Fajita Salad.

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Have you ever tried a dish at a restaurant and said to yourself, "I could make this at home!?" Well I have! One of my favorite mexican restaurants to eat at in Utah is Cafe El Lago. Mainly because of their AMAZING chips & salsa, but also for the FAJITA salad! My daughter always teases me because I ALWAYS get the same dish when I go...."Fajita salad please!'

Finally about a month ago I thought to myself, I can totally make this salad. I know I can.
So here it is...

Ingredients
Chicken breast
Romaine lettuce
tomatoes
sweet onion
green, yellow &/or red pepper
colby jack cheese
taco seasoning packet
olive oil

Directions
First chop up lettuce and place in a big bowl. Set aside.

If you have a "Foreman" grill, go ahead and place your chicken to cook adding a little of salt & pepper for flavor. If you do not have a grill, then cook chicken in skillet until done. Set aside.

In another skillet, add a couple tbsp of olive oil. Slice up your onion & peppers and saute in skillet. Once sauted, add in the taco seasoning with a couple of tbsps of water to make the sauce thin. Add cooked chicken and mix well .

Once the peppers, onion, chicken mixture is tossed well in the taco seasoning, you can now place the mixture in the bowl of lettuce. Grate some colby jack cheese on top so that the cheese melts on the chicken mixture. Cut up tomatoes to add. Once cheese is melted, toss salad.
Viola!

Add ranch for dressing if you prefer. At Cafe El Lago, they have a cilantro dressing or ranch dressing to serve with it. The cilantro dressing will for sure be my next venture to learn so that my Fajita salad is perfect! Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Options
I made this dinner tonight for my parents. They loved it. My mom and I were discussing additional items you could put in the salad, like black beans, corn and/or tortilla chips. Just remember, the more you add the more calories you intake.

Easy Fifteen Minute Stroganoff

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Ingredients:

1 lb. of round steak/ chicken
2/3 c. water
3 oz canned mushroom (I prefer fresh)
1 envelope of onion soup mix or gravy packet
1 c. sour cream
2 tbsp. flour
egg noodles, rice OR crepes

Directions:

Cut meat into thin strips, browning in a tbsp of butter or olive oil. Add water and mushrooms. Saute. Stir in onion soup mix; heat to boil. Blend sour cream and flour together, then add to hot mixture. Mix well. Serve over noodles, rice or crepes.

NOTES:
I had a friend who made us a yummy stroganoff for dinner once. It was so good, but when I found out about the ingredients I wanted to DIE! Talk about calories & fat. Ouch! I was then determine to find another recipe that was not so bad. Sure this one isn't the healthiest, but it is WAY healthier then the original I had. You can also substitute fat-free/low-fat sour cream. I LOVE to have this with fresh mushrooms. Also if you don't happen to have an onion soup, you can substitute with a gravy packet mix & some sprinkle of dried chopped onion. Works just the same and is just as good!

For the Freezer:
To make ahead, prepare completely; let cool & freeze. On serving day, make fresh noodles and heat sauce. Sauce will separate somewhat, but vigorous stirring brings it right back.

Homemade Crepes

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If you want an alternative for breakfast or even dinner. Try these fabulous crepes! My sister in law taught me how to make these and they are OH so good & easy! Great food storage recipe also.

Ingredients:
2 c. of Milk
1 c. of Flour
2 eggs
pinch of salt

Directions:
Combine all ingredients, stirring well until no lumps. Spray pan with non-stick cooking spray and gently spoon batter onto pan forming a circle (you may need to rotate your pan to spread the batter throughout the pan into a circle). Cook each side until not super doughy.

Ideas:
Breakfast- Try filling the crepes with ham & cheese OR strawberries with a little bit of whip cream. Syrup of course if you want it sweet!

Dinner: We ate crepes with an easy stroganoff recipe. It was WAY yummy!

