Easy Fajitas!

Its been a rainy dreary Saturday here and after a most excellent 3 hour nap, because hey, what else is the weekend for, I made some very yummy and very easy steak fajitas for my family that I thought you all might enjoy trying!

This is usually how we do fajitas, well steak fajitas anyway in our house but you can always skip tortillas and put all of this over a salad for a great fajita salad too!

Easy Steak Fajitas
Serves:4-6
Prep Time: 15-20 min
Cook Time: 15-20 min

Grocery List:
2 lbs. cut of London Broil or Flank Steak that is an even 1 inch thickness
2 bell peppers (any colors you like)
1 large red onion
Tortillas
Sour Cream
1 Tomatoes
1 Avocado

Seasonings:
1 tbs Cumin
1 tbs Paprika
1/2 to 1 tsp Red or Cayenne Pepper depending on how spicy you want it
1 1/2 tsp season salt
1 tsp dry cilantro
1 tsp groung black pepper
1 tsp brown sugar
pinch of coffee grounds

1. Mix all seasonings together into a rub, lightly coat steak in olive oil, then salt and pepper and then spread rub all over flesh. Let steak sit 20 min to overnight.

2. Cut bell peppers and onion into 1/4 inch long slices. Heat Black Iron Skillet with 2 tsp olive oil and throw vegetables in over high heat. Cook over until onions are caramelized a bit, about 5 minutes, stirring frequently so nothing burns and then turn heat to low and cook another 3-7 minutes depending on how well done you like your fajitas veggies. You can season however you like either just s & p or add a bit of cumin, cayenne or hot sauce!

3. Chop up your toppings- Avocado and Tomatoes and anything else you want and place everything in serving dishes.

4. Heat a grill to at least 300 degrees, place steak on grill for 3 minutes per side. Then remove and let rest 10 minutes before cutting. (This will give you a nice medium rare), if steak is less that 1 inch thick then cook 2 minutes per side and if closer to 1 1/2 inches thick then add a minute per side. If you like your steak more well done, then don't come to my house for dinner! ;)

That's it friends! Its so simple! Then just grab your favorite tortillas and dish up some yummy Steak Fajitas! 

I like to chop my steak up before putting it in the tortillas so its easier to eat, or you can just slice it really paper thin and that will do the trick too! 

This dish is simple and healthy. We don't even do any additional sides because you really get all you need in the fajita and this can easily accommodate any vegetarian friends o family by just skipping the steak since you cook them separately!

Fresh Bounty

So one of my favorite things to do on vacation is... eat in! Yeah, seriously, I do enjoy the occasional meal out, like the scrumptious Lobster dinner I had while eating out tonight! But mostly, i enjoy having the time and leisure to cook whatever I want while on vacation and not worry about having it all ready and on the table by  like during the work week for my family. 

Here in upstate NY the veggies always seem extra packed with flavor and sweetness because of the shorter growing season... maybe its my imagination but seriously, I look forward to the road side farmers stands in the Adirondacks all year long! 

So a few nights ago I made a simple Shrimp Pasta with some delicious and sweet tomatoes. Mom and I ate on the back porch enjoying the sparkly view of the lake visible in little blips through the filter of trees. 

30 Minute Shrimp Pasta:
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Serves: 2

1/2 bag 25-30 count size shrimp (peeled and deveined)
1 package Quinoa Pasta (12 oz)
1/2 bag Baby Spinach
3 cloves garlic minced
2 tbs butter
1 tbs olive oil
1 juicy fresh large tomato

1. Thaw shrimp in cold water- may need to empty and refill with cold water again after 10 minutes. (Peel and devein if not already)
2. Fill large stock pot with water to 3/4. Put on stove to boil
3. Mince Garlic and place in large skillet with butter and olive oil, heat to low-medium.
4. Place pasta in boiling water to cook.
5. Once garlic and butter/olive oil has cooked 3-4 minutes, add shrimp.
6. Cook shrimp over medium heat til just pink, add all the baby spinach and let shrimp continue to cook while spinach wilts.
7. Once pasta is cooked drain.
8. Toss pasta in skillet with shrimp and spinach. Salt and pepper to taste. Add diced tomato and toss to distrubute evenly.

9. Plate and serve with parmigiano!

Enjoy!

Quick Chicken Spaghetti

Sometimes I just want quick, easy and comforting for dinner. Hmm, actually, I pretty much always want that for dinner. But in addition I really like it to be healthy too!

This is an easy receipe that you can make for the whole family in 45 minutes or less. Use any pasta you want, or skip the pasta and serve it with a salad. I try to eat pasta no more than once a week max because it is heavy and because if I don't limit myself, I could have pasta every night happily because I love carbs. But limiting it to once a week makes it all the more delicious and something to look forward to on a night when I want to throw something together quick and can turn to it!

