Chicken Fajitas

These are fairly simple to make and very tasty. I'm going to start with cooking the chicken. There are 2 ways that I like to do the chicken depending on the time of year. Grilling is what I do when I can, but in the winter I almost stir fry my chicken but I do it in a grill pan.

Grilling - I take my chicken breasts and put them in a plastic ziplock bag. Then I take some taco seasoning and mix it with double the water that is called for on the package. I put that mixture in the bag as well and let it sit about 30 min. Then I put them on the grill and cook them. Once they are cooked, I bring them in and slice the chicken into thin strips.

Stir fry - Ok, it's snowing outside and I'm not about to grill. So here is what I do. I go ahead and cut the chicken up into the thin strips. Then I place the strips into a grill pan. I just went to wal-mart and purchased mine. I let the chicken cook in the grill pan until it's done. I make sure to move it around the grill pan a lot so that it cooks quickly, evenly and keeps the juices inside. When it's done I add the taco seasoning to it. I don't use fajita seasoning just because I don't care for the way it tastes. You can use what you want.

Ok, so now you know how I cook the chicken depending on the time of year. Here is what I do for the rest of it.

I slice onions, green pepper and a red pepper in long thin strips. For the onions, just cut in half and then cut into 1/4 inch pieces. I put them in the stir fry pan with a little bit of butter or margarine. I don't use olive oil because I prefer the buttery taste with the vegetables. I add just a smidgen of salt and pepper for flavor and even a little bit of garlic powder. I cook the vegetables together in the pan until the are almost done. If you like the less done or more done, that is fine. It's really up to you and how you like them.

To serve them I heat up a tortilla, put in some chicken, veggies, shredded cheddar cheese, tiny pit of medium taco sauce (not salsa) and then top with sour cream. I either serve refried beans or Mexican rice with my fajitas. I also make my own Mexican rice. It's quite easy and tastey. Look below for directions.

Mexican rice. Take 2 C min. rice and put in a pan. Instead of water I add V8 juice. Cook it the normal way. When it's done, I add about 3 tablespoons of butter or margarine, pepper, and a drained can of rotel tomatoes. I cook it just a little bit longer to make sure everything is nice and warm. Serve. (Side note: The rice alone with the V8 juice, butter and pepper is good all by itself!)
Anyway, there you have it. Enjoy my friends.
Kathy!

Mexican Pasta Skillet

This is a yummy, filling and fast dish to make. It's also VERY yummy. Before I start I will tell you, it calls for Chicken. I will either take chicken breast and cut it up into bite size pieces or I have used canned chicken in a hurry. Either way it's still very yummy! So here we go.

Either use 1 pound of Boneless Skinless Chicken breast or 2 large cans of chunk chicken.
1 box spiral pasta
1 16oz jar of your favorite salsa (usually I buy mild, but the medium gives this a little kick)
1 can or small bag of corn (optional)
1 bar of cream cheese
1 Package of taco seasoning
1 bag shredded cheddar cheese

Boil your pasta. While it's cooking you need to cook the chicken. If you use chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces and then cook in a large skillet with a little bit of olive oil until done. Then add your taco seasoning. If you use the can chicken, stick it in the skillet and heat until warm and then add seasoning.
Add in corn, salsa and half of the shredded cheese. Stir it until the cheese is melted. Then cut the cream cheese into chunks and stir it in until it's melted. Once it's all good and melty, add the pasta. Stir it up well and then serve.
I like to serve mine with refried beans and nacho chips.

To cook my refried beans, I put 1/2 a stick of butter in a pan with half a sweet onion chopped up. I let it cook until the onions are just starting to turn brown. Then I add the refried beans. Stir them until they are good and warm. Then I had a hand full of shredded cheese and serve.
I hope you like this recipe. Enjoy my friend.
Kathy!

Grilled Stuff Pork Chops

Hello all. This is very simple and easy and I'm sure your family will love it as does mine. I take a rather thick pork chop...again using the pork from the pork loin and make a little pocket in it. I make some stove top stuffing and insert it into the pork chop. Now, since we are going to be grilling it, you really need to close it GOOD with toothpicks. You will need a lot of them. Close it off and then I season with a garlic pepper and zesty season salt. Then I throw them on the grill. Cook them about 5 - 8 min on each side. You don't want to turn them a whole lots just do to the fact that you don't want your stuffing to fall out. When they are done, bring them in the house, pull out the toothpicks and serve. I served mine with skewers of summer veggies. It was really good. Enjoy my friend.
Kathy!

Stir Fry Pork

Sorry it's been a while since I have written. Have been doing a lot of cooking, but have kind of been busy. You know how summer is. Well, the other night I made a stir fry and some fried rice that was pretty outstanding. It's fairly simple and has a ton of flavor. You know how I am about flavor. Gotta have it. So here it is.

I started with about 4 pork loin chops. What I do is going to the store and buy a huge pork loin when it's on sale and have it cut into inch thick chops.

Then I made my seasoning. 1 Cup of brown sugar, enough soy to make it the consistency of VERY think ketchup, 2 T vinegar, 1 clove of garlic minced pepper and 1 teaspoon of ground ginger. I mix it all together and let it sit for about 20 min. While that is sitting, I start to cut up my pork into bite size pieces. I put the pork in a stir fry skillet, stir my sauce and pour the sauce over the pork and let it sit. While it's sitting, I cut up 1 onion, 1 green pepper and slice some mushrooms into bite size pieces. Once it's cut up, I start cooking the pork. I don't have a time for how long I cook it. I just take on of the pieces of meat and cut it open an check it after about 5 min. Since the pieces are so small it doesn't take much time to cook. Once it's cooked, I turn the burner down to med. and add the vegetables and a can of chunk pineapple (drained). I keep cooking until the vegetables are to my liking in doneness. I serve it over rice and with an eggroll.
For the Fried rice, I just cooked my rice (2 Cups worth). Then put it in a pan with a little oil, added some peas and carrots (that were frozen and then thawed) and 3 T of soy and 3 eggs (beaten). Just kept mixing it until the eggs were cooked. NOW, I will tell you this made the rice bind more than anything. If I were to do it again, I think I would cook the egg first in a small pan and then add it to the rice. You really couldn't tell there was egg even in it. I might back it off to 2 eggs if I pre cook them. It's up to you really. My son LOVES eggs, so it's a good way for me to get him to eat the rice. Well, enjoy my friend.
Kathy!