Fajita YUM

When it comes to Tex-Mex, I almost always choose something with fajita beef. Nachos, quesadillas, tacos or just plain ole' fajitas. (Onions only, please.)

We have a wonderful place here in Sachse called Chiloso. There's another location in Richardson. It's your basic taco, BOB, Tex-Mex joint with 2 glorious pillars of delight.




The grilled avocados loaded with meat, cheese and cilantro.



See that little cup of white sauce? That's Bella Blanca. It's a delicious blend of jalapenos, lime and ranch.

Last week, I ordered the grilled avocados for the first time. I loaded them with fajita beef. They came with queso underneath and I drizzled Bella Blanca on top. I then swooned with every bite.

I tried to recreate something similar at home. I made fajita beef and added sliced mushrooms with this marinade that I tweaked from One Sassy Chef.

1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/3 cup olive oil
2 tsp garlic powder (I was out of real garlic)
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp liquid smoke flavoring (any flavor works, but I like hickory the best)
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp cumin

Don't marinate the mushrooms too long. They're little sponges! Then I just sauteed everything together and added some black beans.

Why?

Because I like black beans and I knew my husband wasn't going to touch this concoction because of the fungus infestation.

After everything was sauteed together, I pulled it out of the pan and put the avocado halves in with the skin still on. I put the pan lid on to kinda steam them. After a few minutes, I pulled them out and cut the avocado away from the skin while saying OWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW because I couldn't do it with an oven mitt on.

I laid the avocado on the plate and liberally covered it with the steak-mushroom-bean concoction. It didn't taste like Chiloso but it tasted like mine. It's a keeper and I'm really enjoying the leftovers today with another fresh avocado. (Not grilled.)

Go forth and experiment!

Lord, Give Me Strength

You know what happens when you have kids close together?

You have two kids go through picky stages at the same time.

Sophie and Gideon ate nothing but tortillas at dinner last night and are now both refusing breakfast. They're drinking milk. I'm going to have to get some sort of Carnation Instant Breakfast to start putting in their morning milk to get some calories into them.

Milly, however, is looking at me like "Is that toast? Can I have another piece? I think I popped another button on my onesie!"

Promises

Tomorrow morning if you wake up
And the sun does not appear,
I will be here.

If in the dark we lose sight of love,
Hold my hand and have no fear,
‘Cause I will be here.

CHORUS
I will be here when you feel like being quiet;
When you need to speak your mind, I will listen.
And I will be here when the laughter turns to crying;
Through the winning, losing, and trying, we’ll be together,
‘Cause I will be here.

Tomorrow morning if you wake up
And the future is unclear,
I will be here.

As sure as seasons are made for change,
Our lifetimes are made for years,
So I will be here.

CHORUS
I will be here, so you can cry on my shoulder;
When the mirror tells us we’re older, I will hold you.
And I will be here to watch you grow in beauty,
And tell you all the things you are to me;
I will be here.

I will be true to the promise I have made,
To you and to the One who gave you to me.

As sure as seasons are made for change,
Our lifetimes are made for years,
So I, I will be here.
We'll be together and i will be here.

I Will Be Here
Steven Curtis Chapman

This is how God reminds me that He will never put me down.

Halloween 2011

I was so prepared for Halloween to bite.

Let me back up. We have a HORRIBLE Halloween track record. Sophie was 10 months old on her first Halloween and was sick. No cute baby pictures of a confused pumpkin or pea pod. The second Halloween we had a 22 month old daughter and a 3 month old son. Both were sick. I started to wonder if Halloween really was cursed.

Finally last year, both children were germ-free! I was pregnant but could waddle along to the Fall Festival. That's what you do in the Buckle of the Bible Belt. You go to church-run Fall Festivals where the kids can play games to earn their candy.



Yoda and the Prima Donna Ballerina were not amused. Neither of them like candy, the games confused them and it was way past their bedtime. We lasted maybe 30 minutes.

This year we had three little monsters. Warily, I procured costumes. Did you know that NO ONE ON EARTH makes a Daisy Duck costume for kids?! Daisy is Sophie's favorite Disney character. So we went with Minnie instead and she carried her best friend.



Minnie is a little bit of a ham.



Gideon was a race car driver. In true 2-year old form, he took great offence at being dressed up and paraded about.



So Ben decided that he was Kurt Busch.

Milly was supposed to be an adorable little kitty cat in a tutu.


(image from Party City)

Cute, right?



Milly grew. So we put her in a tutued long sleeved dress and called her a ballerina-princess-cute-baby.

We got to the Fall Festival and my spirits (har!) were lifted when Sophie successfully played a beanbag game. I just have to teach her to pick the good kind of candy. She just grabs indiscriminately. We played beanbag toss games, basketball and a game where the kids grabbed a plastic duck out of a small pond. Gideon wanted the duck more and actually got one foot in the pool before I caught him.

Did I mention that none of my kids like candy?

There was a petting zoo and pony rides. We knew that Gideon would lose his diaper if we put him on a moving animal so I took him into the petting zoo instead. He just stood back and stared at the goats. He screamed in protest whenever I encouraged him to actually, you know, PET the animals. Then, after a short line, we were able to see just what would happen if you put Sophie on a horse.



She actually liked it! She kept saying GINNUP! and HOESEY! and whenever we passed her Daddy with the camera she would yell CHEEEEESE! The only downside was that Mama picked poorly and put her on the LARGEST pony there. Sophie kept leaning towards me and I was honestly afraid that she would tumble right off. It didn't help that I couldn't convince her to hold onto the durn saddle. She had fun but a horsewoman she is not.

When we left, not one child was crying. In fact, they were all smiling. This counts as a Win in the Dyer book. We finally won a Halloween!

Companion

A package arrived for me yesterday. I came out onto the porch and picked up the big brown box only to be greeted with the familiar sounds of the TARDIS whooshing.

For a brief moment, I thought "OMG, THE DOCTOR HAS BEEN MINIATURIZED AND MAILED HIMSELF TO ME SO THAT I CAN HELP HIM FIGHT THIS BATTLE!"

Then I realized that it was probably my TARDIS cookie jar from Think Geek.

Still cool.

Thigh Love

It is impossible to talk about chicken without feeling a little awkward.

*me after dinner* "Oof...I'm full. Two thighs is plenty."

Ben: "Yeah, more than two would be weird."

Garlicky Baked Chicken Thighs

The Stuff:
5 or 6 chicken thighs (mine were on the bone and had skin.)
3 TBSP soy sauce (I think I'm going to up this to 4 TBSP next time.)
1 stick of melted butter (SHUT UP.)
3 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp black pepper

The Process:
Throw your thighs into a bag.

See? It's awkward.

Pour everything else into there and squish it around. Marinate it for 30 minutes to a day. Past a day, put it in the freezer to cook later.

OK! It's later! Take out the bag and let everything thaw. Preheat your oven to 400 and grab a broiler pan. Lay your thighs onto the broiler pan and bake for 40-ish minutes. I just watched mine and waited until they were nice and brown and crispy. These were great with mashed potatoes.

Thiiiiiiiiiiighs.

Sorry. Just had to say it again.

Mama Channels Snow White