{CrockPot} Chicken Fajitas

We are in NYC and if you haven't heard, we have been hit by some snow recently.  Brendan works the snow shift and I have been really trying to dedicate myself to the gym after work, so literally we only see each other about 2 hours in the morning (if we're lucky- usually he is asleep when I wake up for work).  Anyway, since that has been happening and we have more snow on the way, I still wanted him to eat good even when I wasn't home to make him a normal meal.  I turned to my trusty crockpot.  It is way easier for me to prep at night and then just pop in the base and turn on in the morning, but do what suits you.

I have tried sweet and sour chicken, chicken fajitas and tonight is sausage in sauce with pasta.  I need to go food shopping asap, so not sure what the rest of the week will bring!

Ingredients

• about 2 pounds of boneless skinless chicken breasts (I think I had a bit less than 2 lbs)
• 2 onions, sliced
• 2 peppers, sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 chipolte pepper in adobe, minced
• 1/2 cup of chicken stock
• 1 lime, zest and juice
• spices: 2 tbsp cumin, 2 tbsp chili powder, 1 tsp oregano, a pinch cayenne

Directions

• Add the onions, peppers and garlic to the bottom of the pot.
• Add the chicken and the chicken stock.
• Add the rest of the ingredients. (When you add the spices try and sprinkle evenly over the chicken)
• Set on low for 5 hours (or anywhere between 4-8 hours.  I try and not over do it with boneless chicken breasts because they tend to dry out a tad).
• When done, shred the chicken and mix in the juices.  Serve on a tortilla and with any toppings you prefer! (I went with avocado, jalapeno peppers, tomatoes and cilantro)

Not only is this healthy, but super simple. I just gave my little sister a crockpot for her new home- so here's another recipe for ya Cait! :)

Greek Pizza for Foodie Friends Friday

Go check out Foodie Friends Friday!  The Link Party is where members all link up and share recipes from their blogs :)

Just another version of awesome pizzaness!

Toppers: Chicken, Baby Arugula, Onion, Peppers, Garlic, Tomato slices, Feta Cheese

First get your dough ready:

Dough Recipe

Oven should be the highest it can go- mine goes to 550 degrees F.  Let it preheat, along with your pizza stone if you have one (and if you don't just use a pizza pan or baking sheet)

Ingredients

• 1 boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into small bite sized pieces
• 1 large tomato sliced
• 2 large handfuls of baby arugula
• 1/2 pepper, diced
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• a fist sized piece of feta cheese, crumbled
• salt, pepper and red pepper flakes

Directions

1. In a skillet saute the chicken breast and season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.
2. When cooked through remove from skillet and reserve.  Then add half an onion, half a pepper (I used green bell pepper) and garlic.  Saute until soft, about 5 minutes.
3. When the dough is ready roll out and lay on your stone/pan.  Then layer your sliced tomatoes, chicken, pepper onion mixture, arugula and then finally the cheese.
4. Cook for about 12 minutes and always keep an eye on it- because sometimes it will cook faster or slower depending on crust thickness and oven temps.
5. When it came out I drizzle with a bit of extra virgin olive oil and let cool a couple minutes then slice and serve!

You can also top with some olives- yum.

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1. Spatulas on Parade for the Sock It To Me Cake

2. Chef Picky Kid for the Teriyaki Pulled Chicken

3. Country Girl at Home with the Chocolate Gravy

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Memorial Day Weekend- BBQ, Beer and Bikes



Pretty awesome right?


Memorial Day is always about BBQ Beer and Bikes for us LOL. But then again that's pretty much our life in general during the summer.  And I wouldn't have it any other way.

So over the Memorial Day weekend we packed up and took a 5 hour drive down to West Virginia to the Summit Point Motorsports Park.  It was a CCS Racing weekend.  So proud of Brendan for doing so well first time at this track.  I'm his number one fan and sponsor.  The weather was amazing- hot and sunny.  Got myself a nice tan and my fiance got some race time in.  We had such a great time.  He loads up his truck with bike stuff and I load the pop-up camper with food and everything else. 

