This Week in Photos (again)

I don’t feel like I accomplished much this past week beyond making the bed every day and keeping up with dishes. I did do a massive amount of laundry mid-week. The boys were out of underwear, so…

Last Sunday was a gorgeous day and I spent part of the afternoon working on the east side of the garage. Years ago I made a small flower bed there, but it’s been sadly neglected. The mulberry tree was cut down last fall, so now I can get in there and put in some new color with flowers. The bleeding heart at the far end is just lovely, and there is lily of the valley all over in there. Also, lots of little trees that are the bane of my existence.  Anyway, this bed is where I’ll be using empty wine bottles. You’ll just have to stay tuned for that!

The boys just cannot keep away from their baby sister, and she loves the attention. Well, most of the time. Silas asked me to snap a pic while he snuggled Layla.

On Monday evening I went outside to grab the stroller and bring it in, and this is what I found on the front porch. I think my heart is going to explode, these boys fill it up so full. Yes, they duct-taped dandelions to the house. They know Grammy likes flowers by the front door.

  

Bradley and Layla are checking out the baby TV channel together. Yes, for a few minutes each morning, she gets to watch TV. Grammy has things to do.

Whenever the boys are here for supper on Tuesdays, we have Mexican food and call it “Taco Tuesday” (thank you, Lego Movie). I asked Silas what we should have this week and he asked for “regleear” (regular) tacos, salad, worms, and butterflies. I did not bat an eye, and he got what he asked for. For the worms, we made “zoodles” using a zucchini and a little gadget I have that looks like a vegetable peeler, but makes long shreds instead. I did a quick sauté with a little olive oil, salt and pepper, and we had our worms. (I made everyone take some. Grampy buried his one zoodle in the bottom of his taco.) For the butterflies, we took some sugar cookie dough from the freezer and Silas made butterfly-shaped cookies for dessert.

 

The weather was perfect all week long, and Jess took the kids to the park each afternoon when she got home from work. Miss Layla has graduated from being strapped in her car sea on the stroller, to sitting in the seat. She loves walking to the park now that she can see all the cool stuff around her!

When I could, I worked on this project. I spent most of Wednesday afternoon cutting out all the little pieces, and now have begun to sew. More on that project as it nears completion. That is my mom’s sewing machine, so I’ve had it 18 years. I have no idea how old it was when I got it, but suffice to say, it has lived a good long life and is about to be retired.

            

So there you go - a small slice of life here on the prairie. Complete with duct taped flowers and worms for supper.

 

Taco-ish Tuesday (Fajitas!)

The grandboys are here for supper at least a few times during the week, so if they’re here on Tuesday night, we have Taco Tuesday! Sometimes this really means tacos, but I try to switch it up and serve a variety of our favorite Mexican dishes. One of those favorite recipes is for fajitas. Most usually I use boneless skinless chicken breasts, and several years ago I found a fajita marinade recipe that works for any kind of meat on allrecipes.com. The link is to the same recipe, but a different person than the original post I printed out in 2001.

I make this marinade as written here. If you look at the recipe I linked to, there are comments with some changes some people made to make it work for them.

¼ C lime juice

1/3 C water

2 T olive oil

4 cloves garlic, crushed

2 tsp soy sauce

2 dashes liquid smoke

1 tsp salt

½ tsp cayenne pepper

½ tsp ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a one gallon zipper bag. Add meat to marinade and store in refrigerator overnight, or at least 2 hours.  This recipe makes 1½ cups of marinade, enough for 2 pounds of meat.

I usually put it all together in the morning and marinate the meat all day. Sometimes the chicken breasts are still frozen, so they thaw and marinate at the same time.

 a cast iron grill pan is the next best thing to cooking outside…

The peppers and onions don’t get a marinade soak, but do cook alongside that flavorful meat when I have to cook it inside. If the meat is grilled outside, the veggies are sautéed in the cast iron skillet on the grill. The meat is let to rest for a few minutes after cooking, then sliced for serving. The meat is juice and tender and so flavorful. Depending on how much cayenne pepper is used, it can also pack a bit of heat. It is so, so good! Besides the chicken breasts, I have used round steak, and one time I had some shrimp that was very tasty.

We always have multi-colored peppers and white onions, but you can use whatever color of pepper you prefer. You could add sautéed mushrooms as well.

These are served in warmed flour tortillas with a sprinkle of sharp cheddar cheese and sour cream. Side dishes always include refried beans, and sometimes homemade Spanish rice, and/or a tossed green salad. Greg likes to have picante sauce with his.

I’d love to hear if you have a favorite fajita recipe. We’re always open to trying a new twist on old favorites!