Faj-hi-tas! Say it with me!

Chicken & Steak Fajitas

We made enough dinner to feed a small army tonight.  Dinner was ready to eat at 9:00 pm.  TONS of food at 9 on a Sunday.  We will be eating fajitas all week long!

It was one of the best meals we've made in a while.  I would highly recommend that you make it this week.  Or you could just come over and eat the pounds of fajita meat and veggies that we have left!  Either way, fajitas should be in your near future.

Ingredients:
for the marinade
2 oranges
3 limes
~2 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp oregano
1 tbsp chili powder

2 chicken breasts
Around 1 pound fajita steak
1 red pepper
1 green bell pepper
1 yellow pepper
1 small onion

Lettuce, tomato, avocado, cheese, refried beans, and salsa for topping

How to do:
Mix the juices from the oranges and limes with the other marinade ingredients.  Pour over the meats and refrigerate for up to 4 hours. 

Slice up the peppers and onion.  Heat some olive oil up in a skillet and add the veggies.  Cook until softened. 

Dice the tomatoes, chop the lettuce, dice the avocado, and shred the cheeses.  (see note for an avocado tip.)

In a skillet, cook the meat. 

Dive in! 
Recipe adapted from the lovely Giada. 
This meal really awakens your senses, the colors and the smells were both amazing!  Check out these photos!

Mmm.. Veggies!

Toppings.  We clearly love cheese.

Can you see that steam!?  I like my fajita veggies HOTT!

A feast fit for two. 

Washed it all down with a water with lime.  Tequila sounded good but it was Sunday and I had my fair share of margaritas y cervezas this weekend.

Note:  To slice avocados cut the avocado in half and remove the seed.  Leaving the avocado in the peel, cut the slices and remove them one by one from the peeling.  Smooth as pie!  Or something like that!

Enjoy!

Eggs + Muffins = Meggs or Effins? You Decide.

These egg muffins are ah-mazing!  They are fluffy and wonderful on the inside and have a nice golden edge on top.  Girl, breakfast for dinna don't get much betta.  Except when you add bacon and toast. 

Ingredients:
5 eggs
1/4 small onion, finely chopped
1/2 medium zucchini, finely chopped
4 cherry tomatoes, quartered
1 handful fresh spinach
7 or so basil leaves, torn
A little bit less than 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup milk
salt and pepper, heavy on the salt (I RARELY say this)

How to do:
Pre-heat the oven to 350.
Crack the eggs, separating the whites from the yellows. 
Saute the onion, zucchini, and tomatoes in a tiny bit of olive oil.  Add the spinach until just wilted followed by the basil leaves. 
To the yolks, add the sauteed mixture, cheese, milk, and salt and pepper.  
With an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until peaks form.  Fold them into the egg mixture.

Grease the muffin tins to the max!  This is really important because you do NOT want stuck on eggs.  Trust me, you want them to pop out cleanly.  Bake for 15 minutes.  Let cool for 10 minutes and transfer to a plate.  If you have extras, place them on a cooling rack so they don't become soggy. 

Recipe adapted from The Sweet Beet.

From start:

To finish:

         Add whatever veggies you want to these.  Heat them up throughout the week for a quick and easy breakfast or snack.  To store in the refrigerator, wrap in paper towels and store in a container.  To store in the freezer, separate them by wrapping them in plastic wrap and store in a container. 

Enjoy!

Peaches 2 Ways: Peach Crisp & Rustic Peach Pie

I bought a bulk amount of peaches this week.  I just couldn't resist their sweetness and the way the just melted in your mouth.  I did the only logical thing to do when one has too many peaches, added butter or bourbon (or both) and baked something delicious!  I have two recipes to share today.  The first I would recommend for a weeknight and the second I would recommend for the weekend. 

First up, peach crisp.



I wish you could at least smell this crisp's amazingness.