We have limited space in the cooler and mini fridge so I need to plan out a weekends worth of meals accordingly.  I also don't like to settle for just hamburgers and hot dogs, so this is a quick run down of what I made for the weekend:

Friday Night (we arrived): homemade burgers and hot dogs after we set up camp.
Saturday Breakfast: bagels, bananas and coffee (we had this everyday for breakfast)
Saturday Lunch: grilled pizza
Saturday Dinner: Chicken Kabobs and Asparagus
Sunday Lunch: Grilled Sausage, Pepper and Onion Sandwiches
Sunday Dinner: Pork Tenderloin with grilled corn
Monday Lunch: Chicken Kabobs and Asparagus

Of course we had A LOT of drinks on hand. It was so hot- water, Gatorade, iced tea, Redbull and of course beer.

We had some cheese doodles, triscuits, hummus and other various snacks too.

Not exactly the healthiest of choices, but hey it's vacation!

Everything I cooked was very simple prep and simple cook.  All the veggies were simply seasoned with salt, pepper and oil.  The chicken kabobs were just skewered boneless skinless chicken breasts seasoned with McCormick Montreal Steak Seasoning (my fav go-to summer seasoning).  The pork tenderloin was marinated in garlic, honey, jalapenos, oil, lime juice, salt and pepper.  I even grilled the bagels to toast them up.  FYI if you have never had grilled asparagus- go and make that tonight- they are the bomb.

And if you have never grilled pizza- get on that!  It is probably the closest thing you will have to real brick oven pizza.  It is super simple too.  I really should have brought my rolling pin though- was a pain to roll it out- that's why its super misshaped but whatever it's "rustic".  I packed homemade dough (you could even do store bought), shredded cheese, sliced tomatoes and fresh basil.  Roll the dough out and lay on the grill.  I then brush or drizzle a bit of oil.  Let that cook and bubble up.  When it is ready to turn you will be able to grab it up and it will easily pull away from the grill.  Flip it over and top with tomatoes and basil then the cheese to help everything stay put.  Cover (aka close the lid), turn heat to low and just wait until everything melts.  Even if you burn the bottom, it still tastes really good! (oh yea- don't forget a cutting board and knife!)

Here's all the rest of the weekend!




Lexi sun bathing




Dutchy Moo Cow is hot




Mini fridge is stocked plus we had a cooler



gotta have the hot sauce

Our home away from home (with a/c of course!)

Ya know, just the essentials

Simple breakfast plus coffee of course

My ride

A man of many talents

Took him on the turn

Yea forgot to soak the skewers- oh well!

Race grid

Shade!

Love sausage super crispy- cut sausage in half then serve on buns with ketchup!

Yea, these boys don't play around when it comes to speed

Cooling off in the camper- isn't this the cutest thing you've ever seen???!!!!

Held his position against this guy and took 11 out of 23 in this race! So proud of you babe, I love you!

Spicy Southwest Deviled Eggs

So here is what you do with all those left over Easter eggs (or you can throw them into salads which is one of my favs too).  I've tried a lot of different versions of deviled eggs and haven't had a bad egg yet (haha).  Deviled eggs are awesome because as long as you make the perfect hard boiled egg- you can do whatever you want with the rest!

Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs:

Take cold eggs and cover with cold water in a pot.  Cover the pot and bring up to a boil. As soon as it comes to a boil, shut off the heat and let sit covered for 10 mins. Then carefully remove the eggs and let sit in cold water until cool enough to handle, then either refrigerate or peel and eat!

Perfect eggs every time, with no gross grey lining in the yolk!

This recipe I went for a lighter version, but used big flavors so you wouldn't notice the lack of yolks or mayo traditionally used.  This recipe can be doubled for a larger crowd, but this worked very well for 10 people.

Ingredients

• 8 hard boiled eggs, sliced in half long ways and yolks removed and reserved
• 10 yolks (which is really 10 halves of yolks), or 5 whole yolks
• 2 tbsp of low fat mayo
• 1 tsp of prepared horseradish
• 1 tbsp of mustard (whatever you have, yellow, dijon, whole grain etc)
• 2 tbsp of roasted red pepper, chopped fine
• 2 tbsp of pickled jalapenos, chopped fine
• 1/4 cup of non fat plain yogurt
• 1 big pinch of salt (can adjust to your taste later)
• fresh cracked pepper
• a pinch (about 1/2 tsp) of garlic powder
• ground chipolte powder- sprinkle a pinch on each egg for garnish
• I also garnished with slices of jalapenos, roasted red pepper and parsley leaves (cilantro would have been nice here too)

Directions

1. After you make the hard boiled eggs and split them in half length wise, remove the yolks and set aside.
2. Add 10 yolk halves to a bowl with the rest of the ingredients, except the garnish pieces and chipolte powder.

