Monday, January 23, 2012

Quick and Easy Chicken Meals - Easy Cheesy Fajitas and Easy Casserole


All busy cooks know you can never have too many quick and easy recipes. Yet we want those recipes to be tasty and healthy for our families. These recipes are family friendly for some quick meals at your house. Easy Cheesy Chicken Fajitas go together in minutes are combine several family favorites. Wrapped in a warm flour (grain) tortilla, you have a meat protein, spices, vegetables, and dairy (cheese). That is a pretty good meal in itself! The Easy Chicken Casserole also combines food groups and both recipes are diabetic friendly, too.
EASY CHEESY CHICKEN FAJITAS 
1/2 to 3/4 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 medium green bell pepper, cut into thin strips
1/2 medium red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
1/2 cup sliced onion
1 1/2 cups Mexican Style Shredded Cheese
6 (6-inch) flour tortillas, warmed
Your favorite salsa
1 lime cut into wedges, if desired
Spray a large nonstick skillet with nonstick cooking spray. Turn heat under skillet to medium-high and add the chicken strips and garlic. Cook about 5 minutes until chicken is lightly browned. Add the red and green bell peppers and the onion to the skillet. Cook about another 5 minutes until chicken is cooked through and the peppers and onion are crisp tender.
To make fajitas place a fourth cup of the chicken mixture and a 1/4 cup of the cheese down the center of each tortilla; fold tortilla over the filling. Serve with the salsa. Garnish with fresh lime wedges, if desired.
Yield: 6 fajitas

Friday, August 19, 2011

Cooking For One? Feed Yourself Well

Preparing meals for yourself can often be a pain. So often you're too tired and hungry after work to mess around in the kitchen so you end up eating a bowl of cereal rather than cook for yourself? Yeah, it happens. Since you don't have to consider what others want to eat, it's just simpler to eat whatever you have on hand.

Life changes such as the death of a spouse or divorce leave people alone to figure out how to adjust all of their previous cooking habits that worked for families but don't now that you're cooking for yourself only. You can learn how to make healthy changes that help streamline your cooking to save time and waste less as well.

Instead of stressing over it, how about taking on the task and experience some new foods that in previous years you wouldn't have been able to . Keep in mind, unless you're on a very limited budget, since you don't need as many groceries every week, you most likely have more money available for food, opening up your meal planning options considerably.


Friday, August 12, 2011

Want To Cook A Great Steak?

Is a tasty steak dinner your favorite meal? Does the thought of a juicy, melt-in-your-mouth steak cooked to perfection sound like heaven? Are you absolutely the worst steak cook in the world? What a terrible thought.

For some people the only way they are able to cook steak that isn't as tough as shoe leather is with a crockpot recipe where it cooks for several hours. But really, it is possible to grill a great steak, and here are a few tips to help you do just that.

Finding the right steak for your budget is the first step in cooking a perfect steak. If you are able to, purchase the best quality steak available. There is a big difference in how a cheap steak and a quality steak cooks. A one inch cut steak results in a juicier piece of meat than a skinny minute one, which, by the way, usually dry out fast and are not very user friendly for cooking.

One tip that many amatuer chefs aren't aware of is the need to let the steak reach room temperature before grilling. Simply let the steak sit out of the refrigerator for thirty minutes to an hour before grilling or pan frying.


Tuesday, August 09, 2011

Easy Sausage Casserole

Ingredients:

1 lb good-quality pork sausages
½ lb bacon, diced
½ lb onion, diced
1 garlic clove, crushed
6 oz mushrooms
½ tsp dried thyme
1 tsp all-purpose flour
1 bay leaf
1 cup red wine
Salt and pepper

Instructions:

Heat some vegetable oil in a frying pan and brown the sausages, then remove from pan. Add the bacon, onion and garlic and cook until the bacon pieces are nicely browned. Sprinkle with flour and stir well. Then add the wine, sausages, thyme, bay leaf and season well. Bring to a quick boil, then reduce temperature, cover and simmer for about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, brown the mushrooms in a small frying pan with a bit of oil and add to the sausage mixture. Continue cooking until the casserole is piping hot and the sausages are cooked through.

Back to the Table With My Country Kitchen



When you have a minute, take a look at my friend Betty's awesome self-published cookbook.

'Meal time is very important for the family to stay connected. Back to the Table with My Country Kitchen will provide you easy family recipes that you will enjoy preparing.'

I'm not an affiliate of this book, just happy to share Betty's work with you all. It's available for download or in paperback.

Back to the Table With My Country Kitchen by Betty Lynch


Thursday, July 28, 2011

Bacon, Egg and Potato Skillet

Serves 6 - 8

Ingredients:
½ lb sliced bacon
1 red bell pepper, diced
4 cups potatoes, peeled and cubed
½ onion, chopped
6 eggs, beaten
1 cup Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

Instructions:
In a large skillet, cook the bacon until crisp and nicely browned. Remove the bacon from the skillet and set aside. Add the potatoes, red bell pepper and onion to the skillet and cook in the bacon fat until the potatoes are soft. This should take about 10 - 15 minutes. Cut the bacon into small pieces and stir into the potato mixture. Add the eggs, cover and cook until the eggs are set. Top with the cheese and serve immediately with fresh tomato slices.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Are You Up for the Challenge? Ready for 'Once a Month Cooking?'

By: Sherry Frewerd


At the end of a busy day, what's the one thing you're looking forward to? Relaxing on the couch, taking a long bath, reading a good book...cooking a home cooked meal? Yeah, right. Unless you consider cooking a treat, which most tired mothers do not, the idea of coming up with yet another healthy and tasty dinner is just too much, and certainly not fun.

What would you say
if I told you there is a method that has become very popular among exhausted parents that gets the cooking done and meals prepared and made ready for the busy work weeks. No, I'm not talking about hiring a live in cook. Besides that's just another person to deal with. No, what I'm suggesting is something called 'once a month cooking.' Yep, you read it correctly. Also known as 'freezer cooking', it's a concept that's really taking off.

The idea is to set aside a couple of days where you cook your little heart out. That way your family gets really good dinners for the rest of the month and your time is freed up to do things like enjoy that hot bath or take tap dancing lessons...whatever floats your boat. 

What I've heard from moms who have tried 'OAMC' is that not only are they saving time and making good food, but they're actually saving money too. Seems like they're keeping their budgets on track by planning their meals. Makes sense.