x13" baking dish.
2.  Mix together chicken, tomatoes, peppers and onion in the dish.
3.  In a small bowl, combine the oil and spices.  Drizzle over the chicken & vegetables and toss to coat.
4.  Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are tender.

We usually get about 9-10 servings out of this!  Sorry there is no picture for now, maybe I will add one later!

Crockpot Chili

This recipe gave me one of the most positive reactions from everyone.  I was so pleased and surprised with how much everyone really enjoyed it!  We didn't really have any Halloween plans, but I saw this recipe and thought it would be a simple enough meal and maybe we could watch a scary movie with friends, if they didn't have plans.  That ended up being our Halloween and it was really fun.  Everyone raved about this recipe, and I will definitely be making this often.  It's really flavorful & not spicy and simply delightful with cornbread.  A big hit!

1 lb. ground beef
1 onion, diced
2 (14 oz.) cans diced tomatoes
1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce
1 (15 oz.) can kidney beans
1/4 c. ketchup (or chili sauce)
1/4 c. water
1 packet chili seasoning mix
3 stalks celery, diced
2 Tbl. Worcestershire sauce (didn't have any, used soy sauce, didn't even noticed)
1 Tbl. sugar

1.  Brown ground beef with onion.  Season with salt and pepper.  I also added in minced garlic and minced, dried onion. 
2.  Add remaining ingredients to crockpot while beef is cooking.  Once beef is browned and the onion is tender, add to crockpot and mix ingredients together.
3.  Cook all day on low (or on high for 3-4 hours).  By the time we ate, it had cooked for about 11 hours on low and it was delicious.

Serve with cheese, sour cream, cornbread, whatever you love!


Sorry for no pictures--it went so quickly that I completely forgot!

Bacon, Tomato & Caramelized Onion Quiche

I made this quiche for Zak's birthday and it was a hit.  Super yummy and just what he had envisioned.  I grew up having quiche for brunch on Christmas day, but never for dinner, like Zad had.  I had also never made quiche before, so I was a bit nervous but then I realized, I've made pie (even those cute mini chicken pot pies!) and other complicated dishes, I should be able to make this!  Anyways, huge success, going to make it again this week because: yum!!  

I basically looked at a few recipes and combined them, made it taste good and wrote down my notes.  So here is my recipe for bacon, tomato & caramelized onion quiche:

8 oz. (about 7 pieces) bacon, cut into small pieces

1 large white/yellow onion, sliced 

1 large tomato, diced

1 single recipe of pie crust (used frozen deep dish pie crust)

3 Tbl. light sour cream

4 eggs

3/4 c. half & half

dash tabasco sauce

1/4 tsp. dry mustard

1 c. cheese (I used a cheddar blend, we aren't big on Swiss)

salt & pepper

butter

1.  In a large pan on medium heat, heat up a few tablespoons of butter.  Add onions, season with salt & pepper and cook for about 10 minutes.  Turn heat down to low and continue to cook until translucent and soft.

2.  Bake crust for 10 minutes at 375 degrees, cool.

3.  Fry bacon pieces while baking crust and caramelizing onions.

4.  In a small bowl, mix sour cream with a pinch of salt & pepper.  Spread on the bottom of cooled crust.

5.  In a large bowl, lightly beat the egg.  Add half & half, tabasco, dry mustard and salt & pepper to taste.

6.  Add caramelized onions to pie crust, followed by bacon pieces, diced tomatoes and cheese.  Pour in egg mixture.

7.  Baking on cooking sheet for 40 - 45 minutes at 375 degrees

beautiful!

taken the next day, we scarfed down our pieces

Spinach Salad

I have been on a big spinach salad kick lately.  I have never been a big salad eater, but I adore this salad.  It might just be because there are other tasty things in it rather than raw vegetables, which aren't my favorite.  But I'm trying to eat better and this is one of the salads I take to work with me (sometimes I'll take a chicken Caesar salad).  And this salad, with dressing, is about 350 calories, which is great!  I have a food scale that I love, so I will list the gram/oz measurement as well as a normal measurement of each ingredient.

2 c. (38g) spinach
5-6 (1.45 oz.) cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 (30 g) dried cranberries/craisins
2 1/2 Tbl. (21 g) walnut pieces
2 Tbl. (21 g) crumbled feta cheese
1 tsp. sunflower seed kernels
2 Tbl. (28g) Annie's Lite Raspberry Vinaigrette

everything you need

all ready for work tomorrow!

Taco Salad

We have taco salad often because it's easy, really yummy and lasts us for a few days, which is always great. My family has a great thousand island dressing that I posted on the blog and it goes great with this taco salad!  This last time I made it, I used a homemade taco seasoning mix, which turned out really well, definitely a keeper.  Here is what we have for taco salad:

1 lb. lean ground beef, browned with salt & pepper (also with 1 chopped onion, if desired)
3 tsp. taco seasoning mix or 1 package mix
1 can kidney beans
1 can sliced olives
1-2 heads iceberg lettuce, washed & torn
4-5 tomatoes, chopped
1 avocado, chopped
1 can corn
1-2 bags tortilla chips
grated cheese
sour cream
salsa
thousand island dressing

ingredients lined up & ready to go!

building

completed and before mixing up

Slow-Cooker Beef Gyros

This was a pretty good recipe.  And a bit different from our usual meals.  I was a bit nervous about this, because the meat hadn't thawed completely before I put it in the crock pot, and I didn't want to overcook it, but it turned out pretty darn perfect.  Zak was great and made the cucumber yogurt sauce and chopped the onions and tomatoes.  It was all ready when I came home for work and pretty tasty!  We have lots of leftovers!

