Hospitality, Friendship, Encouragement

Thursday, May 17, 2012

What's Been Happening At Home

So I have talked a lot lately about our business - it is a daily part of our lives.  But today I wanted to post about the non business part of our lives.

For Mother's Day the guys grilled steak that had been marinated for days and it was amazing!  Fortunately for us there were some steaks left over, and several went into the fridge.  Monday I decided to make fajitas for dinner, so I took those steaks and thinly sliced them up, sliced up a bunch of peppers and onion, marinated some chicken and then using an electric griddle, I cooked it all up.

I make my own marinade for fajitas.  Here it is the best I can give it to you as I don't measure...

About 1/2 cup of oil ( I use light tasting Olive oil)
1/4 cup of red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp of garlic salt
2 + Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp oregano

I like to let the chicken marinate for as long as I can, but this time I didn't have the time to do that.  So I marinated it for a bit and then while cooking it on the griddle, I poured it on to the chicken and I also added a bit of chili powder directly to the chicken.

Emily made guacamole with 2 avocados and some salsa.  Yum.  Seriously good stuff.

Then I cooked the peppers and onion until they were soft and nearly translucent, then I threw the steak on the griddle just to heat it up....

We served it with warmed tortillas, sour cream, cheese, salsa, the guacamole, chicken, steak and peppers and onions.

Can I say that it was amazing?  So good.

Yesterday, was my Mom's birthday - she is celebrating her 39th year once again!

Anyway, I surprised her with a dinner party with her and my Dad's best friends, and our friend Denny.  Just the seven of us.  

I made Chicken and Pasta, a green salad, green beans, garlic bread, and a strawberry, whipped cream and yellow cake trifle.

This is a great meal too, and it is so easy to do.

Chicken and Pasta - 

2-3 chicken breasts or 7 or 8 chicken tenderloins, cut up!
1-2 zucchini or yellow squash sliced up
1 pound angel hair pasta
1 16 oz carton of sour cream
1 stick of butter 
1 bag of Parmesan cheese or an Italian blend

In a skillet melt the stick of butter and place your chicken in to cook in the butter.  When the chicken is nearly done add the sliced up squash and cook until tender.  If the butter is nearly gone add a bit more butter and then add the sour cream into the chicken and squash, let it melt in a bit and then add the cheese.

While the chicken mixture is cooking, cook your pasta and drain well.

When the chicken is done mix it with the pasta and serve in a huge bowl or on a platter.  I often will garnish it by sprinkling parsley on top.

You can't worry about calories on this dish, just eat less if you can!

With the garlic bread I bought a really good loaf of crusty Italian bread and sliced it up, buttered it, sprinkled it with garlic salt and the Italian blend of cheese and put it under the broiler.  Just for a few minutes - it gets toasted on top but is still soft underneath.  

I love cooking good food for my family and for special days.  Do you like to cook? Do you cook from scratch?  What is your favorite food you make?

6 comments:

  1. I cook everything from scratch....my husband will even ask for homemade bread now! I love to cook soups, especially a homemade chicken soup that takes 24 hours to make. I keep leftovers frozen from October to March, ready to go in case someone gets sick.

    All your meals sound yummy, I may have to give one a try.

    Take Care.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh, my! Those dishes sound SO tempting! You're right. You just can't worry about calories with these. (Sadly, I AM "worried" about calories just now.....) Sigh.

    ReplyDelete
  3. My mouth is watering and I can't think.....hmmmm.....my favorite food to make? I guess it would be lasagna since it has become tradition to make it when we go to the mountains. We all look forward to that "last" mountain dinner of lasagna, salad and bread.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Everything sounds delicious and as if one would have to practice restraint. I am no good at restraint. If a little is good; a lot will be better. ☺

    No, I do not enjoy cooking. I usually do cook from scratch. Anything Italian is my favorite thing to make...lasagna, spaghetti and meatballs, pizza, you know.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Both of the meals you describe sound wonderful!

    I do love to cook. And Kati loves to bake. (Oh dear...no wonder I fight the battle of the bulge!)
    Having no functioning kitchen for a week or so made me realize how much I enjoy cooking. I bought several frozen entrees and other convenient foods last week...and we're tired of eating this way already! Blah.

    My favorite food to make? Probably soups. But right now I'm all about asparagus and strawberries and fresh food. Planning on making strawberry shortcake today...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Okay, I'm coming to YOUR house to eat!..... ;o)

    ReplyDelete

Welcome to Creekside Cottage - a place of Hospitality, Friendship and Encouragement!

Things I Like

  Brenda from It's A Beautiful Life blog did a post with this title and I enjoyed her list so I thought I'd do something similar. He...