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.