 I combined two recipes for this.  I found one for bouron peach hand pies at  Smitten Kitchen and one for apple crisp in Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything.  I adapted the filling from the first recipe and used the crisp from the second. 

Ingredients:
for the filling
5-6 peaches, peeled, chopped, and pitted
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp bourbon
for the crisp
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
5 tbs cold butter, cut into bits
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup flour (either all-purpose or wheat)
dash salt

How to do:
Preheat the oven to 400. 
In a small bowl, combine the peaches with the sugar, vanilla, and bourbon.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, butter, oats, flour, and salt.  I did this by hand, working the softened butter in with the other ingredients.  This can also be done with a food processor, a fork, or a pastry blender.  I went old school and used my clean hands. 

Pour the peaches in a greased (or buttered) 9 inch pie pan. Crumble the topping over the peach mixture and bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly. 

Next up, Rustic Peach Pie!

I feel like the word "rustic" perfectly describes this pie.

This recipe came directly from Hungry Girl Por Vida.  The pie crust she used was from Martha Stewart.  I'm pretty sure 99% of the pies I found online used Martha's recipe.  She clearly knows her sh*t. 

I made this pie for my dad today and served with vanilla ice cream, it was the perfect Father's Day gift!  It didn't look all that beautiful, but luckily dads don't care about that kind of stuff.

Ingredients:
for the crust:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
2 sticks butter, cut into cubes
1/4 - 1/2 cup ice water
for the filling:
5-6 peaches, pitted and sliced
1/4 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean or 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste
1 tbsp cornstarch

How to do:
Crust first.  Mix together the flour, sugar, and salt.  Chop the butter into cubes.  Mix the butter into the flour mixture with your clean hands until it resembles a crumbly mixture.  This takes a little while, so be patient.  To be honest, it was kind of relaxing and the mixture was so much softer than I expected.  Try to enjoy this step!  Next, add about 1/4 cup of the ice water and start forming the crust.  Add more water as needed until the crust is easy to work with.*  Form into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour. 
Mixture second.  In a bowl combine the vanilla bean paste and the sugar to make vanilla sugar.  Whisk in the cornstarch.  Mix in the peaches.  Let this mixture set aside while the crust is still chilling. 
Pie.  Roll the crust out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (or if you're out, spray the baking sheet with Pam).  Pour the peach mixture into the center of the crust.  Bring the sides of the crust up around the mixture, leaving the middle exposed.  Sprinkle sugar on top. 
Bake at 375 for 40-50 minutes or until golden brown. 

*I did not use enough water because I was afraid of it being runny and my crust came out drier than I would have liked.  It looked similar to a biscuit but tasted like pie crust.  Next time, I'll use more water.

I hope you try one of these recipes during the summer while peaches are in season. They are both very good and pretty simple and best when served to your family! 

And as my final thought, vanilla bean paste shuts it down.  Buy some soon!

Enjoy!

Zucchini & Squash

We are on a zucchini and squash kick.  It's just so summer-like.
Tonight we couldn't decide what would be the better way to cook the vegetables.  Foil pack on the grill?  Sauteed on the stove? 
What's the best way to decide?

COOK OFF!!!



pre-cooked vegetables



Breeze headed out to the grill.  I headed to the couch to relax until there were only 10 minutes left for the food on the grill, then to the kitchen.

The recipes were similar, but I kept mine a secret until dinner was served.  Mine had to be just a little bit different than his...

Breeze's Method:

He put the zucchini and squash slices along with about a tablespoon of olive oil and a generous amount of salt and pepper.  He sees nothing wrong with excess amounts of ingredients.  He then placed the veggies on the grill at the same time as the hamburgers and flipped them a couple of times. 

Jenni's Method:

First, I put a couple of teaspoons of oil in a skillet and let it get hot.  Second, I placed the zucchini and squash slices in the skillet with salt, pepper, and a large pinch of red pepper flakes.  Third, I sauteed the vegetables on the stove top for about 10 minutes until they were cooked but not too soft.  While the veggies were still hot, I sprinkled some Parmesan cheese on top. 

post-cooked vegetables.  don't they both look good?!

