Easiest Family Meal Ever—Crock Pot Fajitas

Family Friendly Meal Series, Day 5

With my leftover grilled chicken from Day 1, I planned to make my White Bean Chicken Chili. Alas, the recipe I had honed after many batches in the slow cooker was on my old laptop, the files from which are on my backup drive that I just haven't had two seconds to find, plug in, or wade through. Anywhoooo, time for Plan B.

Whenever I am absolutely at a loss about what to make for dinner, out comes my universally-loved Crock Pot Fajitas!

Ingredients (for a family of four)
• four boneless chicken breasts
• 2 cups salsa
• 1.5 cups frozen corn
• flour tortillas
• shredded cheddar cheese

1. Place chicken breasts (frozen or thawed) in the bottom of the slow cooker in a single layer.
2. Put the salsa on top of the breasts, roughly half a cup spread on top of each breast.
3. Turn slow cooker on low and go do whatever the heck you want for 6 hours if the breasts are raw and 9 hours if the breasts are frozen.
4. Return after the amount of time in step 3, and put your frozen corn in the microwave for 1.5-2 mins with 2T of Water in a covered microwavable dish.
5. While the corn is cooking, take a spatula and shred the chicken breasts in the slow cooker so it looks like the picture.
6. When the corn is done, dump it into the slow cooker and mix it all together.
7, Put 4 tortillas on a microwavable plate and cover with a dampened paper towel and heat on 1 minute at half power.
8. Using a slotted spoon and spatula to squeeze out all the liquid, put the fajita mixture into tortillas, and add some shredded cheese to taste.

I have served these in the summer with watermelon, the winter with acorn squash, and most often with a tossed salad. Sometimes, when our family is heading out to a baseball game, I wrap each filled tortilla individually in tin foil and off we go...dinner on the run.

Chicken Tortellini

Family Friendly Meals Series Day 4

Ingredients
• Package of chicken tortellini, I get the family-sized one sold in the deli case at Stop & Shop (they're fresh, not frozen)
• one sweet yellow onion
• four medium sized apples, I used gala
• butter
• honey
• fresh ground black pepper

Step by Step Instructions
• Preheat oven to 400 and put a pot of water on the stove to boil the tortellini in and set the burner on high.
• Chop up the onion and two of the apples. Spread them on a baking sheet.
• Melt a half a stick of butter and add 3-4 tbsp honey (to your level of sweetness).
• Using a basting brush, baste the onion and apple with the honey butter.
• Put this in the oven and roast for 25 mins.
• Put the tortellini in the boiling water so that it will be done just as the apple/onion mixture is coming out of the oven.
• While the pasta is boiling, slice up the remaining apples for the kids.
• After draining the tortellini, set some aside for the kids and just top those with butter and salt. Top the remaining pasta with the onion/apple mixture and season with fresh ground pepper.

Enjoy!

My Eldest Had Seconds!

Family Friendly Meals Series Day 3

If I've said this already, then forgive me, but it bears repeating. I follow RealSimple on Twitter and they launched a 30=day recipe blog series. It included things like lamb and salmon that no typical 10-year-old would eat. The seemingly complete lack of respect for the day-to-day challenge of cranking out meals that children will eat, and that I can enjoy myself, annoyed me. And simultaneously inspired me.

Anywhoooo, I trudge on with another post, the third in my series: a healthy, affordable staple in my house. In fact, tonight my finicky 13-year old had seconds. Victory, my friends.

Ingredients
• a lb of lean ground turkey
• 8 oz of frozen corn
• 1.5 tbsp seasoned salt (I like Lawry's)
• 2 cups minute brown rice (no, that's not a typo...my kids happily eat brown rice!)
• plus whatever you want to have for a side dish (see last paragraph)

Put a pot of water on to boil, following the recipe for stove top cooking on the minute rice box. The rice will take a total of about 10 minutes and so will the turkey. So at the same time, start to brown the turkey meat on medium in a frying pan. Because I use very lean ground turkey, it is important to cook the turkey slowly and not dry it out. The other secret to my success is that I chop the turkey up very finely using my pampered chef mix-n-chop, though you can do it with a good spatula too. When the turkey is almost done cooking, add the seasoning salt and a couple tbsp water. While the rice and turkey are cooking, I also put the corn in the microwave to warm. Put the corn and a couple tablespoons water in the microwave in a safe and coverable dish and heat on high for 2.5 minutes and repeat. Once the corn is heated, add it to the meat in the frying pan.

