Slow Cooker Chicken Fajitas

As you may know, chicken fajitas are one of my favorite foods. They are also the food which made me realize that any food made with chicken, peppers, and onions is probably delicious (as long as it's kept simple). Now that have a slow cooker (and the added benefit of someone being at home to tend to the slow cooker when needed), I've decided to find new recipes so I can use the thing. One of the first recipes I found to try was for a "mexican style chicken" which I modified to be more like fajitas!

I found this recipe during a random Google search. While not exactly fajitas, they are amazingly delicious (and they also seem healthy!). I'll include instructions for cilantro lime rice at the end since I can't have fajitas without rice. I like to use fresh veggies when cooking, but you can skip the first few steps if you buy them frozen. I do all the prep work for this the night before and place everything in the freezer or fridge. All of the ingredients in this recipe can be adjusted to taste.

As a final note, this reheats extremely well.

Slow Cooker Chicken Fajitas (cook time: 7-8 hours on low)
1 lb of chicken, frozen
1 to 2 C bell peppers, sliced and frozen
1/2 of a white onion, sliced and frozen
4.5 oz can of chopped green chilies
14 oz can of diced tomatoes
1 C chicken broth
1 to 2 T taco seasoning

Clean and slice up the bell peppers. I suggest getting a mix of colors.

Clean and slice up the white onion.

Place the peppers and onions in a freezer bag and place in the freezer.

(One day I might use fresh tomatoes and chilies, but for now I buy them in a can.)

Spray the inside of the slow cooker insert with cooking spray. Pour in the chicken broth, tomatoes, chilies, and taco seasoning.

Stir up the contents, put the lid on the insert, and place it in the refrigerator overnight.

8-ish hours before you plan to eat, assemble the slow cooker. Add the frozen chicken, peppers, and onions. Stir the contents and turn the slow cooker on low.

After 6 or 7 hours (whenever the chicken is fully cooked), pull apart the chicken with a fork. You want the chicken to be shredded, not in chunks. (No pictures of this since I'm not the one who does it!)

Stir up the contents and let it cook for another hour.

Warm up some tortillas and scoop the chicken onto the tortillas. Enjoy!
(Note: The final product is a bit soupy, so you may want to strain the chicken before placing it on your tortillas. Or just eat it with a fork, like I do.)


I like to have this chicken with cilantro lime rice, so here is a recipe for that:

Cilantro lime rice
1 C water
1/2 C rice
1/4 lime
1 t cilantro (or to taste)
salt (to taste)

(Optional) Sauté the uncooked rice in oil over medium heat until lightly brown.
Add the water, heat until boiling.
Reduce heat to a low simmer. Cook for 15-20 minutes (until tender and water is evaporated).
Remove from heat, fluff the rice with a fork.
Add the juice of the lime, the cilantro, and salt. Stir.

Review: Duncan Hines Simple Mornings muffin mix

This post is a quick review of Duncan Hines Simple Mornings Wild Maine Blueberry premium muffin mix. The verdict is that this box of muffin mix makes delicious muffins. I will be buying these again and recommend them to anyone who likes blueberry muffins.

A good muffin recipe seems to be a difficult thing to find. I have a few recipes that I use, but they are either too heavy or too sweet. Because of this, I occasionally buy packages of muffin mix so I don't have to go through all that work for inadequate muffins. A few weeks ago I found this muffin mix at the store and it immediately ended up in my basket. When I got home I made the muffins and ate 3 of them soon after baking.

When I bought this muffin mix I didn't realize that it included real blueberries, even though it says so right on the box. The blueberries were packed in a tin with water. They weren't overly squishy and were in decent condition.

The batter was easy to mix. Just add eggs, oil, and water. (I didn't see dry milk in the ingredient list, so that's an extra bonus for me. I can consider this a dairy free snack!)

It makes enough batter for 12 medium sized muffins or 6 large muffins. Possibly 24 mini muffins.

They baked nicely and the blueberries didn't sink to the bottom, which is always a worry when baking with berries!