The Results:

A tie?  They were both very good.  Breeze's had a bit much oil and mine could've used a little more seasoning.  If you had to nit-pick. 



Vegetables together.  Like bffs. 

As my mother would say, they were just a little different but real vegetables.  Wouldn't you say that, mom?  :)

Red Sauce

The pasta bake recipe I posted last night called for your favorite red sauce. 
Here is the recipe for mine.

I've adapted it from the Skinny Bitch in the Kitch cookbook.
Ingredients:
2 tbsp EEOO
1/2 onion, diced
8-10 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
1 can tomato sauce
1-2 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp (10 or so) fresh basil leaves, chopped
2 tbsp oregano or mixed dried herbs like an Italian mix
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tbsp agave nectar, optional

How to do:
1. Heat oil in a saucepan over medium-low heat.  Add the onion, stir occasionally (making sure to avoid browning) for 6-8 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook for about 1 minute, again stirring. 
2.  Stir in the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and tomato paste and bring to a boil by increasing the heat. 
3.  Once at a boil, remove from heat.
4.  Stir in the red wine vinegar, herbs, and salt and pepper. 
5.  If the sauce is too acidic, add the agave nectar.
Use immediately or store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Depending on what recipe I am using the sauce for, I like to use either diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano or fire roasted diced tomatoes.  If you haven't tried fire roasted, you definitely should!!

Enjoy!

Pasta Bake

Cheesy.  Pasta.  Bake. 

Sometimes I crave cheese, pasta, and meat.  It's typically when I'm tired.  So after an entire weekend outside in the sun, I was super tired and super hungry.  I searched the Internet for recipes with cheese and pasta and found exactly what I wanted.  The original recipe was only meat, cheese, pasta, and red sauce.  Luckily for me I have a husband who LOVES his veggies so we made the dish much healthier!!  It makes me so happy!  When we went to the grocery store to get meat, we scoured the veggie section trying to decide exactly what we wanted to put in the pasta bake.  We decided on green peppers, zucchini, squash, and some delicious looking sweet and mild cubanelle peppers.  He also picked up some broccoli and cauliflower to snack on pre-dinner.  So cute!


clockwise from the top: yellow peppers, green bell peppers, squash, zucchini, and chopped fresh basil.

 Pasta Bake
Ingredients:
1/2 box spaghetti noodles, 1/2 box rotini noodles
1 small zucchini
1 small summer squash
3-4 cloves garlic
1/2 onion
1 1/4 pounds ground beef (leaner beef is preferred)
salt and pepper
20 basil leaves, chopped
3-4 cups your favorite red sauce
1 package Italian blend cheese

How to do:
Preheat oven to 350.  Spray a 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray.
All at once, you have four tasks to complete at once.  They are the following:

1. In one pan/skillet, brown meat mixed with the onion.  Set aside.

2. In another, mix zucchini, squash, peppers, and garlic for 2-3 minutes just softening.  Add the basil at the very end.  Set aside. 

3. Cook your pasta as directed on the box, shortening the time by a couple of minutes.  My pasta said to cook 7 minutes, so I cooked it 4.  It will keep cooking as it bakes.

4. In another pan, make your pasta sauce.  Set aside.

Once everything is completed, pour into one big bowl.  Stir it up as best as possible. 
Pour half of the pasta mixture into the pan.  Sprinkle half the cheese over the pasta.  Pour the rest of the mixture on top, followed by more cheese.
Bake for 20 minutes until golden and bubbly!

I attempted to make garlic bread to go with our pasta. 

This is how it turned out.  Oopsie!  I was reading The Pioneer Woman's blog and forgot about the bread until I felt my eyes burning from the smoke. 



