Chicken fajitas with garden fresh green pepper!

My green bell pepper plants have finally produced large enough peppers for eating, so I came up with some tasty meals that could incorporate my garden fresh peppers. The first one was the steak sandwich. Then, considering my husband's inexplicable love of "Mexican" food and all things wrapped in a tortilla, I decided to make Chicken Fajitas!

Luck would have it that the boneless, skinless chicken breasts I always use were on super sale at my local grocery store. It was like fate telling me to cook something with chicken and peppers... and who I am to refuse fate? :)

The key to a really good fajita is having a good, sweet vidalia onion along with a crisp, green pepper. If my peppers had gone red at the time, I would have used green and red peppers. Alas, it was not quite there yet. In any event, another great addition to any fajita is of course steak! There is something incredible about a chicken and steak fajita with all the veggies.

Ingredients
2 tbsp oil (olive or vegetable)
1 medium green pepper, sliced
1 medium onion, sliced
1 lb of boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced (about 1" x 3")
1 package McCormick's Fajita Seasoning
1/4 cup water
Large, flour tortillas
1 medium tomato, diced
Lettuce, washed and torn
Shredded cheddar
Sour cream
Guacamole (1 avocado, 1 tbsp sour cream, 4 tbsp salsa, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tbsp lime juice blended until smooth)

Directions
Slice the chicken into 1" strips and place in 1 tbsp of oil. Cook for 3-5 minutes on medium-high until no longer pink on the outside. Then, slice the green pepper and onion into strips. Add to the chicken mixture. Cook until tender.
Add the McCormick seasoning and 1/4 cup of water. Cook until sauce thickens.
Put chicken mixture, tomatoes, lettuce, cheese, sour cream, and guacamole on a large, flour tortilla. Wrap the tortilla around the fajita mixture and enjoy!
Tip: to help keep your tortilla from unrolling itself (as they are prone to do), gently spread the sour cream on at least one half of the flour tortilla and wrap that side over the top. The sour cream works like an edible glue and will hold the tortilla to itself.

Enjoy your tasty fajitas with chips and salsa!!! Don't forget to make some strawberry daiquiris!

Steak Sandwiches!

After visiting my dad's for dinner the other night, he gave us some leftover steak to take home. My dad makes the most amazing steak I've ever had. Leftover meat poses a small problem (at least for the picky of us): it never tastes quite the same as when it was freshly cooked. Now, my husband would have no issue with just eating the leftover steak and some grilled veggies like we did the first night. However, I believe in taking leftovers and ensuring that they will be tasty.
Ensuring tasty leftover steak means putting in the extra effort to get steak sandwiches!!





Ingredients (makes 2 sandwiches)
6 oz of leftover steak, cut into thin strips
1 medium green bell pepper, diced
1 medium Vidalia onion, diced
4-6 mushrooms, sliced & halved
2 slices of deli sliced provolone cheese
lettuce
tomato, sliced
mayonnaise
2 hoagie buns

Directions
Spray a medium non-stick pan. Then, heat up the sliced green pepper and onion on medium-high heat for 3-5 minutes. Add the steak and mushrooms and cook until all are tender.
On a cookie sheet, place two hoagie buns (sliced open). Fill the hoagies with the steak mixture. top with the deli sliced provolone. Broil on High for 3-5 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the bread starts to toast.
Remove from heat and add the lettuce, tomato, and mayo. Goes great with chips, salad, or fruit.

These steak sandwiches are all the more incredible than restaurant versions because you are completely in control of the quality of the ingredients. From spicing the meat to selecting the perfect hoagie buns, you can make the most delectable sandwich!

"Gourmet" Tuna Sandwich on a Budget!

I grew up with tuna from a can and didn't realize until much, much later in life that there is a such thing as "ahi tuna" and other forms of tuna that do not come out of a can. In fact, these fancy kinds of tuna are served at fancy kinds of restaurants! I remember the first time I went out to eat at a classy restaurant and my mother-in-law ordered tuna. When it came out, it was not ground up and mixed with mayo (much to my surprise), but in fact it was a fillet of tuna that looked very pink and fish-like. I was shocked!

However, I cannot afford to make ahi tuna (nor do we have much a selection for such tasty tuna in the Midwest), so I learn to make the canned stuff taste better. :)

Ingredients
1 can Starkist solid white Albacore tuna
pepper to taste
McCormick's Montreal steak seasoning to taste
garlic powder to taste
2 tbsp of Hellman's mayo
4 slices of your favorite sliced bread, toasted (whole wheat bread for me)*
Romaine lettuce, washed and dried
1 medium tomato, washed and sliced
6 slices of extra sharp cheddar cheese (or 2 deli slices of provolone, Havarti, munster, etc)

*Replace the sliced bread for 2 sandwich croissants and enjoy with chips and/or soup!

Directions
Drain the water from the can of tuna. Then place in a small bowl and crush with a fork. Add the pepper, steak seasoning, garlic powder, and mayo. Mix well.
Toast the bread (unless you're using croissants). Then layer two of the slices of bread with cheese, the tuna mixture, tomato, and lettuce. Top with the remaining slices of bread and enjoy your sandwich with fruit, chips, or soup!

It's a pretty easy sandwich to make, but the spices definitely add something to the sandwich!

Classic Chicken Casesar Salad (for those hot summer days)!

It has been unbearably hot in the great mid-west. Anything about 70, especially if humidity is involved, is too much for me! So I've been trying to come up with ideas that avoid the oven and minimize the use of the stove. Fresh fruits and raw vegetables have been great for snacking on. However, meals are a bit trickier.

That's where salads come in. There is just so much that can be done with various combinations of lettuces, spinach, carrots, tomatoes, mushrooms, craisins, almonds, and dressings (from creamy to oil-based). One of our favorite salads around here is a Classic Chicken Caesar! Now, traditionally a Caesar salad has lettuce, parmesan cheese, caesar dressing, and croutons, but every once in a while it's fun to add tomatoes, carrots, mushrooms, etc to the salad.

Ingredients
1 package of boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 tbsp Zesty Italian dressing (or olive oil with salt and pepper to taste)
1 head of Romaine lettuce, washed and torn
Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
creamy Caesar dressing
croutons (I'm a fan of garlic cheddar; my husband likes sea-salt and pepper)

Additional Ingredients to Consider
tomatoes, diced
cucumber, diced
carrots, sliced or grated

Directions
Wash and cut the chicken. Marinate the chicken in the Italian dressing for a few minutes. Then cook it in a frying pan over medium-high heat. When the chicken is fully cooked (golden brown on the outside, white on the inside), put it aside and assemble your salad.
In a salad bowl or plate, place 2-3 cups of lettuce. Top with the cheese and dressing and mix well. This helps spread the dressing to each lettuce leaf. Next, add the croutons. Finally, add the chicken.

If you want a non-traditional but still tasty salad, add tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, and/or mushrooms.

It's a great way to have a home-cooked meal without using the stove too long! Enjoy!