Fajita Marinade

My mother-in-law and I were recently shopping at Costco on a Saturday. She asked me what I'd like for Sunday dinner and I quickly answered "fajitas!"
As we walked through the store, testing all the samples we came across a lady sampling beef. It was delicious! I asked the lady what kind of seasoning she used and she told me that she had been marinading the meat in 7-up and McCormick Grill Mates Montreal Steak Seasoning. The 7-up tenderizes the meat and the steak seasoning gives it a lot of flavor.

My mother-in-law marinated the steak while before church on Sunday so it was nice and tender by dinnertime. My hubby cooked up the meat while we got the rest of the fajita fix-ins ready. I like sauteed red peppers & onions, sour cream, homemade guacamole, shredded cheese and, of course, freshly cooked tortillas. By freshly cooked I don't mean that I made the dough, but I like to buy the raw tortillas at Costco and cook them up right before we eat.

So good! Everybody went back for 2nds & 3rds!

Homemade Salsa

I LOVE homemade salsa. It's pretty good canned as well, but nothing beats fresh salsa and tortilla chips. Mmm... my mouth is salivating right now. Seriously, this is the best.

So there isn't really an amount to anything here, just make as much as you want. But when I make it, I make alot. So I'll give you what I usually do.

6-7 tomatoes
3/4 green pepper, chopped
1 lime, squeezed
1 chopped jalepeno (remember the seeds inside are what is really hot, so don't just chop the whole thing and put it in unless you like it REALLY hot... I'm telling you this from experience. Although, that batch did last a long time, because we couldn't put very much on each chip!)
1/2 onion, chopped
cilantro - optional
salt
garlic powder

I cut the tomatoes first, and see how much I have, then add a small amount of everything and keep adding what I want until it tastes just right. But those amounts are generally what I end up using. Sorry, this is kind of generic but it gives you the opportunity to make your best salsa, just how you like it!

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

I've started a tradition in our home of "Mexican Monday" which just includes making Mexican food for dinner every Monday. It helps me focus in on what to make instead of having to think through 1000s of recipes to cook for that night. We could probably eat Mexican food 6 days a week (Italian on the other) but at least we have it on Mondays. Ohhh, I love Mondays!

Here's one of our favorite recipes...it takes a little work but it 100% worth it! The flavor is to die for!

1 1/4 pounds skinned and boned chicken breast halves
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 large onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
2 (14 1/2-ounce) cans Mexican stewed tomatoes
2 (4.5-ounce) cans chopped green chiles
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons fajita seasoning
2 cups half-and-half
9 (5-inch) corn tortillas, cut in half (I use as many as I want)
1 (8-ounce) package shredded Mexican cheese blend
Toppings: sliced green onions, sliced ripe olives, salsa, sour cream

Cook chicken in 1 tablespoon hot oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat 6 minutes on each side or until done. Remove from pan; cool and shred chicken (or cook it in your crock pot at the beginning of the month, freeze some and pull it out of the freezer for this...saving you like 20 minutes and extra dirty dishes that your husband will do, of course.)

Saute onion and garlic in remaining 1 tablespoon hot oil until tender. Add red pepper and tomatoes; cook, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes or until most of liquid evaporates. Remove from heat, and stir in chicken and green chiles.

Melt butter in a heavy saucepan over low heat; whisk in flour and fajita seasoning until mixture is smooth. Cook, whisking constantly 1 minute. Gradually whisk in half-and-half, and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until mixture is thickened and bubbly.

Spread 1/2 cup white sauce in a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish. Arrange 6 tortilla halves over sauce. Top with half of chicken mixture and 2/3 cup shredded cheese. Repeat layers once. Spoon 1/2 cup sauce over cheese; top with remaining tortilla halves. Spoon remaining sauce over tortillas. Reserve remaining cheese.

Cover and bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Sprinkle with remaining cheese, and let stand 10 minutes. Serve with desired toppings. Yield: 8 servings.
Taken from Southern Living Easy Entertaining

Mexican!!!

I LOVE Mexican food. I've also been really bad at posting recipes lately, sorry, but I've been out of town. So, I decided to post two of my favorites. Anyone who is from or has been to Utah, knows about Cafe Rio, right? Well, I love it, so I like to make Cafe Rio salad all the time, here's a recipe for their rice and their creamy tomatillo salad dressing. We even use the dressing as chip dip, we like it so much! I'm also posting a recipe for my favorite chicken marinade. The recipe says to marinade it then grill it, but I don't have a grill, so I just put the marinade and the chicken in my crockpot, cook it all together, then shred it for tostadas. Most of the time, I double the chicken so I can freeze a bag... this is by far my most favorite way to eat chicken and mexican food!!!!!

Chicken Tostadas

MARINADE:
1/2 cup fresh lime juice (about 3 to 4 limes)
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup vegetable oil (plus more for brushing the tortillas)
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
TOSTADAS
6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 4 ounces each)
8 small corn tortillas (5 to 6 inches in diameter)
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack, or more if desired
1 1/2 cups shredded lettuce
Optional toppings: salsa, guacamole, sour cream, cilantro, green onions

CAFE RIO DRESSING
2 cups mayonaisse
2 cups sour cream
10 sprigs of cilantro
3 tomatillos (green tomatoes looking things. They have a husk on them, you just peel it off, half the tomato and throw it in the blender)
2 green onions (washed and chopped)
2 cloves of garlic
1 jalapeno pepper (seeds and all - if you like it spicy. Sometimes I leave this out completely, or I add a can of green chilis)
juice of 1 lime
1 or 2 tsp. of salt (depends on how much salt you like)

Place all ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth. Dressing lasts for 2 weeks in refrigerator.

Cafe Rio Rice:
4 tbls butter
2 1/2 cups rice
4 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 tsp salt
juice of 4 small limes or 4 tbls lime juice
4 tbsp chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp cumin

Put in a pot, bring to a boil, and simmer until rice is done. I had to add a little more water, and at the very end, I take it off the burner and I put the lid on to let it steam a little, that seems to make it just right. We eat this with any mexican food, put it on salad, and eat it with our tostadas.

Buen Provecho!