Week 2, Day 1: Chicken Fajitas

Tonight's dinner was an adaptation of a recipe from a new book my sweet sister, Anne, gave me for my birthday, Williams-Sonoma Casual Entertaining. As I was getting things ready to cook, I thought, "I want to make this and that like I usually do fajitas." But there were some additions from the new recipe that really made this dinner better, so it's a little of both. I'm going to share with you my hybrid recipe.


Chicken Fajitas
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into slices (or bite-sized pieces if you have small kids like me)
1/2 red bell pepper, sliced
1/2 green bell pepper, sliced
1/4 onion, sliced
1 Roma tomato, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp fajita seasoning (I made my own a while back, I'll try to find the recipe . . . I have so much of it, I may never need to make it again!)
1/2-1 tbsp fresh lime juice
8 6-inch tortillas
guacamole, salsa and sour cream if desired

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Wrap the tortillas in aluminum foil, and place in oven to warm.
2. Cook the chicken breasts in a little oil in a large skillet until opaque and turning golden. Add vegetables and seasonings and saute until the vegetables are tender (they have a nice aroma and turn brighter in color) and until the juices from the tomato are reduced. Squeeze lime juice over meat mixture just before serving.
3. Spoon into warmed tortillas and serve with guacamole, salsa, and sour cream as desired.

The Verdict: 5 thumbs up. We love fajitas, and tonight's were especially good in my opinion. This method of warming the tortillas and adding tomatoes and garlic really upped the flavor and texture. I'll be making these changes permanent. But I'll continue to use my own seasoning and lime juice.

It's family night, so dessert is pretty much a requisite. Tonight we made Melissa Yoder's cherry tart, and I'm blatantly stealing her picture of it because the ones I took were so unappetizing that I would never try this recipe if I saw them. And you'll want to try this recipe.



Cherry Tart
2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup butter
1 tsp. almond extract (optional)
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 tub (8 oz.) Cool Whip, thawed
1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 cans (21 oz.) cherry pie filling

Cut together flour, sugar, butter and almond extract with a pastry blender to mix and cut butter into small pieces. Spread lightly in 13x9 baking dish. Bake at 400º F for 15-20 minutes or until browning on sides and top. Crumble while warm and pat into pan; cool.

Mix together cream cheese, powdered sugar and Cool Whip. Spread over cooled crust and spoon on cherry pie filling. Chill and serve. To halve, use 9x9 pan. (I halved it and used an 8x8 pan, and I think it worked well, too.)

The Verdict: 5 thumbs up (okay, 4. Max was in bed, but there is no way he wouldn't love it). So yummy! I am so full, I think I'm going to burst.

Another week! (and a bonus)

I'm switching things around a bit this week because circumstances this weekend (my photography class all day yesterday and being sick) make it impossible to shop Saturday night, which was necessary to execute tomorrow's planned dinner. Also, I have several things going on Wednesday, so I need to be able to make dessert a different night. Here's how the schedule's going to go:

Week 2: Mexican Week
Monday: Chicken Fajitas
*Cherry Tart for Dessert
Tuesday: Cafe Rio Pork Burritos, Spanish Rice, and Frijoles Negros Refritos
Wednesday: Baked Chicken Chimichangas
Thursday: Chicken Posole with Tortilla Chips and Guacamole
Friday: Cafe Rio Pork Salad (with rice, beans, and dressing)

Here's the shopping list:

May Have On Hand
canola oil
olive oil
oregano
cumin
chili powder
salt and pepper
cinnamon
garlic salt
almond extract
brown sugar
sugar
powdered sugar
rice
minced garlic
butter or margarine
1 cup mayonnaise

May Need To Buy
20 oz bottle Sprite
3 cans Coke
1 cup buttermilk
sour cream
8oz cream cheese
monterey jack cheese
1 cans cherry pie filling
1 29 oz can posole (hominy)
6 cups chicken broth
1 can tomato sauce
3-15 oz can black beans
16 oz jar Chi-Chi's salsa
1 jar salsa
1 cup Chi-Chi's refried beans
1 can sliced green chilies
1 can red enchilada sauce
1 1/3 cups tomato juice
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2.5-3 lb pork roast
2 lb pork
12 oz bottle red taco sauce
1 packet traditional Hidden Valley Ranch Mix (not buttermilk)
2-4 oz cans green chilies
18-10in tortillas
1 tub whipped topping
1 red onion
2 yellow onions
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
2 bunches cilantro
3 or 4 ripe avocados
2 Roma tomatoes
1 tomato
1 lime
2 tomatillos
lettuce

And as a bonus, I made a new dinner tonight, too! I have been loving crock pot dinners with our 1:00 pm church schedule, and Melissa sent me a couple more crock pot recipes I couldn't wait to try. Here's what we had.

