Fajitas

This is one of my no brainers, but I have found an especially helpful tip in making these.

Did you know you can buy frozen, already cut up bell peppers and onions?
You can. And it is pretty cheap! Red, yellow, and green bell peppers, and onions already sliced and ready to go! Dinner is halfway done!

-sautee your peppers and onions in olive oil until they are starting to get caramelized
-cook your chicken (or beef) any which way you like. Season with salt and pepper and cumin and seasoning salt. Sometimes I like to cook my chicken in the oven and then cut it up if I am not feeling like dealing with raw meat. Or you can take your uncooked, diced chicken and cook it on the stovetop in some olive oil.
-Add your chicken and veggies together and you are done! Make sure it is well salted and well seasoned. Lots of pepper and cumin will give it that Mexican flavor.

serve with warm tortillas, sour cream, cheese, and salsa.

Basic Poppyseed Dressing

This dressing can work on any salad. It has a sweet and tangy flavor. I used to think that making my own dressing sounded like too much work, but really if you have the basics stocked in your kitchen, you can always whip up this dressing, and it is cheaper and better than the fancy ones sold in the stores.

If you have a hand blender, they make making salad dressing a cinch. you just put all the ingredients in a cup, blend and you are done! No messy clean up! I sound like an infomercial!

1 C sugar
1/2 C apple cider vinegar
1 C salad oil
1 Tbsp poppy seeds (these are not necessary if you don't have them)
1 tsp dry mustard
1 garlic clove

You can substitute red wine vinegar for a little different flavor too.

Seasoning Tip

These are some of my favorite seasonings:
-FRESH garlic.
-Balsamic vinegar
-sauteed onions pretty much improves anything.
That's all I can think of right now.

Cutting chicken tip

I hate cutting meat. It almost makes me lose my appetite. But it can be less disgusting.
Did you know it is easier to cut partially frozen chicken?
Well it is.
Maybe you already knew that, but if you didn't, this tip will greatly improve your life.

A Bacon Tip

So you all probably figured this out long before I did, but I have figured out the best way to cook bacon. Bacon is stinky and greasy. One day I noticed that my throw pillows smelled like bacon, and I said to myself, there must be another way.

There is.
Broil it.
In your oven.
Line a cookie sheet with tin foil and when it is done, you just throw away the foil.
Less stinky and less messy.
You have to watch it carefully though. If you broil it on high it will be obliterated very quickly. One minute it is nicely crackling, and the next minute you have unrecognizable charred remains.

Sorry if I just shared the obvious with you all.