Seasonal Fruit Salad

Ingredients:

Pear, grapes, apple, plum, and pomegranate

Make It:

Cut all fruit into small pieces. Peel pomegranate and get all seeds out. Mix all together in a bowl.

Enjoy!

A little info about pomegranates, it is a little difficult to get the seeds out. Once you do though they are very good, sweet and a little sour. Also they are very high in antioxidants, contain vitamin c, vitamin b5, and potassium.

Chicken Fajitas

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts cut into small strips

2 or 3 bell peppers assorted colors(depending on how much heat you like you can also add poblanos, anaheims, and jalapenos) cut into strips

1 onion cut into strips

1/2 packet taco seasoning with about 1tblsp chili powder and cumin added to it

If you like you can also add mushrooms, fresh tomatoes, and squash or zucchini

1 lime

Flour tortillas

Assorted toppings(sour cream, avocado, pico de gallo)

Make It:

Heat a wok or large iron skillet over high heat. Toss chicken with seasoning until coated. Spray pan with pam, turn heat down a little. Put chicken in the pan, cook quickly stirring often, should take about five minutes, pour onto a separate dish. Put pan back over heat, spray again, put veggies in pan(if using mushrooms, tomatoes, or squash add them after you have cooked the peppers and onions because they are tender and will get mushy) cook quickly stirring often. Cook 2 or 3 minutes, you want them to be crisp tender. Add chicken back to pan and stir to combine. Squeeze lime over fajitas, stir. Heat tortillas. Serve fajitas in tortilla with toppings. Enjoy!

Chili Macaroni

In an effort to save time the day I made the mac and cheese I cooked a whole box of macaroni noodles. I used 1/2 that day and stored the second 1/2 for this recipe. Also this is a recipe that could easily be doubled to feed a crowd, and can be made ahead and reheated.

Ingredients:

1lb. ground beef

1 big green bell pepper or 2 sml diced

1 onion diced

1 jalapeno diced(optional)

1 can diced tomatoes or 2 cups homemade diced tomatoes

2 to 4 tablespoons chili seasoning, add 2 then taste and add more if you ned too

1c. red chile sauce

1c. cheddar cheese

Make it:

Heat a large skillet over medium heat, add beef, cook until browned, drain. Add onion and peppers cook until softened. Add tomatoes let simmer(small amount of bubbles) for ten minutes. Add chili seasoning, stir to combine, add chile sauce. Simmer ten more minutes and taste, add more seasoning if it needs it. Turn broiler on high. Pour macaroni into a casserole dish and sprinkle cheese on top. Put under broiler until cheese is melted(watch closely it happens fast). Enjoy!

Bacon Mac & Cheese, Cauliflower with Cheese Sauce

Ingredients:
1/2 box macaroni noodles cooked

1c. cheddar cheese

4oz. 2% velveeta

1 head cauliflower cut into individual florets and boiled until tender

4 pieces bacon cooked until crispy

2c. milk

2tblsp. flour

2tblsp. butter

Make It:

Heat a saucepan over medium heat, add butter, once butter is melted, add flour. Whisk to combine, slowly add in milk, whisking constantly. Once milk is combined and there are no lumps stop whisking and allow to come to a low simmer(little bit of bubbles). Stir occasionally to prevent bottom from burning. Once bubbly turn down heat a little and let sauce cook until thickened. Add velveeta and stir till melted and combined, do the same with the cheddar. In a separate pot add noodles, crumbled bacon, and 3/4 of the cheese sauce. Stir to combine. Pour the rest of the sauce over the cauliflower when you serve it. Enjoy!

Menu for September 21st-27th

Monday- Grilled steak, lobster, baked potato, green salad

Tuesday- Grilled marinated chicken,bacon mac & cheese, cauliflower with cheese sauce

Wednesday- Pizza(homemade or take out)

Thursday- Chicken fajitas, refried beans

Friday- Sushi

Saturday- Chili macaroni, green salad

Sunday- Tri-tip, chili, mashed potatoes, fruit salad

Dessert of the week: Jessicas Cupcakes!

Basic Cooking Tip of The Week 2

How to fry a taco shell:

To make 12 taco shells, heat 3/4 oil over medium high heat, it should be hot enough in 3 minutes. Add the tortilla like this

Then lift up one side and fold in half like this
Then flip to the other side
Cook each shell this way until they are light brown on both sides, transfer to a paper towel lined plate, so they can drain off any excess oil.

Enjoy with your favorite taco fillings!

Steak Tacos

Ingredients:

2 steaks(I use top sirloin or new york) cut into bite size chunks

1/4c. taco seasoning(homemade or packaged)

1/4c. water

1 lime

14 corn tortillas, fried

Toppings-finely chopped cilantro, diced onion, sriracha thai chili sauce or salsa, avocado, grated cheese

Make It:

Heat a large skillet to medium high, toss steak with taco seasoning. Spray pan and add steak. Cook about 3 minutes until browned, stirring to get an even brown. Add water bring to a low simmer and reduce heat to low, stir occasionally, cook 5-10 minutes until sauce thickens. Meanwhile in a small sauce pan heat oil and fry tortillas. Prep toppings. Squeeze lime on steak and stir. Take a taco shell add meat, cheese, sriracha, cilantro, onion, one piece of sliced avocado. Enjoy!

A little info about sriracha, its a thai chili sauce you find in the asian food section at the market. It is spicy and a little sweet. Start with a little. After a couple trys you will love it! I put it on tacos, mix it in soy sauce to pour on rice, add to stir fry sauce, dip steak in it, and put it on my sushi.