Zesty Italian Chicken Fettuccini
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 package zesty Italian dry salad dressing mix
1 can cream of chicken soup
8 oz. sour cream
8 oz. cream cheese
½ medium red onion
1 cup sliced mushrooms, optional
1 (12 oz.) package fettuccini

1. Cut chicken into bite sized pieces. Dice onion. Place chicken in crock pot with Italian dressing mix, onion, sliced mushrooms, and cream of chicken soup. Stir to coat; cook on high for 3 ½ hours.
2. Meanwhile, mix softened cream cheese and sour cream together until smooth. Place in refrigerator. After all the other ingredients have cooked, add the cream cheese/sour cream mixture a half hour before serving. Serve over cooked fettuccine.

This was so yummy! (6 thumbs up, including my mom who ate with us.) Next time I will make it with half the amount of chicken, though. It was sooooo much chicken!

Pasta requires garlic bread of some kind in my opinion, and I had been looking for an excuse to make this (another of Melissa's recipes), so I made Rhoades rolls and this: (click on the name to see it on Melissa's blog)

Roasted Garlic Butter

1 large head of garlic
olive oil
2 sticks salted butter, softened

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using a sharp knife, lay head of garlic on its side and slice off the top quarter--exposing cloves (as pictured above). Place on top of square of aluminum foil; bunch foil up around the sides, leaving the top open. Drizzle about 2 T olive oil over the cloves--then cinch the foil shut. Place in a small baking dish and put in oven to roast for 1 hour.

Open foil to let garlic cool. Put softened butter in small bowl. Pick up cooled garlic head and squeeze out the cloves into the butter. Mash together with a fork.

This butter was so yummy on our rolls, I couldn't even believe it, and my mouth had been watering just reading the recipe. We went through 14 rolls just at dinner (for 6 of us, including my mom), and it wasn't because we weren't eating everything else. Yummmm . . .

Anyway, stay tuned for some more yummy stuff this week!

P.S. Since I was making another crock pot recipe today, I did a little research about the Reynold's slow cooker liners, just to see if they do leech chemicals into the food. I found this article, and while not conducted by some experts at a university, it was enough to put my mind at ease when using liners.

Week 1, Day 5: Korean Short Ribs

We've been anticipating the dinner we had tonight for a while. And it did not disappoint. The recipe came from Becky (click here to see who she is and what I love about her).

Korean Short Ribs
1/2 tbsp sesame oil
1/2 tbsp crushed garlic
6 tbsp soy sauce
5 tbsp sugar
dash of black pepper
8-10 flanken-style short ribs (thin cut, 1/4-1/2 inch thick) or boneless ribs (I used boneless)

Rinse the ribs under water to remove the tiny bone granules/splinters from the meat. Mix the sesame oil, crushed garlic, soy sauce, sugar, and black pepper. Pour over short ribs and marinate for 4 hours. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes, or until bone is dark and the meat around the bone is curling up. Serve with sticky rice and edamame.

Sticky Rice

Using short-grain or "sushi" rice, measure amount desired and rinse thoroughly with water 3-4 times. Soak rice in hot water 20-30 minutes, until tender. Rinse rice. Add recommended amount of water to rice cooker pan, and a small amount of rice wine vinegar. Set rice cooker to "cook." After cooking, leave in rice cooker for a few (about 10) minutes.

I actually managed to follow the recipe this time! And I didn't delete my pictures! The ribs smelled really good as they were cooking, and the sticky rice was really easy to make. The only edamame we could find was frozen in the pods, in individual microwaveable pouches. It's not the way I would normally have wanted to make it, but it worked out nicely tonight.

The Verdict: 4 thumbs up (Katie was at Grandma's for dinner, so we will count it as 5 thumbs up, since I know she would have liked it). Everyone loved it! The ribs were delicious, such a nice flavor, and all the dishes in the meal complemented each other. Surprisingly, Isaiah liked taking the edamame out of the pods. He ate all that I gave him and took seconds, declaring it his favorite vegetable (I think it was the "play with your food to eat it" factor, but I won't knock it!). We will definitely make the meal again.

My ingenious plan to have the recipe cards available to you through a convenient link failed. But, if you would like this week's recipes formatted in 4x6 cards, all ready to print, email me (rachel at ellishome dot org), and I will send you a Word document. I can also send it as a rich text file.

