A rare glimpse: my cooking.

Hey now, if you enjoy cooking...

don't expect much from me!

I cook my family's dinner most nights...

but its not always my favorite thing to do.

But I HEART my family.

For Christmas, my husband gave me a wonderful gift.

**A set of knives from Pampered Chef.**

My kitchen really, really needed new knives.

Hmmm....maybe that's why cooking is not a pleasure.

But, really??

for Christmas??

Yeah,

I cried a few tears...

of happiness.

{Silly ol' mom.}

This is THE best book for cooking Mexican dishes.

Hands down.

Throw everything else away.

It's available through Amazon....

I found mine at Borders (which is no longer in business).

The recipes are in English and in Spanish.

There are many colorful, informative pictures.

After school, my son told me that the school lunch had not been very good.

He let me know that he was really looking forward to a nice meal for his dinner.

So, with that pressure on me...

 last night, I made...

Chicken Fajitas!!

First, I defrosted 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts.

Sliced them into strips.

Ok...I was supposed to have done this 

and then marinated the meat for 30 minutes...

but I didn't have time for that.

So, I dumped 2 teaspoons of oil on top of the meat,

then added the spices:

1 teaspoon each of

ground cumin

salt

pepper

finely chopped cilantro

chili powder*

and mixed them together.

The mixture sat for 5 or so minutes while I prepared other items.

*I put in cayenne pepper instead--we like things hot around here!!

I heated 2 Tablespoons of oil in a skillet over high heat and

then poured in the chicken, oil and spices!

The meat, spices and oil.

The recipe called for green, red and yellow peppers.

Because these are expensive, I used a bag of frozen pepper strips.

The bag defrosted on the counter 

while I chopped up one onion with one of my new knives.

Onions!

Onions, pepper strips, diced tomatoes, teriyaki sauce, oil...not many ingredients.
I also made rice...

After the meat had cooked, I added the pepper strips and onion....

yummy!

After these had softened and started to cook, 

I added 6 Tablespoons of Teriyaki sauce

and an 18 ounce can of plain, peeled and diced tomatoes.

The recipe actually calls for fresh tomatoes...

but not only are these tomatoes already prepared...

using canned is simply a less expensive alternative during this time of year.

Bubbling away...

I let this cook/simmer for quite a while.

To flavor the rice I had made, 

I used a ladle to scoop up some of the sauce

and poured it over the rice

and then mixed it together. 

Now you can see the sauce has been cooked down...

Ready to serve!

I served these with warm tortillas.

Although the rice can go on the side,

we put a bit of rice on a tortilla, 

then a generous helping of the meat mixture,

then there was the option of sour cream...

(the author also advises salsa and avocado mix)

rolled it up...

and enjoyed some hot, spicy Mexican deliciousness!

The author also advises refried beans as a side dish.

HAPPY TUMMIES!!!!

oh, and the house smells delicious!

I hope you have a wonderful day--

and an enjoyable time making dinner 

for YOUR family.

So...what's for dinner?

(not that your kids haven't asked 3 or 4 times already!)