Easy Homemade Waffles

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I just realized that I have never posted my famous homemade waffle recipe. My family LOVES eating these and it beats Bisquick waffles that I use to make back in my non-cooking days. This is also a great recipe for food storage.
Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 3/4 c. flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 c. milk
1/3 c. veggie oil
2 eggs

Directions:

Preheat waffle iron. In large bowl mix first 4 ingredients. Add remaining ingredient and beat well till blended. Pour into waffle iron & cook to desire crispiness.

What We Ate For Breakfast This Morning...

Just wanted to spread the word that if you live in my area, you may be able to score some fresh BLACKBERRIES at our local Smith's grocer for $1. I picked up a couple of containers on Tuesday! They are OH SO GOOD!

This morning my kids enjoyed yummy waffles with blackberry topping! They LOVED it! Good way to get fruit into your kids!

How do you make a fruit topping for waffles, pancakes, or angel cake?
Simple:
Slice up any "berry" fruit into a container.
(for blackberries, raspberries, or blueberries you can just smash them to the consistency you want)
Add a small amount of water to the fruit.
Add a small amount of sugar. Just enough to coat the fruit.
Serve right away or place in the refrig for a half hour
to gain a thick syrup consistency.
Voila!

Baked Potatoes

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This post may seem a little silly, but I thought I'd post how to make a good baked potato. I LOVE bake potatoes, but don't really eat them nearly enough do to time. I know some of us just nook them in the micro, but do you know that by doing that you take away LOTS of NUTRITIONAL value? So if you can find the time, make the effort to bake a potato the healthier way. Sure if you LOAD it up, you may be scratching off some "goodness" to it, but hey make it yours!
This was a cute site that showed simple steps. I placed all the steps below in case you wanted to skip the pictures & all.

Directions:

First, you need some taters. Russet potatoes are the most popular for baking, either large or small. I like small so I can eat a few. This way I get more tasty, crunchy potato skin in my portion.

You are also going to need some oil (Olive or Canola oil) and some salt. Many people prefer Kosher or sea salt. Any will do.

Clean your potatoes with a stiff-bristled brush and cold water. Once you've thoroughly cleaned the potatoes, look them over and remove any bruises or discolored spots.

Using your average fork work your way around each potato stabbing deeply into it's flesh. 6-12 stabs should do it depending on the size of the potatoes you are using. This allows steam to escape during the cooking process.

'Take a small bowl and add just a splash of your chosen oil, and have a container ready for the taters once they've been oiled.

The objective is to LIGHTLY coat each potato with oil. How you do this is up to you. My method is to lightly dab each potato in the oil and then use my hands to spread the dab around the entire spud.

Then lightly salt each one and put aside as you wait for the oven to heat up.

Arrange potatoes directly on the oven's wire rack at 350°F. Place a baking sheet to catch any drippings.

Cooking time will vary from 1 hour and up depending on the size and quantity of potatoes you cook. If you're only cooking a couple, the time should be less. The skin should be puffed up, golden-brown and crispy, and the potato should squish easily and be very soft on the inside. Careful, potatoes retain heat for quite a while!

To open a baked potato, take your fork and stab a dotted line half way around a potato, then using your thumb and index finger squeeze at both ends of the line. It will pop right open.

There you have it, easy and delicious baked potatoes! Now that you've learned how to bake a potato, you get to have fun dressing it with your favorite topping and eating it! Yummmm..

Grilled/Broiled Broccoli

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I had to share this cause it is SO DANG good & healthy for you. This is my families new favorite veggie kick. I had a girlfriend post it on her family blog, and I had to try it out. So easy & so delicious.

Ingredients:

Fresh broccoli
olive oil
salt

Directions:

Wash & cut broccoli according to the desire size. Our family like them big, long & with stems. Place on a broiler pan or cookie pan. Brush each broccoli with a light amount of olive oil. Salt to taste. If you have a grill, you can grill them up. Otherwise place broiler on 400 & cook for 5-10 minutes. Watch them closely. You'll want them to get a little crispy & brown. Remove & enjoy! Yum!