I'm glad Duncan Hines made this new muffin mix and I hope the stores here continue to carry it. It isn't expensive and makes muffins that are much better than the ones I can buy at the store bakery! The box also has directions to make a quick bread out of the mix, but I haven't tried that yet.

Drawing 1: Final Post

I realized today that I never finished up the series of posts from when I took Drawing 1. This post will remedy that and hopefully I will have enough of these "loose ends" tied up to carry on with my drawing.

The assignment during one of the final weeks required us to use color (chalk) pastels. I feel very unsure while using color, so this scribbling of colors into the shape of a vase and some flowers is what I ended up with. I made several versions, but this is the one I liked best and presented in class.

Another topic we covered was perspective. I made this next drawing a week or so before we did that topic. Perspective is the only thing I sort of remember from the awful art classes I took in 7th grade or so. I was told the contrast and feeling of this drawing were nicely developed. It unfortunately didn't photograph too well with my cellphone's camera.

The final was very enjoyable. In the middle of the large room, on top of a platform, were a few tables with bottles, books, and fabric on them. There was also a coat hanger with several jackets and hats. I enjoy drawing fabric, so I focused on the coat hanger. I also feel most comfortable with charcoal, so it's not in color.

The drawing for the final and my noticeable improvement since the first day is what earned me the only A in the class.

Once I get a new camera in a few months, I'm going to go back and rephotograph most of my art. I'll use better lighting as well. I don't think any of the pictures I've taken of my drawings are that great. You lose a lot, which you will by photographing it anyway... but a better setup and camera will help.

Lazy S'mores

S'mores are one of my favorite desserts/snacks. When Dairy Queen had the S'mores Galore Parfait, I ate so many of them and it was pretty much the only item I ordered. I was also very sad when they stopped offering it. The mixture of marshmallow, graham cracker, and chocolate just seems so perfect. Somehow it has taken me a very long time to discover a lazy way to make s'mores, but I did it. And rather successfully.

This discovering is a mixture of finding marshmallow fluff (aka marshmallow creme) to be delicious and wanting a non-dairy snack/dessert. I like to use the cinnamon graham crackers and Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips. (This type of chocolate chip only "may contain dairy", so I count this as dairy free!) You can obviously use whatever type of graham cracker and chocolate chip combination you want.

Lazy S'mores
Marshmallow creme
Chocolate chips
Graham crackers

First, take a spoonful of mallow fluff and place it into a small microwave safe dish.

Heat the fluff in the microwave for 15 seconds. It will expand and become very smooth.

Sprinkle on as many chocolate chips as you want. The preference of chocolate to marshmallow ratio varies by person, so there is no wrong quantity here.

Wait 30 seconds or so for the chocolate chips to melt. Then use pieces of graham cracker to scoop of the mallow fluff and melted chocolate. Then, obviously, eat it.

Enjoy!

I felt like putting this on my Pinterest account... so I made this:

If you care to follow me, my Pinterest is here: http://pinterest.com/neniell/

Abandoned drawing from December

My last attempt at making a complete drawing was at the beginning of December. On my coffee table, I set up a vase with a few of my fake flowers (lilies) and wrapped fabric around the base. (The fabric was actually a very comfy long skirt.) I used 18" x 24" drawing paper and charcoal for this drawing.

I spent maybe 2 or 3 hours on it my first day. I sketched out a general layout of drawing and then started to fill in the details. The fabric draping and folds were very time consuming. I also tend to get lost in the folds. I haven't figured out a good way to tackle those yet.

The second day I spent maybe an hour on the drawing. This involved finishing up the fabric and touching up the flowers and vase a bit.

On the third day I quickly toned the fabric area and added a few highlights. It was not finished at all at this point, but this is where I abandoned the project.

I doubt I'll go back and finish the flowers, vase, and background. I do feel the the fabric looks decent at this point, but could use more contrast.

I think this was just too complicated of a setup for me right now. I need to rebuild my attention span and ability to focus so I can sit down and finish a drawing in a day. Or finish most of it in a day and do the touch-ups of shading and highlighting later.