Meat

2 lb. boneless chuck steak

1/4 c. olive oil

2 Tbl. lemon juice

1 Tbl. minced garlic

1 tsp. oregano

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

Dill Cucumber Yogurt Sauce

1 c. plain Greek yogurt

1 c. diced seedless cucumber

1 Tbl. dill

1/4 tsp. salt

Pita bread

toppings: lettuce, tomatoes, red onions

1.  Place beef in crock pot.

2.  Mix rest of 'meat' ingredients in a small bowl and pour over beef, turning to coat.

3.  Cover and cook on low for 6 - 8 hours (until meat is tender, it was practically falling apart!)

4.  Mix sauce ingredients together, spread on pita bread.

5.  Top pitas with meat and toppings.

meat about to be cut up

cucumber sauce

yum!

Fail-Proof Pizza Dough

We love making homemade pizza; we used to make it almost every week when we were engaged/dating/in Rexburg.  We don't make it as often now, but it's always fun.  We have almost always used Zak's mom's recipe (they have a Pizza Friday tradition since forever), which is awesome and we love.  But I saw this recipe online and thought I'd like to give it a try.  The gal talked about how the crust was chewier, thinner and like restaurant pizza, and the only major difference was using bread flour vs. regular flour.  Zak was in charge of the dough and when I came home for work, we made two pizzas: one just cheese, and one with pineapple, tomatoes and basil.  It was delicious.  I really liked this recipe, the crust was awesome!  Zak liked it too, but he naturally loves his mom's recipe.  So I think we'll use this one from time to time, depending on our stock of bread or regular flour.  

Crust
1 c. warm water
2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast
1 Tbl. honey (or sugar)
2 tsp. salt
2 Tbl. olive or canola oil
3 c. bread flour

Sauce
6 oz. tomato sauce
6 oz. tomato paste
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. garlic
1/2 tsp. minced onion


~4 c. cheese
toppings

1.  In a large mixing bowl, stir together yeast and honey (or sugar) into warm water.  Let sit for 5 - 10 minutes or until bubbles form and mixture starts to foam.
2.  Pour in salt, oil and half the flour and mix on low.
3.  Once that flour is incorporated, start adding rest of flour slowly until dough is slightly tacky, but doesn't stick to hands when you touch it.
4.  Turn the mixer to medium - high to high speed, set a timer for 6 minutes and walk away.
5.  Lightly grease bowl and dough, cover with plastic wrap and let rise 1 - 2 hours.
6.  Once dough has doubled in size, punch down, separate into two pieces and roll into circle.  Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
7.  Mix sauce ingredients, adding other spices to taste.
8.  Add sauce, cheese and toppings to pizza.
9.  Cook pizza about 8 - 10 minutes, until crust has turned a beautiful golden brown color.

at first, I was skeptic of pineapple w/basil & tomatoes, but it was so yummy!

beautiful and delicious

Crockpot Ravioli Casserole

I've been trying to find new and different recipes for the crockpot.  I found this one and thought it looked pretty good.  Zak actually did this whole recipe himself, since I had a busy day and couldn't make it home.  But it turned out really well, and smelled great when I got home.  I think next time we'll use less meat, 1 1/2 lbs. seemed like way too much.  And add a little bit more salt & pepper, but overall it was pretty good!

1 1/2 lbs. lean ground beef (I'm planning on using 1 lb. next time)
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
salt & pepper
10 oz. frozen spinach, thawed
16 oz. bowtie pasta, cooked
1/2 c. shredded Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 c. mozzarella cheese

1.  Brown ground beef with onion, garlic and salt & pepper.
2.  Put in crockpot and add sauce, tomatoes & seasonings.  Cook for 6 - 7 hours on low OR 4 - 5 hours on high.
3.  Add spinach, pasta and cheese during the last 30 minutes of cooking and turn temperature to high.  Make 6 - 8 servings, depending on your serving size.

I forgot to get a picture that night, so here it is in our tupperware...but still good!

Spaghetti

This recipe comes from my family cookbook, courtesy of my Aunt Karri. I just modified it a little to our tastes and it was delicious! I grew up having Prego (which I love and is great, don't get me wrong), but I wanted to try my hand at making a more traditional sauce. Zak loved it (always a good sign), and I will probably make this more often in the future. Enjoy with garlic bread and salad, which is what we did!

1/2 lb. ground beef (the original recipe calls for 1 lb., but I figured we didn't need that much meat)
3/4 onion (original recipe calls for 2, but I used a pretty large onion), diced
1 large can stewed tomatoes (I used Italian style)
1 can tomato paste + 1 can water
1/2 tsp. basil (I used two large leaves from our plant)
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. sugar
3 1/2 tsp. salt
1 garlic clove, crushed

1. Brown meat with diced onions.
2. Add all other ingredients.
3. Simmer covered for 1 1/2 hours.

simple & delicious, yum!

Chili-Pasta

This comes from my Bridal edition of the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. I found it one day, looking for a recipe that would use up some of the frozen ground beef in the freezer. We really love this recipe, my favorite part is the macaroni noodles!

3/4 - 1 lb. ground beef
3/4 c. onion
1 15- or 15.5-oz. can red kidney beans, black beans, or red beans, rinsed & drained (we have always used red kidney beans)
1 14.5-oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 8-oz. can tomato sauce
*1 4-oz. can diced green chile peppers, drained--I haven't used these, doesn't sound appetizing to me
1 c. dried elbow macaroni (2 oz.)
2 - 3 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
1 c. shredded Monterey Jack or cheddar cheese

1. In a large skillet, cook meat and onion until meat is brown and onion is tender; drain off fat.
2. Stir in beans, undrained tomatoes, tomatoe sauce, macaroni, chili powder and garlic salt.
3. Bring to boiling; reduce heat.
4. Simmer, covered, about 20 minutes, or until macaroni is tender.
5. Remove from heat, add in cheese.