Skillet fajitas

Easiest way to make fajitas when the husband isn't home to man the grill.

Skillet fajitas 

Slice up skinless bones less chicken beasts

Place in skillet 

Sautee with olive oil, lemon juice and Worsteshire 

Season with salt, lemon pepper, garlic powder, paprika and red pepper

Cook for a good 20 mins

Add sliced onions and bellpeppers

Cook on low for another 30 mins.

Tada

I like to make a big fresh salad with romain lettuce, green onions, tomatoes, avocado and fresh basil or parsley. Season with Tonys, olive oil and lemon juice and toss!

Put your salad in your taco!

Or put the chicken in your taco!

Tonight I also seared up some shrimp-

Just seasoned with olive oil, lemon juice, salt, red pepper, lemon pepper and seared them on high heat.

Enjoy!

Baked Buffalo Spaghetti

I promised to post this recipe the next time I made it. The past two months this has become a family favorite.

Baked Buffalo Spaghetti-

Start by sauteeing your veggies 

The great thing about this is you can pack in lots of veggies and your kids won't even know. Here I put a onion, carrots, celery, bell pepper and zucchini!

Let those cook and soften 

Then add your ground buffalo meat.

I used 1lb. You can do more if you wanted.

Let it brown and cook through 

Season with salt, garlic powder, red pepper, oregano and basil.

Add chopped fresh tomatoes (whatever you have)

I had Roma and heirloom 

Then let them cook down, break them apart with your spoon when they soften. 

Add large can if Italian style tomatoes, squeeze them and break them apart as you put them in.

Reseason, turn on low and let simmer for an hour. 

Then I added fresh oregano and basil from my garden bc I had it. Not critical if you don't have just makes it extra good. 

Boil whichever noodles you want and then place in a casserole baking dish. I used a quina elbow I had in the pantry. 

Pour your sauce over the noodles, mix well and cover with foil. Bake at 350 for 45 mins.

Serve and dish! Enjoy!

Buffalo, the new read meat

I've really grown to like bison or buffalo meat. Costco has a ground organic bison meat that I stock our freezer with. The girls and everybody loves it! 

It's def noticeably leaner than regular ground meat- not as greasy but doesn't have any sort of gamey taste. 

I've used it a lot when I'd usually use lean ground beef or turkey.

A couple of family favorites is buffalo spaghetti casserole (I'll blog it next time I make it) and buffalo chilli.

Buffalo chilli

Start by sauteeing onion, celery and bell pepper (if I had a jalapeño I would of put that too)

Then add your ground buffalo ( here I have 2lbs)

Brown it so it's cooked through

Season with salt, garlic powder, lemon pepper, red pepper and chilli powder.

Once that is cooked through add your beans 

I put one can of each- black, red and pinto.

Add large 20oz can of chopped tomatoes (I prefer Italian style)

Season again, stir really well and just let it simmer on low for a good two hours.

Tonight I served mine on top of half a sweet potato and topped with avocado!

Can not tell you how good this was and talk about getting your superfoods in!

Crawfish fettucine

I know I haven't posted in a while, mostly bc I've been cooking mostly the same things and had nothing really new to post. But today's post is not anything a close to healthy but it's an all time favorite of everybody! 

So write this one down....you're gonna want to remember this one!

Crawfish fettucine

Start buy melting one stick if butter

Then once it's melted add your trinity- chopped onion (1small sweet onion), 4 stalks of celery and bell pepper (I like to use 1/2 yellow and 1/2 of a red for pretty color)

Season with salt, garlic powder, lemon pepper, and red pepper.

I only had yellow bell pepper so that's what I used.

Then once your vegetables are soft, add 1 pint of half and half

Then let the cook (med heat) for about 10 mins and let it come together.

Then add your cheese- the real recipe calls for one link of Kraft garlic cheese but they discontinued making it so we use one link of the smallest velvetta size. 

Slice it up (so it melts faster) and let it melt and come together as a sauce. 

Then prepare your crawfish tails to put in. 

Key factor is having good crawfish tails. I was lucky my mom had brought me some fresh ones back from Louisiana. But you can get them at your grocery store just make sure they're from south Louisiana. I drain them in a strainer BUT do not rinse them! 

