Oven Chicken Fajitas

Ok, so fajitas are not that hard to cook, but how to make them even easier, and cook while you take a bath?  Cook them in the oven! These were absolutely delicious and easy and the chicken very tender. I am going to let you in on a little secret.....when you cook chicken breast in the pan or oven, coat it in a little cornstarch and then toss in oil.  It will be the moistest chicken....yes I just made that a word lol.  This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled.  I did not include measurements for the seasonings bc I literally just sprinkled them over the chicken.  My rule of thumb for seasoning raw meat is season until it smells good :)  Trust yourself!  This is how you become a cook....you learn to go with your gut.

Oven Chicken Fajitas

1 lb chicken breast, cut into strips (sometimes you can find this at the grocery store to make life easier)
1 green pepper, cut into strips
1 yellow pepper, cut into strips
1 orange pepper, cut into strips
1 Jalepeno (optional), sliced thin
1 medium sweet onion, sliced thin
Olive oil (probably about a 1/2 cup total
2 tsp cornstarch

the following seasonings I just sprinkled each evenly over the chicken after coating it w cornstarch and a little olive oil:
garlic powder
adobo
sea salt
pepper
chili powder
mexican seasoning (McCormick)
Cayenne (optional, but recommeded)
cumin

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  I use non stick foil to line a 9 X 13 in baking dish....arrange the peppers and onions in dish and drizzle olive oil over until evenly covered....will probably be just over 1/4 cup.  Sorry I did not measure anything....this is your opportunity to flex your cooking muscles.  in a bowl coat chicken strips with cornstarch and toss.  Drizzle a couple TBSP olive oil over chicken and toss again.  sprinkle seasonings over chicken and toss one more time.  Arrange chicken over veggies in baking dish and bake at 400 for approx 25-30 min until peppers are wilted and chicken is no longer pink inside.  You can either heat up flour tortillas and have fixings such as grated cheese, sour cream, guacamole, salsa.....or you can serve over rice.  Enjoy!!!!!

Gregg's Turkey Bolognese

This is actually a lot more like a Ragu, not a ton of sauce, but really delicious and healthy.  My friend Gregg is responsible for this recipe, and it is blogworthy!!


Gregg's Turkey Bolognese

20 oz pkg of ground turkey 93% lean (I use Shady Brook Farms)
pinch of paprika
tiny pinch of cinnamon
salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbsp olive oil (divided)
3-4 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 c carrots, chopped finely
1 c sweet onion, chopped finely
Tbsp tomato paste
1 C milk

Brown turkey over medium heat in olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper, paprika and cinnamon.  Remove meat.  Saute garlic in olive oil 1 min.  Add carrots and onion and saute until veggies are tender and onion is translucent.

Add tomato paste, add meat to veggie mixture, add 1 c milk and cook down 1-2 min.  Serve over your favorite pasta

Honey Vanilla Ricotta Ice Cream

So it is clean out the fridge and freezer week here, and I bought ricotta cheese and heavy cream to use for a recipe I decided not to make.....so I needed to use them somehow.

Honey Vanilla Ricotta Ice Cream

2 C Heavy Cream
2 C 2% milk
2 C whole milk ricotta cheese
pinch of sea salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
seeds from one vanilla bean
2 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup honey (I used creamed honey from trader joe's)

Put all ingredients in a large bowl and use immersion blender to fully blend together.  Or put in food processor.  Taste to make sure the sweetness is to your liking.  I do not like sweet ice cream, so this was perfect for me.  Put mixture into ice cream maker and I churned for about a half hour.  Transfer to container and put in freezer.  I made a berry sauce to put over it.

Banana Peanut Butter Bread

Sooo....I have been making different variations on this banana bread for awhile.  This time I added Trader Joe's Crunchy Peanut Butter with Chia and Flax seeds.  So good!  This is not a sweet banana bread, and honestly that is usually fine with me, but I think next time I might add a little more sugar.  So play with it and see what you like, but if you like a sweeter bread I would add another 1/4 c sugar or honey.

Banana Peanut Butter Bread

2 C all purpose flour
3/4 C sugar
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
4 large very ripe bananas, mashed well
4 Tbsp butter, melted and cooled
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1/4 c plain or vanilla greek yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 C peanut butter (I used trader joe's crunchy peanut butter with flax and chia seeds)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a loaf pan. 

Whisk the dry ingredients (flour thru salt) together in small bowl.  In large bowl combine mashed bananas, butter, vegetable oil, eggs, yogurt, peanut butter and vanilla.  Stir to combine the wet ingredients.  Gently fold the banana mixture into the dry ingredient mixture.  Do not over mix.  Scrape the batter into greased pan and bake until golden brown and a toothpick comes clean 55-75 min. 

Let the bread cool in the pan.

Sour Cream Apple Crumb Pie

So....sour cream is my favorite condiment of all time, I can eat it right out of the container (don't judge).  So when I found an apple pie recipe that had sour cream in the filling I had to try it.  The original recipe I found on pinterest, but upon further research, found a few different versions, so I came up with what worked for me.  It is absolutely delicious! I may never make apple pie another way again. The sour cream mixture makes a custard, and also cuts the sweetness down a little on the pie.  If you have a big sweet tooth you may have to adjust the sugar amount, but it was just right for me.  I don't mess around with pastry and pie crust, so I used a frozen deep dish pie crust (honestly the A&P brand is one of the best ones I have tried and they are cheap....but if you must make your own, go ahead).  I thawed the crust out for about 15 min on the counter and then pricked it all over with a fork and pre baked for about 10-12 min, at 400 degrees until it is very slightly golden.  I think I actually did it for exactly 11 minutes.....this is to prevent sogginess.