Good thing we had roasted green beans too!

Everything (except the bread) turned out delicious and it was just the hearty comfort food my tired, sunburned self needed.  Thank god I won't have to wear a bathing suit again until next weekend!

Pasta bake servings, roasted green beans, non-toasted bread with butter

Enjoy!

Spin Class & PB Cake



I forgot to take a picture until we already tried the cake last night.  It's not the prettiest cake anyway...  But it is delicious!

 I took my first spin class tonight with my sister.  We were super nervous about what to expect and praying that we would make it through the class without a. barfing and b. looking ridiculous. 
Well.... it was AWESOME!!
I can't say it would be great for everyone, but for me and my current fitness level it was perfect.  I can't wait to go back!

So do you think Peanut Butter Cake with Chocolate Ganache Frosting counts as my post-work out protein?
Okay, probably not.  But I'll definitely be having a sliver later this evening. :-)
If you like peanut butter and chocolate, you should totally try it!

Ingredients: 
for the cake:
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup milk
for the frosting:
2/3 cup milk*
3 T maple syrup
8 oz semisweet chocolate chips

How to do:
1. In a bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. 
2. Separately, cream the butter, peanut butter, and brown sugar.  Add the egg and vanilla and mix until smooth.
3.  Add the dry ingredients and the milk to the wet ingredients, alternating back and forth in thirds.
4. Pour the batter into a greased 8 inch cake pan.  Bake on 350 for 25 minutes or until the batter is pulling away from the edges.  Turn the cake over onto a plate and let cool.

After the cake is cooled, prepare the frosting.
1. Pour the chocolate chips into a bowl.
2.  Bring the milk to a simmer over the stove.
3. Pour the milk over the chocolate chips and add the maple syrup.  Stir until smooth.
4.  Let cool for about 15 minutes.  Pour the frosting over the cake (there's lots of pouring going on) and refrigerate for 25 minutes before diving in!
5.  Wipe the chocolate off of your face after you take a bite and it drips down your chin.

* The original recipe called for non-dairy milk.  I missed that detail and my frosting was a little bit clumpy.  I'm not sure if that is why, but I have my suspicions. 
By the way, this is the original recipe: Peanut Butter Cake.

I know spinning and cake probably don't seem like they go together in the same post, but let me explain.
I think if you are going to eat dessert, it might as well be something really really good.  Something that comes from your kitchen.  Not something chalk full (is that the expression I'm looking for?) of ingredients that you can't pronounce.  This cake is nothing short of fabulous.  It reminded me of a grown up Reeses Peanut Butter Cup. 

Enjoy!

Stuffed Jalapenos Wrapped in Bacon

Continuing on with the jalapeno theme this week, please welcome to the party- stuffed jalapenos wrapped in bacon. 

I feel like these are a pretty popular dish, but so fantastic they were worthy of the blog.  Their spiciness and crispiness are like a bomb going off in one's mouth.  Mmmmm.

My friend Joel told me he was making them a few weeks ago and since then we've had them three times. They are pretty easy and pretty quick, making them an ideal side dish for summer.  Just don't wipe your eyes after de-seeding.  Or ask someone else to do the seeding (like, say, your husband). 

pre-grilling

So you want to make these bad boys?
Ingredients:
Fresh jalapenos
1/4 cup salsa
1/4 block reduced fat Neufchatel cream cheese
1/3 cup diced green peppers
5 slices turkey bacon

How to do:
1. Cut the jalapenos down the middle and de-seed the peppers.
2. In a small bowl, mix the cream cheese, salsa, and green peppers.
3. Stuff the mixture into the peppers.
4. Wrap the bacon around the stuffed peppers and secure with a toothpick.
5. Grill in foil for 15-20 minutes.
6. Place peppers on grill grate for about 2 more minutes, searing the peppers.

Time:  About 25 minutes    Servings: 2 (5 peppers)
*Make sure you allow them to cool before serving!  I found them easiest to eat when cut into bites with a fork and knife. 




