Chicken Fajitas and Southwestern Quinoa

I love fajitas!!! I have tried several recipes over the years, and this has to be my favorite.When I make this dish, especially when it is accompanied with the Quinoa, my husband tells me my house smells like a Chile's Restaraunt. This is a great meal. And my kids even eat the chicken, which is saying something, because they don't like anything with "spices".

Fajita Marinade

1/4 c lime juice
1/3 c water
2 TBS olive oil
3 tsp apple cider vinegar
2 t soy sauce
1 t salt
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp cumin


2 chicken breasts
1 onion sliced
1 bell pepper sliced in half (any color will do.)

Mix together in a bag with chicken breasts and marinate in the fridge for several hours. 30 minutes before cooking, slice the peppers in half, and slice the onion in about 4 one inch slices, but don't seperate the "rings". Place them in a bowl and pour olive oil on top, let sit for about 30 minutes. Take the chicken out of the fridge and grill it. Place the onions and peppers on the grill also. Lay the peppers with the insides facing down. Slice the chicken and serve with peppers, onions, and the other toppings you like with your fajitas.

Southwestern Quinoa

1 tsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped (I use minced.)
3/4 cup uncooked quinoa
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 tsp cumin
1/8-1/4 tsp cayenne (depends on how spicy you like it.)
salt and pepper to taste
1 c frozen corn kernels
1 can (15 oz) black beans
1/2 tsp dried cilantro

Heat oil in saucepan, add garlic and onion. Cook until translucent. Mix quino into saucepan and cover with chicken broth. Add cumin, cayenne, salt and pepper. Bring to boil. cover and turn heat to low. Cook about 20 minutes. Stir in frozen corn and continue to simmer for about 5 minutes and the mixture is heated through. Add beans and cilantro.

Chocolate Cake

My mom made this cake growing up and when she passed away I started making it. My kids love this cake, they always ask for it and they even get a little bit of the batter in a bowl to eat. I make this for all occassions and it is always gone quickly. Everyone loves it and I have given out the recipe to many people. Please, please use butter. Margarine just doesn't give it the rich taste that makes this cake so good! And this frosting is a must too! I promise, you will not be dissappointed.


Chocolate Cake

2 cups sugar
2 cups flour, sifted (important or you will have flour lumps in the batter)
1 tsp soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup (2 sticks) butter (please not only better for you, but taste so much better too!)
¼ cup cocoa
1 cup water
½ buttermilk (or ½ TBSP white vinegar plus enough milk to make ½ cup. Let sit for a few minutes to sour.)
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla


In large mixing bowl stir together sugar, flour, soda and cinnamon. In medium saucepan combine butter, cocoas and water, bring to boil over medium heat cooking until butter is melted. Add to sugar-flour mixture, blend. Whip together buttermilk and eggs and blend thoroughly. Stir in vanilla. Pour into ungreased 9x13 inch baking pan. Bake 20-30 minutes at 400 degrees. You can also cook this in a big sheet cake pan, just don’t cook it as long.

Chocolate frosting

½ cup butter (NOT margarine)
1/3 cup milk
¼ cup cocoa
3 ½ cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

In medium saucepan combine butter, milk and cocoas. Bring to a boil and simmer about 3 minutes. The oil will start to separate when it is finished. Make sure to let it simmer for 3 minutes, this bring out the taste in the frosting. Remove from heat and stir in remaining ingredients, blending until smooth. If the frosting is too thick, add a little more vanilla or a little bit of milk. Spread immediately over cake.

Suprisingly Good, Sneaky, and Healthy Macaroni and Cheese

I found a recipe for healthy macaroni and cheese over at Super Healthy Kids. I have to admit that I wasn't quite sure about this recipe, and I didn't think I could fool my kids. But I did, well, at least one of them. The secret ingredient in this recipe that makes it "healthy" is a squash puree. It took some convincing to get my oldest child to eat the two peices of macaroni that I put on his plate. He was cautious from the beginning because it wasn't orange. My second child took a bit of the portion I gave him and exclaimed "I like it!" Whew! Then he ate a good sized portion. This recipe makes a lot, so cut it in half if you want, or it is great warmed up for lunches. (My husband has been taking it to work all week and really enjoys it too.)

Healthy Macaroni and Cheese

3 cups macaroni noodles, cooked

3 TBLS Olive Oil
3 TBL flour
In sauce pan, stir olive oil and flour constantly till thickens. Then add:

12 oz can evaporated milk
1/2 cup squash puree (I used yellow squash, but if you use an a butternut or other orange fleshed squash it would make the sauce look more orange.)
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup cheese (I use medium cheddar, but I bet sharp would be even better.)

Stir all ingredients over medium heat until sauce thickens.


Combine. Let sit for 5 minutes to thicken up.