Chicken Spaghetti:
Serves: 4
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes

4 skinless chicken breast
1 12 oz can diced Italian tomatoes
3 fresh tomatoes (sub an additional can if you don't have fresh)
3-4 cloves garlic- minced
1 box gluten free spaghetti 12oz or more
2 tbs olive oil
1 tsp and 1 tbs each: Basil, Oregano, Marjoram
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
Optional: 1/2 cup dry white or red wine

1. Clean chicken and cut into even 2 in thick strips. Salt and pepper, add 1 tsp: oregano, basil and marjoram
2. Heat olive oil in large deep dish skillet. Add chicken strips and cook 3 minutes each side over medium heat.
3. Fill Large Stock Pot with water 3/4 way full and place over high heat. Bring to boil.
4. When chicken is browned on al side, add canned and diced tomatoes over them in pot. Add 1 tbs of Oregano, Basil and Marjoram. Add 1/2 cup wine.  Cover, turn heat to medium low and let simmer.
5. Add pasta to large stock pot when water comes to rolling boil and follow directions for cook time.
6. Drain pasta, check chicken to make sure cooked through.
7. Serve Chicken and sauce over pasta.

Enjoy!

A Habana Cafe Inspired Recipe

So as you may remember in a recent post, I had delicious meal at my favorite Cuban restaurant, Habana Cafe while in Gulfport Florida back in May. So when I put some rice on to cook and was looking around trying to think of what I wanted to make for dinner, I thought black beans and shrimp and then I thought, Cuban Black Beans and Shrimp!

And voila! About 30 minutes later I was sitting down to my own homemade version of that oh so memorable meal after a quick search for how to make Cuban Black Beans!

Shrimp in Coconut and Butter Garlic Sauce:

1 Bag Raw Shrimp (I used the 20-25 count size so they were about the size of my thumb, fairly large)
1 lemon
4 cloves of Garlic diced
1-2 tbsp Extra Virgin Coconut Oil
2-4 tbs unsalted butter
1/4 to 1/2 cup white wine (Pinot Grigio or Chardonnay works well)
1/2 tsp salt and 1/2-1 tsp black pepper

1. Thaw shrimp in cold water. Yes, COLD not warm, cold water! (They actually thaw much faster in cold)
2. Mince Garlic
3. Once shrimp are thaw, put Coconut Oil and Butter in a pan and heat to medium. Add garlic while pan is still heating up.
4. Let garlic cook 1-2 minutes (just want to soften, not crisp or burn!)
5. Add Shrimp and wine. Zest lemon and squeeze 1/2 lemon into pan. Add salt and pepper
6. Cook shrimp til tender but not overdone... about 2-3 minutes per side at Medium(4-6) to High(6-9) heat.

Serve with black beans over rice, use liquid as a sauce over rice. Option- serve rest of lemon in wedges to be squeezed over plate.

Cuban Style Black Beans:
via Marta of Babalublog
This is not exactly like Marta's but her's laid the base for how I made mine!

2 Tbsp. of Extra Virgin Coconut Oil
1/4 Large red onion diced
1/2 Red bell pepper diced
2 cloves of garlic, diced
1 can of black beans 
1/4 cup of red or white wine
1 tsp. of sugar 
1/2 tsp. oregano
1 packet of Goya seasoning with azafran- *I didn't have this so I just used a pinch of saffron from my stash and 1 tsp Cumin!
salt and pepper to taste


1. Dice onion, pepper and garlic. Heat black iron skillet to medium with Extra Virgin Coconut Oil. Toss diced veggies in.
2. Let veggies cook 3-5 minutes on medium to medium low heat.
3. Partially drain black beans but leave some of the juice in can (if you like your beans more swimming than don't drain at all)
4. Pour wine into pan and stir veggies. Then add black beans.
5. Add seasonings- sugar, Goya Seasoning or Cumin and Saffron, oregano,salt, pepper
6. Let cook on medium for 5-10 minutes or let simmer on low while you cook rest of your meal!

Serve alone or over rice!

I made this recipe in about 30 minutes! It was simple but definitely in the Delicious of the Most category!

Ruby Juice: A Juice Recipe

So I started a juice fast on July 4th. Yes. The day of hot dogs, hamburgers and in general as much cookout food as you can eat. That is the day I chose to start my juice fast journey.

It really wasn't to rub it in on myself that I could only drink juice.. it just happened that it was a 4 day weekend and since sometimes there can be, ahem ::cleaning out:: if you catch my drift that occurs in the 1st few days of a juice fast as your body rids itself of your last few solid meals and toxins. So, I figured it would be better to start it while I could be home for a few days. 

So far I have lost 8 lbs and 1 1/2 inches around my hips and around my waist. But really I am doing this to start a new habit of healthy lifestyle and it starts with food. The weight loss is definitely a bonus, but I am trying very hard not to let it be my motivator. 

Anyway, since I'm not cooking and making up recipes as I usually do, juicing has become a whole new test kitchen for recipes. I have definitely made a few gag worthy concoctions but I am learning and getting better as I go. I also just have to say that juice Kale will just never be appetizing to me and I will always taste it no matter what I juice over it to try to hide it... I still juice it though. 

Ok, enough banter. You wanted to see a recipe! I made this the other morning with just 3 ingredients and it was so pretty to look and and super scrumptious to feast on! All day I kept thinking of it as Ruby Juice because of its pretty Ruby Red/Pink color so that is what it shall be called!

Ruby Juice:

1/2 a medium or 1/3 a large watermelon (pink flesh only, seeds don't matter)

1/2 cantaloupe (rind removed)

2 blood Oranges

1 Juicer! Use the low setting and watch your level, my juice pitcher actually overflowed a bit. 

Stir and enjoy! I personally like my juice nice and cold so when its just made I pour it over ice, otherwise keep you extra in the fridge for 2nd when you get hungry again! :)