Oopsie!  Someone took a bite of her hamburger before the picture got taken.
 I was starving, okay!?

We ate our stuffed jalapenos with hamburgers, Pop Chips, and corn on the cob.  It was such a manly meal.  There was nothing girly about this feast except the skinny foccacia buns.  I didn't tell Breeze they were skinny or foccacia.  He thinks they were just buns.   
Enjoy!

Jalapeno Pasta with Creamy Avocado Sauce

Some nights I cook dinner because we have to eat.  Other nights I cook dinner because I'm over the top excited to try a new recipe!  Tonight was the latter.

I got this really new and exciting pasta from the River Market this weekend in Kansas City.  Green Jalapeno.  Seriously. 

In fact, everything we bought at the market had jalapeno in the title (except our all natural cookies).  I must get my love for spicy food from my family. 
I've had mixed feelings about the pasta since we bought it.  I was super excited to try it, but also nervous that my sauce wouldn't go with it and it would be a waste.  I couldn't waste green jalapeno pasta.

• I forgot to lay out chicken
• I spent the weekend with my vegetarian cousin, Hannah
• It's Monday, as in Meatless Monday

So, I made a vegetarian creamy avocado pasta sauce.

Ingredients:

Jalapeno Pasta

Juice of 1/2 Lemon

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

3 Cloves Garlic

1 Medium Avocado

1/4 Cup Fresh Basil 

1/2 Tsp Salt

Salt & Pepper, Optional

Parmesan Cheese, Optional 

 How To Do:

1. Boil salted water.  Cook pasta for 8-10 minutes.

2.  Meanwhile, using either a food processor or blender, blend lemon juice, olive oil, and garlic.  Add pitted avocado, basil, and salt.  Process/blend until smooth and creamy.

3.  Drain the pasta and place in a bowl.

4.  Pour the sauce on the pasta and toss for pure deliciousness.

5.  Add salt and pepper and cheese if you please.

The creamy avacado sauce was found at this blog.

The pasta can be found at Pappardelles website.

Boiling the pasta.  I prefer mine Al Dente.

Toss it up.  It is so creamy and it coats about 6 oz of pasta.  It was plenty of food for Breeze and myself.

Add a salad to the pasta dish for a fullfilling meal.

Stuffed.

I got so excited when I found this recipe, I almost peed my pants.  Combining jalapeno pasta with creamy avocado sauce completely lived up to all the hype I gave it. 

Enjoy!

Fiesta + Chicken!

Crunchy Taco Chicken

I had a sudden urge this afternoon for really crunchy chicken.  Like I said yesterday, I love Mexican themed foods.  So tonight for dinner I made taco chip crusted chicken.  It turned out delicious.  Not QUITE as crunchy as I had hoped, but overall really good!



Taco Bell Sauce

Having a gallon size Ziploc baggie full of taco bell sauce on hand at all times is normal, right?

If you will notice, the bag is almost empty.  GASP! 

Breeze reassured me that since I'll be out of town this weekend, he's pretty sure it will get refilled.

Anyway the sauce is important, but I'm sure any kind of hot sauce would work for this chicken entree. 

To get started, grab the following:

6-8 packets Taco Bell sauce

2 chicken breasts or 5-6 chicken tenders

~ 2 cups of crushed up tortilla chips, corn chips, or a combo of both

Crushed taco chips and corn chips, TB Hot Sauce

1. Dip the chicken in the hot sauce.

2. Dip the chicken in the chips.

3. Place on the wire rack that is placed on top of baking sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray.

Pre-Cooking

4. Lightly spray the chicken with cooking spray to increase crunchiness.

5. Bake in the oven on 450 for about 15 minutes, turning halfway through.

Serve with some extra hot sauce or salsa for dipping and some corn on the cob for a simple, yet delicious meal!

Enjoy!