Week 1, Day 4: Peanut Noodles

Last night's dinner recipe was a hybrid of two recipes my sister, Anne, sent me. Anne has been my hero for many years, and as most little sisters feel of their big sisters, I want to grow up to be just like her. She's intelligent, funny, and creative in a million ways. She loves to travel and soaks in culture like a sponge. But most of all, she has this way of caring about other people, and knowing what they need, and helping to fill that need. She's my favorite person to have around when I'm working on a project or (especially) when I'm cooking because she does everything that needs doing without being obtrusive in any way. When I'm done I feel like I've done something amazing, but when I think back I know it's all due to her!

In fact, I really wish I'd had her with me last night because I couldn't remember all her suggestions as I was cooking, and I realized later what I had missed and that dinner wasn't as good for it. Still, it was tasty and got good reviews from the family.

Sadly, I accidentally erased the pictures I took of dinner. I started a photography class last night and learned how to format my SD card. Which conveniently erases everything on it. So, you'll have to use your imagination.

Peanut Noodles
12 oz spaghetti
2 tbsp sesame oil (or peanut oil)
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin slices
1/2 bell pepper, sliced
1/2 onion, sliced
1/4 cup hot water (I used 1/2 cup chicken broth)
1/3 cup peanut butter
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1/2-1 inch knob of ginger, peeled and grated (or 1/2 tsp ground ginger)--I forgot this
1/4 tsp red pepper--and I forgot this
chopped green onions, for garnish

1. Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling water until done.
2. Meanwhile, heat oil in large skillet or wok. Add the chicken and garlic and stir-fry until chicken is no longer pink. Add veggies, water or broth, peanut butter, and vinegar. Stir-fry an additional 3-5 minutes until chicken is cooked through and vegetables are tender.
3. Drain spaghetti; return to pan. Add chicken mixture and toss. Serve with green onions sprinkled on top as garnish.

I really enjoy stir-frying. It's the one thing I learned to do in our Chinese cooking class, and while I may not do it perfectly, I do enjoy doing it. Maybe that's why this dinner appealed to me. And anything with peanutbutter is a big hit for my family.

The Verdict: 5 thumbs up. I was so disappointed that I forgot the ginger and red pepper because they would have added some flavor. But really, the flavor was good without them. I think next time I won't cook it quite as long and would add the ginger and pepper flakes, but I wouldn't change anything else.

Week 1, Day 3: Crock Pot Thai Curry

So far, so good. Three days down, not a major complaint about any dinner, and we've spent time as a family while we eat talking about different cultures and geography.

Tonight's dinner comes from my good friend, Colleen. Adam and her husband, Pete, have been best friends since middle school, and Colleen and Pete were married the week Adam and I met so we've always been friends as couples and families. I love spending time with them, and Colleen is such an inspiration to me in achieving great things. She's an intelligent woman, talented videographer, crafty genius, amazing athlete, supportive wife, and all-around awesome mom (check out her blog to see what she's up to today, it always inspires me). Frequently, she'll post a recipe on Facebook (usually from here, I'm becoming a big fan), and I'm always dying to try them, only to be shot down by Adam because he's not much for vegetables or healthy stuff in general. I got my way this time. Here's what it looked like when I got it into the crock pot this afternoon:


As it was cooking, Adam was rubbing his head a lot, and I asked him if he was tired. He said, "No, I've got a headache from smelling the vegetables." In the end, though, even he gave it a thumbs up! Here's a link to the original recipe.

Crock Pot Thai Curry

13.5 oz can coconut milk
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp Thai red or green chili paste, or more to taste (I used 1 1/2 tbsp)
1 tsp fish sauce (optional-I didn't use this)
1 yellow onion, chopped (I used about 2/3)
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 red bell pepper (I used about 2/3)
1 green bell pepper (I used about 2/3)
1/2 large eggplant
1 sweet potato
5 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (I used 4)
1 inch knob of ginger, peeled and grated

1. Combine the sauce ingredients: coconut milk, soy sauce, brown sugar, chili paste, and fish sauce in the bottom of your crock pot stoneware. Taste. If you think you need more chili paste, add some carefully. (It's hot stuff!)
2. Add the chicken pieces to the sauce, flipping them over a few times so they get nice and saucy.
3. Wash and cut the vegetables, and add to the crock.
4. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 4-6. This is done when the chicken is fully cooked and the vegetables have reached desired tenderness. (I cooked it for 4 hours on high and the chicken and vegetables were plenty done.) Serve over white rice.

