These are some mean fajitas!
I was so impressed with this Crock pot Fajita Recipe that I have to share it. I just prepared a few more freezer bags of this because I felt like I needed more of it. It is sooo good!
Crock pot FajitasI half this recipe and put into two separate freezer bags.
One bag equals 2 dinners for us, because we like leftovers.
Here it is! Enjoy!

2 large chicken breast
1 can kidney beans
1 can diced tomatoes with green chilies
1 garlic clove minced
1 medium onion
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp salt
 6 flour tortillas


Chop vegetables and throw all ingredients in a 3 qt crock pot. Cook on low for 5-6 hours. Shred chicken and enjoy!
You can also throw all ingredients in a freezer bag and have a few meals on hand.

Since I have this peeve about food going bad, this works for us. I call it... buy a variety of fresh produce on sale and use it. Sounds simple enough right? I have found problems arise with grocery ads and couponing. A large amount of the food on sale is either all sugar or chalked full of sodium. Neither of which are anywhere near good for you. Don't get me wrong, I love coupons and saving money, but I always end up buying things that we don't need. 

Soooo....why not spend most of your time shopping the produce sales? 
My favorite place for great and fairly cheap produce is sunflower market.  They have great sales each week and they always have a variety of things on sale.We also get the bulk produce at Costco.

I find it a fun challenge to find ways to use the different produce and it really has helped, me lose a bit of weight.Some weeks we have done better than others, but I have found that when I plan dinner for the week, along with produce shopping we feel great! Plus we need to keep Sterling's mind sharp for all the chemistry he has to tackle. So this is why I am going to do this each week now. 

Here is the simplest meal of the week: (Not much of a challenge but delicious)

Steamed Broccoli
Dill Salmon
Baked Purple Potato
    
      Side Note: these purple potatoes have great health benefits. They are packed with antioxidants that other potatoes don't contain. 
The purple color is from anthocyanin which is found in berries and pomegranates to name a few. It is rich in flavonoids and has  been shown that they possess anti-cancer and heart-protective effects, as well as benefits such as boosting the immune system.   

Sterling's sister came to a family get together with this salad and I have been hooked ever since. It's healthy, it's colorful, it's spicy and it's delicious. The dressing is low fat and amazing. Thanks Melissa! 

Med Salad

• 3 cups dried fusilii or cavatappi pasta, cooked, drained, and cooled
• chopped green leaf lettuce
• 1/2 bag of pre-washed spinach
• 1 halved and sliced cucumber
• 1 orange bell pepper sliced and cut into small pieces
• 1/4-1/2 of a red onion thinly sliced
• 
1 1/2 cups of grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 jar of kalamata olives, drained
• sprinkle of feta cheese, crumbled
• Toss all the salad ingredients & add desired amount of spicy yogurt salad dressing to your portion.

Spicy Yogurt Salad Dressing 

• 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 teaspoon lemon zest
• 4 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 garlic clove, minced
• 
2 tablespoon crumbled feta cheese
• 
2-5 teaspoons sriracha hot sauce (depends on how spicy you want the dressing)
• salt and pepper to taste

Melissa always has great recipes:
http://heywhatchagotcookin.blogspot.com/ 

This is my healthy chicken salad recipe! It turned out great and it is very quick and easy to make. You can use leftover chicken in this recipe, but since I've been trying to use up a few of our food storage items, I used Costco's canned chicken which worked great! 

This is a great recipe when you have that chicken salad craving, but you don't want the calories. 

Healthy Curried Chicken Salad. 

1 can kirkland brand canned chicken or 1-2 leftover chicken breasts
2 Tbsp. Mayonnaise (I used Kraft Olive Oil mayo)
2 Tbsp. plain greek yogurt
1/4 tsp mustard powder
1/8 to 1/4 tsp. curry powder
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
2 green onions
1/2 apple (gala or pink lady)
1/4 cup cabbage (I used the already shredded with carrots)
Parsley flakes
Salt and pepper
1/8 cup cashews (optional)

Mix mayo, greek yogurt and spices in bowl. In separate bowl combine chicken and cut up onions, apple, cabbage and cashews. Combine yogurt mixture with chicken mixture and serve on your favorite healthy bread.

We are taco people. This is no secret. With our experience of taco making, there are a billion different ways to make them. This is one of our healthier taco recipes. This Mojito Lime seasoning is the star of the lime tacos. When you cook the chicken this is all you need to add.

These tacos are great if you are looking for variety and something a little healthier.

Lime Tacos

Ingredients:
       2 Chicken Breasts Cooked and shredded
       McCormick Mojito Lime seasoning
       1/2 cup rice (Jasmine or Brown)
       2 Tbsp. fresh chopped cilantro
       2 limes
       1 Tbsp.olive oil
       Taco shells (uncooked or for a healthier version, mission brand has a variety of                                 healthier shells, such as stone ground, blue corn and wheat shells)
       
       Toppings:
       1 avocado
       cabbage
       salsa
       greek yogurt

     Cook, shred and season chicken with lime seasoning. Cook preferred rice according to rice directions. Throw in chopped cilantro olive oil and squeeze half a lime in fluffed rice. 
     Fill taco shells with cooked chicken, rice. Top with avocado, cabbage, greek yogurt and serve. squeeze lime on top of taco. I always add salsa because I love salsa.
 
Once our homegrown tomatoes are ready, maybe I can get Sterling to post his famous salsa recipe. Until then, enjoy!

We have been loving our Quinoa. We make so many dishes with it in place of rice. We've made the meatless quinoa burrito bowls with black beans, avocado, cabbage, salsa and whatever else we can find. This is another mexican style quinoa dish that we created and love. 

1 cup uncooked quinoa
1 can black beans
1 onion chopped
2 tsp. minced garlic
paprika 
cayenne
1 small red bell pepper
1 small green bell pepper
1 chicken breast or turkey steak

For the meat:
Brown meat, until cooked threw. Cut into pieces and add red and green peppers and half an onion. saute and season to your liking. 

For the beans:
In separate pan, saute the other half of the onion with olive oil and garlic. Add black beans with  1/2 cup water and let simmer. Season with paprika and cayenne pepper.

Cook quinoa as directed. Top with beans, meat and other toppings such as avocado, greek yogurt, salsa, cabbage, etc. 


Enjoy!

This is my new favorite places. We don't like going to get burgers or fast food very often, so we like to have our list of slightly healthier options. This place is great and the atmosphere is divine. Their food not only tastes great, but it's culinary art. I had to look at everything that everyone else was getting. I've never been so impressed and involved with how food was put on a plate. Their sweet potato fries are great and I had the grilled balsamic chicken panini.  We both highly recommend this place.