Chicken Fajitas (Marinade)

Last weekend I made a quick marinade for chicken fajitas with onions and peppers. The marinade is from Pioneer Woman (!) and was originally meant for beef. It was really good, super easy and I had most things on hand.


Just a note, one small can of chipotle peppers is probably twice as many as you need for the marinade. I use what I need and then freeze the rest in a freezer friendly tupperware container to use later (maybe in butternut squash enchiladas). Chipotle peppers can be spicy... if you don't like spice but like the smokey taste, just cut the peppers in half from stem to bottom and scrape out the seeds.


(look below at the cool color of the marinade!)

Tex-Mex Enchiladas

My mom and I have been on a quest for sometime to find a recipe for the brown, almost chili-like sauce that comes on top of tex-mex cheese enchiladas. Enter the "Homesick Texan" blog. I've become slightly obsessed reading through the recipe index and printing out lots of great things to try at home.

Back to the enchiladas. I'm not happy with that red sauce in a can business... although I found one I can tolerate at Central Market... its smoked hatch chile enchilada sauce or something close to that name.

Nothing beats this sauce though. Its smoky and thick. Really easy to make and has no meat (which will come in handy when I need meals on Friday during Lent). I made Mike's half of the pan with ground beef seasoned with chipotle lime seasoning and mine with just mixed mexican cheeses.

I wasn't happy with the photos so check out the Homesick Texan's recipe and photos!

Here are some other recipes on the blog that I have my eye on...

• black eyed pea dip
• chipotle sweet potato soup
• flour tortillas
• jalapeno cheese bun
• migas
• mexican chocolate pralines
• chorizo cream gravy
• jalapeno cheese grits
• brisket tacos

I LOVE Texas cooking and food. My great friend Jen, currently residing in London and missing chips and queso, will be happy that I'm practicing making Texas treats for her to eat on her next visit!

A weekend's worth of recipes!

Our great friends threw us a luau shower over the weekend (stay tuned for pictures) and we had lots of family in town to celebrate with us. I made lots of yummy things to have on hand for our visitors including classic chocolate chip cookies, salsa, sonoma chicken salad (I actually swapped out 2/3 of the mayo and used low-fat greek yogurt to decrease the fat content), pancetta and green onion tart and finally buttermilk cheddar biscuits made mini-style.








Ok - that sounds (and looks) like a lot. But I planned ahead and got to spend lots of time with the fam while having a kitchen full of goodies. I prepared the cookie dough the weekend before, rolled it into an easily sliceable log and froze it. Thursday night, I sliced the dough into about 3 dozen cookies and baked them. I also made the salsa Thursday night. Saturday morning before our company arrived, I chopped and crisped the pancetta, chopped green onions, grated cheese for both the tart and biscuits and chopped the butter for biscuits. I put all that back in the fridge (all measured and ready to go!) All that planning made Sunday morning much easier on me. I woke up and was able make a great brunch for me and Mike; my parents, sister and her boyfriend; my grandparents; my aunt, cousin and baby G; and Mike's mom and 2 sisters! We definitely had a full house!

Thanks to everyone for coming to visit and making the shower special!

Mascarpone Cupcakes!

These mascarpone cupcakes just might be my favorite cupcakes. They are of course, a Giada recipe. The texture is really light, sort of like angel food cake but has so much more flavor and smells REALLY good. The strawberry icing is just up my alley since I do not like chocolate or things that are super sweet.

Mike's mom came into town to take our engagement pictures and wanted to try this recipe after seeing it in one of the cookbooks I had laying around. Mike loves them so I decided to surprise him and bake them before he got home from work.

The only bad thing about the cupcakes is that I'm tempted to eat every single one!

Strawberry Pancakes with Honey Syrup

In some areas, the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday is also known as "Pancake Tuesday." In honor of this fun tradition of lots of pancakes, I'm making pancakes each weekend in February. (This was a very last minute idea that came about late last night as I watched Bobby Flay's Blueberry Pancake throwdown episode.)

I didn't have everything I needed to make pancakes from scratch so I started with the box of Aunt Jemima Buttermilk Pancake mix and made the batter according to the box. To make them a bit special, I thawed a handful of frozen strawberries last night and tossed them into the food processor this morning. I stirred the smooth strawberry mixture into the pancake batter right before cooking for strawberry pancakes.

Mike likes lots of maple syrup on his pancakes but I like a less syrup and something lighter in taste. So, I searched a bit online and found a recipe for honey syrup:

Bring 1/3 cup water and 1/3 cup sugar to a boil, cook over medium heat until sugar has dissolved. Lower heat to low and add in 1/3 cup honey, stir to dissolve honey into sugar syrup. Keep warm until ready to serve.







Everything turned out yummy for a last minute idea. Next weekend will be a bit more planned out... check back for "Fat Tuesday Pancakes" in honor of Mardi Gras!

Ninth Dish of Christmas: Easy Chunky Tomato Sauce

I got this recipe from the basics section of the "Everyday Food: Great Food Fast" cookbook (Martha Stewart). Its a great basic that shows that you can make an easy marinara at home and know exactly what's in your food.

Easy Chunky Tomato Sauce

makes 6 cups

prep time: 15 minutes

total time: 45 minutes

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped (3 cups)
3 garlic cloves, chopped (about 1 tablespoon)
coarse salt and black pepper
2 cans (28 ounces each) diced tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme or italian seasoning

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.

2. Add the tomatoes with their juice and the thyme/seasonings; simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened, 20 to 25 minutes.

The sauce can be used that day or frozen for up to 2 months.

I didn't want mine too chunky so I blended about 2/3 of the sauce in a blender. There are still tomato chunks but it is a bit smoother than leaving it all chunky.








Check out the Tenth Dish of Christmas to see what I used the tomato sauce for!