I don't know why it takes me so long to chop vegetables, probably because I'm clumsy and nearly cut off fingers every night, but it took me a long time to prep this because of it. Also because I had skin-on, bone-in thighs, and spent time removing the skin and bones. Either way, give yourself some time to get it ready. I cooked it 4 hours on high, and my chicken was falling apart and the sweet potatoes and eggplant were extremely soft. Which actually turned out to be great!

The Verdict: 4 thumbs up, 1 thumb down. We really liked the texture and the flavor, although Adam and I both had to add salt, which we very rarely do with Asian food. We usually add soy sauce and it just didn't do it for us this time, but the salt did great. Adam didn't feel like he was eating a plate full of vegetables, because it became a nice creamy sauce, and the peppers and onions were chopped fairly small. Max was shoveling handfuls into his mouth. I'll definitely make it again, probably with just a bit more Thai chili paste to add a bit more kick.

Week 1, Day 2: Applebee's Crispy Orange Chicken Skillet

Tonight's dinner recipe comes from a cookbook Katie gave me for my birthday, America's Most Wanted Recipes: Copycat Versions of Everyone's Best-Loved Food. This is one of Adam's favorite things to order when we go to Applebee's, so this was one of the first recipes he chose as we were looking for things to add to the schedule.

Crispy Orange Chicken Skillet

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 egg, beaten

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 cup flour

1 tbsp cornstarch

oil, for frying

Glaze

1 tsp minced garlic

1 1/2 tsp grated orange zest

1 cup orange juice

1/2 cup hoisin sauce

pinch of cayenne pepper

1/4 cup sugar

salt and black pepper, to taste

1. Cut the chicken into 2-inch pieces and place in a large bowl. Add the egg, salt, pepper, and the 1 tbsp vegetable oil. Mix well and set aside.

2. Stir the four and cornstarch together in another large bowl until mixed well. Add the chicken to the flour mixture, and coat each piece well.

3. Pour about 1/2 inch of oil into a heavy skillet and set over high heat. When the temperature reaches 375 degrees, carefully add the chicken pieces in small batches and fry for 3 to 4 minutes, until browned and crunchy.

4. Carefully remove the chicken from the oil with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Continue frying the chicken until all the pieces are nicely browned and crisp. Set aside.

5. To make the glaze, allow the oil in the skillet to cool slightly, then remove all but 2 tbsp of the oil and put the skillet over medium heat. Saute the garlic for 1 minute; do not burn.

6. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Cook, stirring, for 3 minutes. Reduce heat and simmer until the sauce thickens. Arrange the chicken on a platter, pour the glaze over the chicken and serve.

In the description of the recipe it says, "It's perfect over almond rice pilaf and a tasty mix of mushrooms, broccoli, red peppers, sugar snap peas, and shredded carrots." Well, the recipe didn't include all that necessarily, but that's what makes it "perfect," so that's what we had.

I used Paula Deen's Almond Rice Pilaf recipe (excellent, btw), and stir-fried the vegetables in a little oil.

The Verdict: 2 thumbs up, 1 thumb medium, 2 thumbs down. Everything but the sauce got a thumbs up from everyone, but the sauce wasn't Adam's or my favorite. It had too strong of a flavor. Next time I make orange chicken, I'll probably use this breading, it worked really well and was really tasty. But I'll use the sauce we know we like: the Panda Express Orange Chicken Sauce from the bottle you can buy at the grocery store.

Week 1, Day 1: Asian Black Bean Soup and Mini Lemon Cheesecakes

Shopping went okay, despite bringing a "helper" . . . I found everything relatively easily, with the exception of edamame. Anyone know where in the grocery store to find it? I want to serve it with Friday's dinner.

Tonight's dinner recipe was given to me by my old roommate, Becky McCollaum. She earned the nickname "Becky Crocker" as she made some amazing things in our little kitchen at SUU. I think I can say she is the heart of our little group of roommates--she's the one who keeps us all in touch. She's incredibly intelligent and very talented in a huge range of areas (nursing, shooting, belly dancing, skiing, car maintenance, etc--oh, yeah, cooking!) and is a loyal and loving friend. In the last 10 years (holy cow! has it been that long since we met?!) she has become a world traveler, and I will be making several of her recipes from around the world. She inspired this challenge in more ways than one, so I thought it fitting to start with one of her recipes.

