Chicken Fajitas

Chicken Fajitas

1 pound chicken, cut into strips

Place in bowl or container w/ lid and add:

2 TB olive oil over top chicken, close lid and shake to coat chicken

Add:

2 TB chili powder

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp onion powder

2 tsp cumin

1 tsp oregano

1/4 tsp pepper

Cover and shake again until chicken is throughly coated.

Set in refrigerator a couple hours, or till ready to cook

Saute marinated chicken in HOT pan, with oil till cooked thru

Set aside

Saute 1 onion, sliced in rings and 1-2 green or red peppers sliced in strips

Combine with meat when cooked to desired tenderness

In tortilla shell, layer with:

refried beans

chicken and pepper mix

cheese, grated

sour cream or spicy dip

tomatoes, diced

lettuce, shredded

avocado, cilantro and salsa can also be served if desired!

Enjoy!

Pasta Florentine

This recipe is another one I make often, in some variation or another. It is very adaptable with what you have on hand. My husband loves chicken and pasta in any form, so he could eat this often without complaint. I like some variation in adding pesto or not and using different veggies or using lots of veggies or just one to kinda mix it up some.

This is the recipe I have kind of based off of if you want some more exact directions to start with!

Pasta Florentine

1 pound chicken or ham, cooked and diced or small strips

1 box pasta of your choice, cooked and drained

1 jar white pasta sauce or about 2 cups of white pasta sauce, homemade

2-3 TB pesto, if desired

Saute meat, until warm add 3-4 cloves of garlic at end of sauteing.

Saute any additional veggies to desired tenderness,

spinach only takes a couple minutes, add at very end of saute if you are mixing with other veggies!

We enjoy red onions, red peppers, zucchini and spinach - but go with veggies you love or that are on sale that week!

Add sauce to veggies until everything is warm through.

Combine pasta and sauce and serve topped with parmesan or Romano cheese

I usually serve the pasta on the plate and then top with sauce, keeping the 2 separate. We usually don't eat the entire batch in one evening, and the pasta keeps nicer on it's own rather then with the sauce.

In fact, a good way to store leftover cooked pasta is in a large container with the pasta covered in water - keeps wonderfully and doesn't get mushy or sticky!

This would serve 6-8, I would guess. We can easily eat 2 nights off it. Or dinner and several lunches.

White Chicken Chili

White Chicken Chili

(I cannot believe I haven't posted this recipe yet, so sorry!

This is one of our favorite meals and I make it often!)

Thanks goes to my friend Emily, whose recipe this is - I just slightly adapted it!

1 pound chicken breast, cut into 1/2" cubes

1 onion, chopped

2-3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 TB oil

3-4 cups great northern beans, cooked and drained

10 ounces chicken broth

7 ounces green chilies, chopped

1 tsp salt

2 tsp cumin (half this to make less spicy!)

1 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup whipping cream (I sometimes use whole milk or half and half if I don't have cream on hand)

Saute chicken, onion and garlic in oil until chicken is no longer pink. Add beans, broth, chilies and seasonings. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer uncovered, for 30 minutes. Remove form heat and stir in sour cream and cream. Serve topped with avocado and fresh cilantro if you have it around!

This refrigerates well for lunches but I haven't tried freezing it.

Menus

Here's the last couple weeks of menus - what we actually ate. I am trying to write down what we actually end up having for awhile, hopefully to better plan out menus to be realistic and able to stick to a menu better. I still work best off a list of meals available and then plan a couple days out at a time. I am usually making a list of meals over the weekend to start the week out and then I re-vamp or add to it mid-week when the sales come out and I make my grocery list. I tend to grocery shop Friday or Saturday (with kids, so it's usually just quick trips in and out) or on Tuesdays (without the boys) - this also enables me to catch some of the good sales twice if I want since the sales run Wednesday to Tuesday, usually.

Sunday - Steak, baked potatoes and corn on the cob

Monday - White Chicken Chili

Tuesday - Chimichangas - made by combining refried beans & a pound of hamburger, filled tortilla shell with mixture and cheese and fry in oil!

Wednesday - Baked beans and cornbread (at my mom's!)

Thursday - Chicken Fajitas

Friday - Hamburgers

Saturday - leftovers

Sunday - Chicken Florentine

Monday - Potato Broccoli Soup w/ leftover chicken and pasta

Tuesday - Pizza

Wednesday - Salmon Salad Sandwiches

Thursday - Roasted Whole Chicken in the crockpot - this is the recipe I use!

Save your bones for broth, I usually just toss it all in a ziploc bag and throw in the freezer till I have 3 of them in there and then I make broth!

Friday - Hamburgers

Saturday - Egg Rolls with Sweet and Sour Beef and Vegetables

White Chicken Enchiladas

White Chicken Enchiladas

1 1/2 cups cream of "something" soup

(original recipe calls for chicken, but I usually use mushroom from THIS recipe here)

1/2 cup sour cream

2 TB butter

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 tsp chili powder

2 cups diced, cooked chicken

4 oz chopped green chilies

8 tortilla shells

2 cups (or more) cheese (Mexican blend or cheddar)

Stir soup and sour cream together in a bowl and set aside

Heat butter in saucepan, add onion and chili powder and cook until onion is tender

Stir in chicken, green chilies and 3 TB of soup mixture

Spread along center of each tortilla, roll and place in greased 12x8 baking dish

(I usually use my 9x9 square for just us or the 9x13 if I am doubling)

Spread remaining soup mixture over enchiladas

Bake, covered at 375 for 15 minute,

Uncover and sprinkle with cheese and bake until hot through and cheese is melted

I often put the cheese on when I make this, keep covered for about 1/2 the baking time, and then leave uncovered the remainder.

I usually cook around 30 minutes

I almost always make this in the morning or day before and place in refrigerator till I am ready to bake.

Haven't tried freezing it.

Hope for Haiti

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Visit their blog for information on spreading the word and a giveaway too!

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