Fajita Marinade

Have I even mentioned how much I love Paula Deen?  LOVE her!  We share a special bond, Paula and I.  We share a love of butter.  Yes, butter has always held a special place in my heart.  I remember being about four and watching my mom's legs and feet moving around the kitchen as she prepared spaghetti for supper.  She called for me as I hid under the table, stick of butter in hand, eating and loving the salty goodness of a fresh stick when she peeked under the table and caught me.  BUSTED!  Anyway, as I said, I love Paula Deen. 

I also have a love of Mexican food.  It's actually more of an obsession.  I could eat it every single day.  I am always looking for new recipes with Tex-Mex flavors.  MMMM!  I have made fajitas before, but have never found a good marinade....until now.  I used to just sprinkle on fajita seasoning and cook my chicken, but it always left me feeling disappointed.  So, I was on the lookout for a good marinade and came across this one on the Food Network site.  It's a Paula Dean recipe, and as I said, we have a bond, so I knew this was the recipe to try. 


Gold Medal Fajitas

Ingredients


1/4 cup vegetable oil, divided

3 tablespoons lemon juice (I actually used lime juice instead)

1 garlic clove, minced

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

Dash hot sauce

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 pounds meat (boneless, skinless chicken breast, skirt steak or peeled and deveined shrimp)

1 medium onion, halved and sliced lengthwise

1 green bell pepper, sliced

1 red bell pepper, sliced

8 (8-inch) flour tortillas

1 lime, juiced, for topping

Sour cream, for topping

Salsa, for topping

Guacamole, for topping

Cheddar cheese, shredded, for topping

Directions

In a heavy duty resealable plastic bag, combine 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil, lemon juice, garlic, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, hot sauce, salt, pepper and your choice of meat. Seal and toss the bag around to coat. Marinate in the refrigerator. *Cook's Note: 15 minutes for shrimp, 20 minutes for chicken and 1 hour for skirt steak.

Preheat your cast iron servers in a preheated 400 degree F oven for at least 20 minutes, to get a good sizzle when you plate the fajitas.   ***I don't have any of those fancy iron servers so I just used my cast iron skillet.

Heat the outside grill or a large indoor grill pan to medium-high heat. Remove the meat from the marinade and place it on the hot grill, discard the marinade. Cook chicken until cooked through, about 5 minutes per side, skirt steak about 3 minutes per side for medium-rare and about 2 minutes for shrimp. Slice the chicken and steak into strips if you are using.

In a large skillet heat up the remaining 2 tablespoons vegetable oil and fry the onions and bell peppers until crisp-tender with some salt and pepper.

Wrap the tortillas in foil and warm them in the oven with the servers for 15 minutes.

When you are ready to serve, remove the cast iron servers from the oven and quickly arrange the meat and peppers and onions on it. It will immediately start to sizzle from their fat and moisture. Serve sizzling immediately with the warm tortillas.

MMMMMMM Good!

Sorry I don't have a picture of an actual fajita, but I scarfed that sucker down so fast, I didn't have time to grab the camera.  It was really good.  I'll never be disappointed in my fajitas again.  WOO HOO!

Just for the record, I don't know this lady.  I found this picture on Google Images, but I am sure this is pretty much what I looked like scarfing down my fajita.  Doesn't it look like she's enjoying that?  MMMM!  Just pretend this is me. 


Happy Tuesday bloggy friends!

Durn Reality Shows

So, as many of you know, I love my TV.  Love it!  I love to "escape" into the lives of others.  I love shows that make me laugh.  I have several favorite sitcoms that I never miss(Big Bang Theory).  I also love my dramas (Parenthood, Blue Bloods) and even a few reality shows.  This weekend, the networks apparently  got together and decided that Sunday would be a good day for a big ole cry fest at my house.  It was the season premiere of ABC's Secret Millionaire.  Have you seen this show?  The premise of the show is that these millionares leave their upscale lives for a week and go seek out volunteers in other communities, work with them and at the end of the week they donate their own money to the people and/or organizations that they feel need it the most.  See the clip below.





Never in my life have I wanted so badly to be rich, just so I could give lots of it away to people in need.  There are so many sweet and good people in this world.  I am a very emotional person.  I don't even watch the news on a daily basis because my heart cannot take all of the "bad news" they deliver.  It's so nice to here the good once in awhile, even if it does make me break into the full-on-ugly-cry. 

I may not have ever mentioned it on this blog before, but I have a thing about soldiers.  No, not like a "man in uniform" thing.  It's more like a complete overwhelming feeling of gratefulness that overtakes me when I see a soldier.  The sacrifices that these men and women and their families make on a daily basis is so overwhelming to me.  I have been known to break down and cry in the airport when seeing soldiers in their camo fatigues carrying their camo duffle bags.  Lifetime has a new series called Coming Home.  This show is about soldiers coming home and surprising their loved ones.  I only saw a few minutes of it last night, but again, it brought on the full ugly cry. 







Seriously people, my heart can't take this much crying in one day.  Yes, they were both good, happy cries, but a girl's eye can only take so many tears before they swell up to the size of baseballs.  That is soooo not a good look on me.  So, my advice is to DVR these shows and watch them on different nights.  Otherwise, you'll wake up looking like you have elephantitis of the eyeballs.  Lovely. 

So, did anybody else join the Sunday night cry fest?

Winner of CSN $25 Giveaway

The winner of the $25 CSN Giveaway is...************** (that's my computer drumroll)****
April who said

        "What a great giveaway...I love CSN Stores! I think ONE of my favorite items is

Racheal Ray's colorful stoneware."

Congratulations April!!!!