Asian Black Bean Soup

2 tsp vegetable or olive oil
1 cup chopped onions
2 tsp chopped garlic
1 cup chicken broth
3 cups canned black beans, rinsed and drained
2 tbsp soy sauce
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper
1/8 tsp ground coriander
2 tbsp orange juice
4 tbsp sour cream
2 tbsp chopped scallions

1. Heat the oil in a 4-5 quart pot over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the broth, beans, soy sauce, red pepper, coriander3/4 cup water. Bring the soup to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer, uncovered, 20 minutes.
2. Puree about 3/4 of the soup in a blender or food processor until smooth. Return the pureed soup to the pot and stir in the orange juice. Simmer the soup 5 minutes.
3. Divide the soup among 4 bowls and serve topped with the sour cream and scallions, or serve the soup over 1/2 cup cooked rice.

The Verdict: 5 thumbs up! Everyone in the family ate it and liked it, and we got rave reviews from our toughest food critic, Isaiah.

Things I would change next time: I served it over rice tonight because as it was cooking, I realized it wasn't going to be enough on its own to feed the whole family. If I were making it as a soup on it's own, I would fully double the amount of chicken broth since the texture was pretty thick. Or cook it less maybe. Adam suggested adding chicken.

Anyway, the flavor was awesome, and the sour cream and green onions were really good with it, too.

Our dessert recipe comes from another long-time friend, Melissa Yoder. We know each other from the college married ward Adam and I attended when we were first married (you know, back in the days when I really couldn't cook). She is one of the most beautiful, creative women I know. And so funny. Just read her blog, you'll know what I mean. I will also be featuring several of Melissa's recipes, which I believe were on the menu for the blessing of her littlest one, Luke. (By the way, she has adorable children!) I don't know how she made so many delicious dishes and entertained so many people just weeks after a traumatic birth, but what can I say, she's amazing!

Miniature Lemon Cheesecake Tarts

1 pkg Betty Crocker Sunkist lemon bar mix
1 8oz pkg cream cheese, softened
3 eggs
1/3 cup water
powdered sugar, if desired
lemon or raspberry pie filling, if desired

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place miniature paper baking cup in each of 36 to 48 miniature muffin cups. Divide Ready-Mixed Crust (dry) evenly among muffin cups (1 to 2 tsp each); press in bottoms of cups, using back of measuring spoon. Bake 6 to 8 minutes or until very light brown. 2. For smoothest filling, beat cream cheese and 2 eggs thoroughly in medium bowl, using electric beaters; stir in Filling Mix, water and remaining egg until smooth (a few tiny lumps may remain). Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full (about 1 tbsp each) with cream cheese mixture.
3. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until firm. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pan. For best flavor, refrigerate 2 hours before serving. Just before serving, sprinkle with powdered sugar. Top each with 1/2 tsp pie filling. Store tightly covered in refrigerator up to 48 hours, or freeze tarts tightly wrapped in airtight container up to 4 months.
High Altitude (3500-6500 ft.): For best results, use 48 miniature muffin cups. Bake 22 to 26 minutes.

What was that? Hmmmm? I can't hear you. Did you just say that lemon cheesecake isn't Asian? What do you mean? Of course it is! They have all kinds of desserts at the Mandarin Buffet, why not cheesecake? Okay, okay. I just wanted to have dessert. And it's family night, so I knew I'd be making one anyway. So, I killed two birds with one stone and made Melissa's recipe.

I learned a couple of lessons while making these cheesecakes. One is: Pay Attention and Follow the Recipe. The other is: It's Okay to Experiment and Not Follow the Recipe. Ha ha. Yeah, I messed it up. But it still tasted amazing. So there.

See, I'm really tired. Max hasn't been sleeping well. And when I started cooking this afternoon, I had a massive headache. And four noisy children (mine plus a neighbor) and an annoying dog running through the kitchen every few minutes. I started out with not enough muffin cup liners. No problem, I'll just make some without liners. Except that I got about 10 cups full of crust before I realized I hadn't greased the cups. So I dumped out the crusts, washed the pan, and started again. And then, there I was merrily going along, mixing and measuring and pouring and dang it! I realized I'd put the filling into the crusts--and I hadn't baked the crusts. At that point it wasn't just my head aching, and I just popped them in the oven. But I was immensely surprised and pleased to find that they turned out delicious anyway! Probably not the way they were supposed to be, but who cares. (I'll admit, I ate at least a dozen, they were that good. And Melissa, I stupidly inhaled while taking a bite. Even though I'd read your warning! Sheesh.)

The Verdict: 4 thumbs up, 1 thumb medium (I think Max would have given two thumbs up if he could have. He is a big fan.)

So there you go, Day 1 down, only 19 to go!

P.S. At the end of the week, I'm going to link you to the recipes in Google docs so you can print them out in convenient 4x6 cards! But if you just can't wait until then, it works to copy them off here, too.