Some hints...I had a hard time getting the oil and flour to thicken but once I added the squash puree, it thickened right up. And it actually thickened up so much that once I added the milk it was lumpy. But I threw it all in the blender and it all pureed very nicely. Then I threw it all back in the pan and added the cheese.

Oops

I recently discovered I made an oops on my Chicken Stir Fry recipe. If you have made this and thought it was a bit off, or confused, you should be. I fixed the mistakes. Hope you like it better this time.

Candied nuts

I've been getting a lot of requests for these. They are delicious. I probably eat 1/4 of every batch I make. I've made them with almonds and walnuts, and almonds are by far my favorite.

Candied nuts

1 lb nuts (roasted) - approximately 3 cups.
1 cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
6 TB milk
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

Roast nuts by putting them on a shallow try at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

Add sugar, cinnamon, milk and salt to a medium sauce pan. Cook on high for about 10 minutes or until it reaches soft-ball stage- 236 degrees. (If you live at a high elevation like I do here in Utah, it is approximately 232 degrees.) Remove from heat and add vanilla, stir quickly and then add nuts. Stir them around until all the nuts are well coated. Then put them on a cookie sheet covered with wax paper. Separate them with a fork, they will cook quickly.

Eat them quickly, or someone else will. They won't last long. They are THAT good!

Pumpkin Crumble

I was looking for a dessert to take to Thanksgiving dinner and came across this one from Our Best Bites . It was a hit and so yummy. Even those who don't like pumpkin pie really liked this. It is like a pumpkin pie but yet different. Some compare it to a "dump cake". But you will be surprised at how delightful this is.

Pumpkin Crumble
Recipe by Our Best Bites

1 boxed yellow or white cake mix
1-2 sticks butter (see notes in instructions)
1 16 oz can pumpkin*
2 eggs
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t pumpkin pie spice
1/4 t ginger
1/8 t cloves
1/8 t nutmeg
1/2 t salt
1/3 C chopped pecans
1/2 t additional cinnamon for topping

*This makes a dessert about an inch thick or less. That's because I like a high topping-to-pumpkin ratio. If you'd like it thicker, use a large can of pumpkin and double the rest of the filling ingredients (Eggs, sweetened condensed milk, and spices). Leave the rest of the recipe the same.

Preheat oven to 350.

Place 2 C of the cake mix in a bowl. Cut in 3 T chilled butter. Just use your fingers to crumble the butter until it's in small crumbly pieces. Place mixture in a 9x13 baking dish and press flat with your fingers.

Mix pumpkin, eggs, sweetened condensed milk, and spices until smooth. Pour on top of the cake mixture in the pan.

Now take the rest of the dry cake mix and mix in 1/2 t cinnamon. Sprinkle it all over the top of the pumpkin mixture. Use a measuring cup so you have a rough measurement of how much you're putting on. Here's why:

Here's a little something I learned after making the dump cake a gazillion times. Cake mixes all have different amounts in them! Different brands, different flavors, etc. Each one is slightly different in volume. I found one mix to have almost double the normal amount. Measuring the amount of cake mix you're sprinkling on top will help you get the perfect topping ratio in the last step.

Next sprinkle on the chopped pecans. You'll have 3 distinct layers now:

Here's the trick: For every 1 C of cake mix you sprinkled on top, you'll need 3 T of melted butter. Drizzle it right on top.

That butter is going to combine with the cake mix and make magic in the oven. Pop it in your 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes or so. A knife should come out without globs of pumpkin on it and the topping should be nice and golden

You can eat it warm, at room temp, or chilled! My favorite is actually at room temp. Put a dollop of sweetened whipped cream on top. It's also great with vanilla ice cream.

Chicken Stir Fry

I love this recipe because, not only is it tasty, but it is full of veggies!

Chicken Stir Fry

2 chicken breasts, cut in pieces
6 tablespoons cornstarch
4 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp garlic powder


1. Cut chicken into pieces of strips depending on your preference and put in a resealable plastic bag. Add constarch and toss to coat. Combine soy sauce, ginger and garlic powder, add to bag and shake well. Refrigerate 30 minutes.

Cut:
2 cups chopped broccoli florets
1 cup sliced celery
1 cup sliced carrots
1 small onion
1/2 cup chopped pepper
raw cashews (optional)- I happend to have some last time, and it was delicous.
or
1 bag frozen veggie stir fry without seasonings
or
whatever fresh veggies you have lying around that you want to throw in.

1. In skillet heat 2 TB oil, stir fry chicken until no longer pink. Remove and keep warm. Add remaining another 4 TB oil, and veggies. Cook until tender.

Add:
1 1/2 cup water
1 tsp chicken boullion granules 0r
1 1/2 cups chicken broth

1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 TB soy sauce mixed with 1 TB corn starch ( I love soy sauce, if you don't, just cut it back a bit.)

Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Serve over rice. And enjoy it's good for you!