On the side: For the kids, I sliced apples as a side dish and for me and Paul I put greens, chopped apple, toasted almonds and a bit of gorgonzola cheese in a salad and tossed with olive oil and red wine vinegar.

Autumn

This post is by guest blogger Turner French, written Sept. 9, 2010.

I was standing on the pitcher's mound, the highest point in the field. I can feel the breeze whooshing, wanting to blow my hat off. In the background, I can see trees—some with leaves, some without. The air is cool and crisp. It makes a shiver run down my spine. As I'm in my windup, the slow, cool breeze at my back urges the ball to go harder and farther. As it reaches the plate, I can see it's right down the middle. I can hear the umpire shout, "Steeeriiiike three!" As I walk off the field, I smell that smell that only fall can create.

Leftover Grilled Chicken Idea #1

Family Friendly Meals Series Day 2

Since you grilled 3 lbs of chicken on Day 1, there's bound to be a few leftovers.

Here is your first great idea to try.

For the kids, make chicken and cheese paninis.

Ingredients: leftover cooked chicken breasts, american cheese and hot dog buns.

Take a couple of the halved and cooked chicken breasts and cut thin slices with a sharp knife. I picked up a mini George Foreman grill at a tag sale for about $2 and it is the best panini maker ever. Put the thinly sliced chicken in the hot dog but with some american cheese and voila: kid-friendly paninis.

For the adults, we are having zesty chicken salad.

Ingredients: 3-4 leftover halved and cooked chicken breasts, 1.5-2 cups of halved seedless red grapes, 1 cup chopped and salted walnuts, mayo, spicy brown mustard, and fresh ground pepper. A fuji apple is optional. Plus your choice of crusty bread or your favorite lettuces.

Cut the leftover breasts into half-inch cubes with your kitchen scissors. Put them into a mixing bowl. Add the halved grapes and chopped walnuts. If you choose to add the fuji apple, core and chop into 1/4 inch pieces. I leave the skins on for the crunch factor. Adding the apple means you will add less condiments, lowering the calorie count. Moisten the mixture with mayo (I prefer light mayo). Depending on the amount of chicken breasts you use it will be about 4-5 T. Once you have added the mayo, the mixture should not be soupy...just slightly moist throughout. Then add a long psssshhhhhht of spicy mustard. Mix it all up and taste it. If it is too spicy, add a bit more mayo. If not spicy enough, then a little more mustard. Top with fresh ground pepper and then decide if you are having chicken salad sandwiches on crusty bread or your atop your favorite greens.

Day 3 in my Family Friendly Meals Series will be another option for the leftover chicken.

Put It All On the Grill

Family Friendly Meals Series Day I

One of the easiest meals I cook is when I grill chicken, vegetables and potatoes all at the same time. And my family thinks I am a gourmet chef when I do. Here are some of the keys to my success and step by step by instructions for those who aren't confident in the kitchen.

Ingredients:
3 lb family pack of chicken breasts
1 bottle Wishbone Robusto Italian dressing
two peppers and one onion (my oldest boy prefers the onion, but you can grill whatever veggies you want)
15-20 baby red or white potatoes
Olive Oil
fresh fruit

Total prep and cooking time: about 30 minutes.

1. Start by prepping the chicken. Trim everything off the chicken that a kid might find "icky"...get a great pair of food scissors for this and the task is a snap.

2. Marinate your chicken. The marinade that my family all likes is Wishbone Robusto Italian dressing. I also cut all my chicken breasts in half so they marinate quickly and evenly. I usually do this in the morning before I go to work.

3. Thirty minutes before you are ready to eat, turn your grill on to heat up (med heat), and put the potatoes on the top rack. Be sure to prick the potatoes with a fork before you do. Close the grill. Set the timer for 10 minutes.

4. Cut up the peppers and onions and place them in a grill basket. If you don't have one, I highly recommend the pampered chef grill basket. I am obsessively in love with mine <3. If you have a Misto or spray bottle for you Olive Oil, mist the vegetables with Olive Oil and season with salt. If you don't have a spray bottle, baste lightly with Olive Oil.

5. When the timer goes off, the potatoes have been on the grill for about 10 mins, now it is time to turn them. Close the grill again. Now set the timer for 5 minutes.

6. Next I wash or cut up some fresh fruit for the kids.

7. When the timer goes off again, it is time to put the prepped chicken and vegetables on the grill. Give the potatoes another turn. Close the grill when through. Set 7 minutes on the timer. (Note: because I cut all my chicken breasts in half, they cook quickly.)