When Motherhood Gets You Down

So, fellow mothers, have you ever had one of those days when your kids are absolutely driving you nuts?  Do you ever feel like all you do is refill sippy cups, do laundry, and clean up spills?  Do you ever get tired of hearing about Princesses and Princes, Mario Brothers, Batman, Olivia or Strawberry Shortcake?  Do you get tired of dressing Barbie for your little one?  Do you get tired of potty training or changing diapers?  Do you get sick of begging them to eat their veggies?  Do you get SICK of breaking up the bickering siblings?  Do you feel like you have absolutely lost who you used to be since becoming a mother?  I do!  It's these times when God sends me a little attitude adjustment by way of my TV.



They grow up way too fast.  Please excuse me while I go dance in the playroom with my daughter.  It's time to twirl and play Barbies. 

Crash Hot Potatoes

Ladies, I am curious about something.  What types of meals do y'all cook?  Do y'all make the 50's standard meal and by that I mean a meat, two veggies and a starch or bread?  or do you make casseroles or maybe a pasta dish that has veggies in it?  We eat a lot of pasta and casseroles, but when I do make a meat with sides, this is one of my go to recipes.  It's a PW recipe and it's WONDERFUL! 


Crash Hot Potatoes



Ingredients


■12 whole New Potatoes (or Other Small Round Potatoes)

■3 Tablespoons Olive Oil

■Kosher Salt To Taste

■Black Pepper To Taste

■Rosemary (or Other Herbs Of Choice) To Taste

Preparation Instructions

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add in as many potatoes as you wish to make and cook them until they are fork-tender.

On a sheet pan, generously drizzle olive oil. Place tender potatoes on the cookie sheet leaving plenty of room between each potato.

With a potato masher, gently press down each potato until it slightly mashes, rotate the potato masher 90 degrees and mash again. Brush the tops of each crushed potato generously with more olive oil.  (I don't have a potato masher so I used a fork)

So, if you look on PW's picture of this recipe, each individual potatoes is mashed and it's MUCH prettier.  I was in a hurry so I cut my tators up smaller and kind of mashed them all together.  It looks a little like something they would serve in Oliver Twist - "Please sir, I want some more" but the taste is pretty much the same. 
Sprinkle potatoes with kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper and fresh chopped rosemary (or chives or thyme or whatever herb you have available.)  Just for the record, I totally used dried rosemary in the jar.  I rarely get fresh rosemary at the store because it is EXPENSIVE and y'all know I kill plants so it's not like I could grow my own. 

Bake in a 450 degree oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

YUM!  Look how brown and crispy.  MMMM!

Served with grilled pork tenderloin and grilled squash.  MMMM! 

If you are so inclined, you could always visit PW to see the pretty version of this recipe pictured.  As for me, I'll stick with the Oliver Twist version.

Have a great Thursday! 

Remember to enter my CSN giveaway.  Click HERE for more info.  You have until 5:00 CST Friday.

I'm linking this recipe to: 

Shabby Chic Lovliness

So, as you may know, Hubby and I went on a trip to our favorite cabin several weeks ago.  There is a little shop called Something Simple that I've was dying to visit.  It's run by Kaylene, who also owns a lovely little cottage in Eureka Springs where we stayed once before.  This store is located in a beautifully restored cottage.

 Isn't it cute?  It is filled to the brim with shabby chic loveliness.  I just wanted to share a few photos with you.  I apologize to Kaylene for shooting photos in her shop, but I couldn't help myself.  Little did I know she had photos on her website.  You ready for some lovliness?

Love those burlap pillows on the iron garden bench.  So pretty!

Cute stuff on the stair risers going up to the second floor.

Look at that gorgeous mirror to the left of the table and I'm totally in love with the black wire baskets and lantern. 

Cloche.  Gorgeous! 

I actually swiped this photo from the website.  I am so in love with the white mattalese covered chair. 

SO BEAUTIFUL!!! 

I love the whole shabby chic way of decorating.  I think it is a beautiful mix of old and new with wonderful textures.  However, I have ZERO of it in my house.  I soooo want a big ole bed covered in white sheets and duvets, etc.  BUT I have a house full of filthy kids and a dog who insist on climbing up in my bed and I don't know if there is enough bleach in the entire world to get out those stains.  But, isn't it lovely and dreamy and peaceful looking? 


Don't forget about my CSN giveaway.  Click here to enter.  Only a couple of days left.

Do You Resale?

Do you shop resale?  Do you take part in consignment sales?  We have two big consignment sales close by every season.  My favorite is Rhea Lana, which is a franchise re-sale consignment event.  I spend HOURS cleaning out closets and dressers, washing and drying, hanging clothes and putting on price tags.  Then I haul all of my stuff to the consignment location (usually a former department store) and hope for the best.  It takes A LOT of preparation, but the rewards are great.  I usually make a little money, which ends up being spent on clothes for the kids.  They grow out of stuff so fast!

Rhea Lana Event

These consignment sales are a great place to buy basics.  I've bought lots of jeans for the kids.  The baby stuff is always a fabulous buy too.  There are tons of bedding sets for kids, high chairs, strollers,etc.  Most of the prices are 25% to 30% less than retail price.  That's pretty great, huh? 

Rhea Lana is heaven for moms-to-be!

One of these consignment sales started selling home decor a few years ago, but you have to get there early because that stuff goes QUICK.

So, why else do I love Rhea Lana?  Well, it does help that they featured a Froufroubritches outfit I sold on the local news.  Love that!

E's former outfit, which they featured on the local news.

What else do I love about Rhea Lana?  You can check your sales online!  Just a few clicks of the mouse and you know how much your check is going to be!  WOO HOO! 

Rhea Lana also has a new cookbook, which you can find here.  A portion of the sales go to Autism Speaks, which of course, I love!  Gotta get me one of those! 

So, do you resale?

Don't forget to enter the CSN Giveaway!!  Only a few days left.  Click here to enter!