3. Combine until smooth. Taste and see if it needs more salt- adjust to your liking.
4. Put yolk mixture in a small ziplock bag and cut off the tip to make a piping bag.  Pipe the mixture back into the hollowed out egg whites. 
5. Sprinkle a small pinch of chipolte powder in each egg and garnish to your liking.
6. Refrigerate up to a day or serve right away.

Healthy Corned Beef Skewers & Potato Kale Cups

So even though it is the day after you can make this dinner any day for a healthier spin on traditional corned beef and cabbage.

My grandma and my parents have made the traditional corned beef and cabbage on the stove and in the slow cooker.  It is definitely a comfort food meal, especially when paired with some delicious potatoes! I wanted to make my recipe a bit on the healthier side though.  Put a fresh (even fancy) spin on the traditional dish.  This is also awesome for parties because it is essentially finger foods! 

Some say that Colcannon is the national dish of Ireland, some say it's the stew, I don't know, but Colcannon is just mashed potatoes with kale and scallions.  That is what inspired my potato cups.

Let's start out with the corned beef.  Traditionally corned beef is made with brisket, a fatty cut of beef, but instead I used a leaner cut of beef (the eye round roast).  (Here is some other lean cuts you could use) I also saved myself the trouble of making my own pickling spice by just buying a premixed one.

Grilled Corned Beef

Ingredients:

• 1 round roast (mine was about 3 pounds)
• 1 quart of water
• 1/2 cup salt
• 2 tbsp of sugar
• 1 tablespoons of pickling spice
• 2 garlic cloves smashed

Directions:

1. Combine all these in a sealable container or bag and put in the fridge. I brined mine for 24 hours, but you can do it for about 4-6 days.

Originally I wanted to skewer them in large pieces, but it didn't work as well on the stove top grill pan as I thought.  So if you are going to skewer them for a party then I suggest cutting them into cubes and then skewer.  Or if you are just having dinner cut into steaks and grill them up.

When you are ready to cook, take out of the brine and pat dry.  Cut or skewer and then grill them.

This cut of beef was gorgeous

Guinness Mustard Sauce

Equal parts of a spicy whole grain mustard and Guinness.  (I did 3 tbsp each) A couple grinds of fresh black pepper.  Combine these in a small pan and cook down until the beer and mustard become a sauce consistency.  Before serving stir in a tbsp of chopped chives.  Drizzle or dip!

Sweet Potato and Kale "Colcannon" Cups

So this is the first time I ever cooked kale.  Let me tell you, it is awesome.  I could of just eaten it sauteed.  It gets like crispy leaves, almost like chips.  Super good for you, I will definitely be adding this to my regular cooking list.  Completely raw it tastes almost like broccoli, but cooked it is like a mild crispy broccoli/spinach. Delicious.

Ingredients:

• 4 regular potatoes
• 4 sweet potatoes
• 1 bunch of kale
• 4 garlic gloves
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup low fat milk
• chives
• cooking spray

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
2. Start by making the potato cups.  I suggest using a mandoline for this- slice the regular potatoes and put in water.  Soaking starchy potatoes before you cook them, whether it be frying or baking it helps them cook up crisp.  Then pat dry.  Spray a muffin tin with non stick spray and line with the potato slices, try and push and form them into the cup shape as best you can.                                 
3. Bake them for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.  Depending on how thin you sliced them it might take longer or shorter time, just keep an eye on them.
4. Meanwhile cut the sweet potatoes into chunks and smash 3 of the garlic cloves.  Put those into a pot with a tbsp of salt and cover them with cold water.  Put them on the stove and boil until fork tender.
5. In another skillet, add a tbsp of oil and the last smashed garlic clove.  Wash and strip the kale from the stalk (see pics) then cut the kale into small pieces.  Add that to the hot skillet and cook until tender and a little crispy on the edges.
6. When the sweet potatoes are done, drain and then put back into the pot (garlic cloves and all).  Add the milk and mash.  When all mashed add the kale, a pinch more salt and lots of fresh cracked pepper. Stir to combine.
7. Take out the cups and fill with about 2 tbsp of sweet potato filling and top with chopped chives.