8. Head back in and put the drinks and fruit on the table. Wash all utensils used so far and the marinating dish, and clear your working space!

9. After the timer dings again, the chicken, potatoes, and vegetables need to be turned. Set the timer for another 7 minutes.

10. Tell the kids to wash their hands. Then pull out and put on the table whatever toppings you want for your potatoes: butter/smart balance, salt, etc. Pull out a large platter. I use one that belonged to Paul's mom's nana, we we always end up talking about the generations of Frenches who have eaten dinner off that platter when I serve this meal.

11. When the timer dings, it is time to serve.

When dinner is over, the clean up is minimal because all the cooking was done on the grill and you did a "clean as you go" in the midst of the cooking process.

On my next post, I will share what I do with the leftovers!

Skinny Jeans and Fairness

If you have met my eldest, you know why we call him Big T. He has grown 6.5 inches in the last year. From afar, he looks like a double stick popsicle with a head. Skinny jeans are all the rage with the youngins these days. For T, they are a fashion necessity. If he wears normal jeans, they look like bozo pants.

In anticipation of returning to school, we cleaned out T's closet to see what still fit from last year. The answer: nothing. Skinny jeans go for about $50 full price at Kohls or Zumiez. I was bumming.

The Scottish in me took over, however. I found one pair of skinny jeans for $19 at Marshalls, and another pair on sale at Kohls (for which I also used a 30% coupon) so I paid only $25. Now I felt victorious.

However, now that I am back at work, laundry isn't being done with the frequency it has been over the summer. So after many squabbles and seemingly endless bickering, I was back at Kohls with another 30% off coupon.

This was the end for Hayden (who only got one pair of skinny jeans). His invisible, proverbial cork popped and out came, "Mom, that's not fair."

At this point, you might be thinking, "Why is Jenni bothering to blog this story?"

The events of the last 24 hours have been extraordinary. My husband and my puppy were attacked by a German Shepherd. My hubby is fine...went to the doc, was given a prescription and, other than a little soreness, he's recovering fine.

My puppy Brutus, on the other hand, hasn't fared so well. He is a twelve pound yorkie-dachsund, and cuter than that renowned bug's ear. The attack has left him with a 10-12" cut across his entire back. The vet described the injury as "what it would look like if you tried to pull a stuffed animal apart not by the seams." It is absolutely tragic.

I have really been struggling with my anger and grief over the situation. I am an admitted dog freak. And have been since I was about 8 years old. Brutus is an innocent creature. He has never harmed anyone or anything. He didn't deserve what happened yesterday.

That's when it hit me. Fairness is a man made concept. It is an ideal, not reality. If it were real, then my friends on Batey 50 in La Romana (photos above) would have a house as nice as mine and as much food to eat as I do. My friend Samantha wouldn't have juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, but rather two healthy knees like my boys. Little Macey King wouldn't have battled cancer (and won, by the way) numerous times before she turned 10, while I sit here at 45 still chugging along as healthy as an ox. There is no question, life isn't fair.

What dawned on me is that fairness isn't a God-given gift, but I do believe that justice is. Justice is eternal and not of this world. I am hanging on for that.

Funny Story

Just as I am about to serve dinner, my children come bursting into the kitchen and say that they want to go to do parkour, their latest hobby and a fantastic workout, at the local middle school with their buddies who live next door. It is completely irrelevant to them that I have worked for the last hour and a half to make home made turkey/lentil/barley soup, corn bread and salad. They just want to go play. And while I could have said no, I had said no the previous two nights and after all it is Friday.

As I watched them pull away I was venting my frustrations to my hubby Paul, saying things like, "This has to stop. Why don't they (a 13 and 10 year old) understand my feelings?" And many other equally absurd things. The very last thing I said to Paul was, "You know what Paulie? I think I might finally be developing a temper." Heretofore I have been known for having a very long fuse. Anywhooooo....

I decide to turn the corner on my evening by opening a bottle of merlot. I reach down to the wine rack and grabbed a bottle. Now it is time to look closely at the image I posted with this blog. It is the label for the wine I chose. Are you noticing the name?

There is a bitter irony here. Cosmic forces at work? Yes, I think so.

Sidenote: It was quite tasty. Spicy and zippy without having a bite. Paul and I both liked it very much. And it retails for only $10 a bottle. Plus, the vintner is a chic...so I say, "You go girl."