Then dump them in your sauce and let them plump up and cook for about 10 mins. 

Then add some chopped fresh parsley.

While you are cooking your sauce, boil your noodles and place in a casserole dish. We like to use 1 bag of broad egg noodles. I didn't have any so I had to use a pasta I had in the pantry- tonight that was a high fiber mini farfalle. 

So then your just pour your sauce over your noodles and mix it up real well.

Sprinkle with paprika.

Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 40 mins.

Serve with hot French bread to soak up the sauce... 

Enjoy!!!

Potato Leek soup

It's a snowy icy day and this was the perfect thing to make for lunch!

Potato leek soup

This is my mommas recipe and my first time to make it. It was insanely easy to make and so yummy and filling !

Start off by sautéing onion, you cleaned chopped leeks, carrots and I added 4 cloves of chopped garlic.  Season with salt, red pepper, lemon pepper, garlic powder, a little cinnamon. I also added a lil butter when they were sautéing.

Then I added chopped golden potatoes.

Covered and let cook down until all the veggies were soft (other than the potatoes) 

I added 4 cups of chicken broth 

Brought up to a boil and just let simmer for a good 2 hrs

Then everything is nice and soft

I took my hand held mixer and puréed it a bit

That's it!

I have to say some recipes will call for heavy cream but I don't think it needs it!

But- I would top it with creame fresh if I would have had it! That would have perfected it!

Greek Pitas

Here's a super easy yummy recipe.

Greek yogurt marinated chicken-

Put 4 chicken breasts in ziploc 

Cover in Greek yogurt

Season with lemon juice, lemon zest, garlic, basil, salt, red pepper, lemon pepper. Let marinate for at least 2 hrs.

Grill until cooked

To go with we grilled pitas

And I made tzatziki sauce

This is my version

Greek yogurt

Lemon zest

Lemon juice

Sweet onion

Raw garlic

Fresh mint and basil

Tony chacheres

Mix it all up

The more garlic, the spicer it will be.

Greek pitas

Or lettuce wrap style 

Yum!!!

Cabbage Rolls

Do y'all do the traditional eat your cabbage and black eyed peas supper for New Years??? We do! 

This recipe is a traditional Lebanese dish we make year round but one we always have on New Years for good luck!

My family's recipe for cabbage rolls-

Start by blanching your cabbage to tenderize the cabbage leaves

Put your whole head of cabbage in boiling water, as the leaves tendorize, pull each leaf off

Set them aside and let cool

This is my platter after I finished my whole head of cabbage 

Couple of tips- use tongs to pull the leaf away from the head and then use knife to cut the leaf off at the core. You might need to cut the core out during the process to make it easier

Then while you let your leaves cool, prepare the mixture you are going to stuff them with.

I used 1.5 lbs of ground sirloin to 1 cup rice. Season with salt, garlic powder, lemon pepper, red pepper, and cinnamon. Mix well adding cold water while mixing it together to make it moist. 

Here is my stuffing.

Then prepare your cabbage leaves by cutting the hard white stem out of the leaves 

Cut out that middle hard part

And the big leaves you can cut in half

Then once you have all your leaves and mixture ready, prepare you pot you are going to cook them in. 

Line the pot with the big dark green outer cabbage leaves. 

*many traditional Lebanese recipes line their pots with lamb bones but I do not*

Mostly bc I cook them/ like them how my mom makes them and she doesn't!

So then you roll your cabbage leaves!

Lay a leaf out, line it with a decent amount of stuffing

Fold outside edges in and roll

*there is no right/perfect way to roll, you learn how to do it your way just by doing it and seeing what works best for you!

Then just place cabbage rolls in pot stacking them close together and place garlic cloves around the pot (I did 4)

Cover in chicken stock and add water if you need, you want liquid about an inch over the rolls 

Then I place a plate over all of it to hold them all down while it cooks

Bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer and let cook for a good 1 1/2 hrs, most if the liquid will cook out. Remove plate and squeeze fresh lemon and let cook another 15 mins or so.

Then empty into a dish and enjoy!

***many times I have extra stuffing, cook down in a lil chicken stock and water and it's a good snack for the kids***