Sour Cream Apple Crumb Pie

1 frozen, deep dish pie crust, thawed on counter and prebaked (see above directions)
2 Tbsp. all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 C sugar
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg (I used fresh)
few shakes of ground cinnamon
1 egg
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups apples, peeled and thinly sliced (I used 4 apples, Golden Delicious)
2/3 C all purpose flour
2/3 C sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
6 Tbsp unsalted butter (do not soften), cut into cubes

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F, and prebake pie crust (see directions above ingredients list).  Meanwhile, stir together 2 Tbsp flour, salt, 3/4 C sugar, nutmeg and few shakes cinnamon in a  bowl.  In another bowl combine egg, sour cream and vanilla extract, stir well until fully combined.  Add egg mixture to dry mixture and fold in sliced apples, and spoon into pie crust.  Bake pie 15 min at 400 degrees F, lower temperature to 350 degrees F, and bake 30 min more (if crust is browning too much cover with foil lightly).  Remove pie from oven.  ***During this bake time combine 2/3 C flour, 2/3 C sugar, 2 tsp cinnamon, and 6 Tbsp butter with fork or hands until resembles crumbs. Place back in fridge**** Once you remove pie from oven, take crumb mixture out of fridge and sprinkle crumb mixture over pie.  Return to oven until browned on top and pie filling is bubbling.  I think I cooked it for about 15 minutes more.  Allow to cool before putting in fridge and chill fully.  I read in several reviews this is not a pie you want to serve warm.  If you are making this for a specific dinner/event, I would make it the day before.  Make sure to refrigerate the pie for storage.

basic quiche recipe

So quiche is one of the most versatile things....great thing to do with leftover veggies and cheese (and meats).  There is a basic formula, and then you make it yours.  Here is the formula....Happy quiching!
Any questions please post to comments, I will answer them...I usually make quiche every week.

Quiche Formula

4 eggs (shameless plug here for The Happy Egg Company....my fave brand)
1 cup of half and half
1/2 C cheese of your choice, grated (I use closer to a cup bc I really like cheese)
1 C veggies (whatever combo you choose).  I like to saute veggies usually before adding
1/2 C meat (optional....if using meat...usually breakfast sausage, bacon or ham is what I recommend....obviously cook it first and, if needed, chop it up)
1 deep dish pie crust (I don't get all fancy, just buy the frozen store brand...or make your own if you are Martha Stewart).

Preheat oven to 350 F.  I leave crust out for about 20 min to thaw...then prick with fork and pre bake for about 10 min.  Saute any veggies until softened (or steam if it is broccoli.  If using tomatoes, no need to cook first, if using frozen spinach squeeze all liquid out of it first).  Cook meat if using.  I usually layer meat and veggies in the crust...then 3/4 of the cheese, and egg and half and half whisked together.  Top with remaining 1/4 c of cheese.  Bake 50-60 min or until a knife inserted into the quiche comes out clean.
**PS if you have an A&P near you, I HIGHLY recommend their store brand of frozen deep dish pie crust.  Very good and very inexpensive.

Chili hold the tomatoes

Sometimes I like my chili with a tomato based sauce, and sometimes not....there is a tiny bit of marinara in this recipe for taste, but overall it is more of a beefy man chili....nice and spicy....although the spice mellowed a bit the second day.  I actually remembered to write everything out this time.  This makes a lot of chili...I am guestimating about 8-10 servings if you serve it over rice or pasta.  I like serving mine over elbow pasta.  I used beef, but you could easily sub ground turkey...I would not use the super lean turkey just because of the long cook time, the meat needs a little fat so it does not dry out.

Chili hold the tomatoes

3 Tbsp olive oil
3-4 cloves garlic, minced (3 was enough for me...only use 4 if you like it super garlicky)
1 sweet onion, chopped fine
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped fine
2 Jalepenos chopped (I used the seeds)
2.25 lbs 90% lean ground beef
2 (15oz) cans of pink beans (what I prefer, use what beans you like), rinsed and drained
1 pkg Goya sazon
3/4 tsp ground oregano
2 Tbsp chili powder
2 bay leaves
3/4 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp coriander
2-3 tsp cayenne...I used 2 and it was pretty spicy
salt to taste
hot sauce to taste
few dashes worcestershire sauce
4 c beef broth
1/2 a bottle of beer (drink the other half while you make the chili)
1/3 c marinara sauce
1 Tbsp butter
1 heaping Tbsp flour

Cook beef over med high in large stockpot with 1 Tbsp olive oil until cooked through.  In a saute pan saute onion, bell pepper, jalepenos, garlic in 2 Tbsp Olive oil over medium, until cooked through and onions are translucent....about 5-7 min.  add vegetables to beef.  Add remaining ingredients to stockpot except for butter and flour.  Bring to a boil, lower temperature and simmer for about 20 minutes uncovered.  During the last 5 minutes melt butter over medium in a small pan, add flour and whisk to combine, cook about 2 min until flour smell is gone.....you are making a roux....it is fancy.....add about a cup of liquid from chili and whisk constantly until mixture is thickened (whisking is important if you don't want flour lumps).  Add mixture back to chili and mix well.  At this point I like to transfer to a crockpot.....I HIGHLY recommend using a crockpot liner anytime you cook with the crockpot....Reynolds makes them and they are great!  Transfer to crockpot and set timer for 3 hours on low.  I used my immersion blender and pureed it a tiny bit to thicken.  Tada!  I garnished with cheddar jack and sour cream and chives....I like serving it over cooked elbow pasta, but you can do rice also.  This chili freezes very well.  Enjoy!!!