Chicken Fajita Rice Skillet

Chicken Fajita Rice Skillet

 

I again found myself in need of a quick and tasty dinner. Looking to see what I had in the pantry and fridge this is what I came up with. It actually was very good and everyone liked it. Was good the next day too for lunch. I find sometimes, actually more times than I want to admit, I find myself doing last minute quick cooking, but this will be one of my go to meals when I find myself in that spot.

Ingredients:
2 lbs chicken strips cubed ( I used fully cooked fajita chicken bought from store)
3 cups white rice
1 pkg frozen rainbow mixed vegetables ( vegetables were corn, peas, green peppers cubed and red peppers cubed)
1 cup Velveeta cheese
1 cup salsa

Directions:
Cube the chicken strips and place in a large skillet. Heat the chicken. Cook rice and vegetables as directions on their package states. While this is going on cube Velveeta cheese and place in microwave safe bowl along with the salsa. Microwave at 20 sec intervals stirring in between till cheese is beginning to melt. When chicken is heated through add the cooked rice and vegetables to the skillet. Stir and add the Velveeta cheese and salsa, you can add more cheese and salsa to your taste we had one in the house that didn't like spicy so we didn't add as much salsa as we might otherwise. Turn to low and simmer for 5 min or till heated through.
Dish up with a side salad and cornbread and you have a good meal. If you use salsa that is gluten free then you have a great gluten free meal also.
This dinner can be made by cooking your own chicken and using fresh vegetables too, but like I said I needed quick tonight. Hope you will give this a try and let me know what you think.

Crocheted Steampunk Wrister

My Grandchildren and their friends have a Steampunk group and so I crocheted the girls a steampunk sort of wrister to go with their outfits. They seemed to like them and wore them all weekend. It was a simple pattern that just went around the wrist and across the top of the hand so that the palm was open. I added keys to the hand and a tie to hold the sides together. I think they turned out pretty good. Here is a couple of pictures. What do you think? Leave me a comment if you would like to buy one.
Tomorrow I will be giving you my latest baby afghan pattern.

Gluten Free Beef Teriyaki and Rice

 

 Last night was one of those nights where I had to go to the freezer and pantry and use what I had there because I needed a fast easy and delicious dinner. I had frozen  vegetables, rice and ground beef, so I made Gluten Free Beef Teriyaki and rice. It was wonderful and the husband loved it which is a big plus to any recipe. Truth be told I spent most of the day finishing a baby afghan and wrist warmers so I had completely forgotten about dinner so had to have a fast solution. If you ever find yourself needing something good and quick give it a try.

Ingredients:
1 lb lean ground beef
1 pkg frozen Vegetable Medley ( mine had the mix of broccoli, red peppers, and green beans)
1 cup cooked rice
1 13.5 oz bottle of Island Organic Teriyaki from Organiville Foods. They have two different gluten free teriyaki sauces and either one would be great for this dish. http://organicvillefoods.com/category/products/teriyaki-sauces/

Directions:
Brown  ground beef in large skillet and drain. While browning the ground beef cook your cup of rice. I cooked mine in a rice cooker which made it really easy. Also cook the frozen vegetables while browning the meat. Add the frozen vegetables, rice and bottle of teriyaki to skillet, mix well lower heat and let simmer for 10 minutes or till all is heated through and the flavors have mix in well.
Serve with more rice or with a salad and you have a great meal.

Now that you have a fast dinner to fix you can do like I did and crochet away. The pattern for both the wristers and baby afghan will be posted later.

Snow, Snow and More Snow

Yesterday it snowed and snowed and snowed and at the end of the day and snow storm we had 12- 14 inches of snow. It was up to the door and in fact when I opened the screen door it would not open all the way because the snow was that high. I didn't get to do any blogging because we were afraid of losing power so I had the computer off. When I thought it was safe to try I turned the computer on and not 5 minutes or so later the power went out. Maybe I jinxed us, but luckily it was only out a minute or so but I decided to wait to turn it on till today. Now after we get dug out I will be back to blog more. Crocheting and reading helped to pass the time during the storm. Will have a couple of patterns for you later.  Hope everyone has a safe warm day.

Spicy Hamburger Hashbrown Dish or Nana's Mess

Have you ever had a day when your best laid plans for dinner just didn't work out. That's what happened to me tonight, so when the steaks were still frozen and dinner had to be done in a hurry I had to improvise. So taking what I had this is what I came up with and we called it Nana's Mess because I messed up and didn't thaw the meat out for dinner and was out of pasta.

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef (ground turkey would probably work too)
1 4.2 oz carton dehydrated hash browns
1 16 oz can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup picante sauce
2tsp dehydrated onions
2tsp garlic salt
2tsp taco seasoning
4 slices of american cheese
1/4 cup sour cream
2 Tbs ketchup
Parmesan cheese for top

Directions:
In a skillet brown the ground beef, onions, garlic salt and taco seasoning. Drain
Cook the hash browns as it says on the box. You can use frozen or fresh hash browns if you like I used what I had available. Just cook the hash browns as directed on the ones you use.
Combine the cooked hash browns and ground beef together. Add the diced tomatoes, picante sauce and stir. When this is warm add the sour cream and ketchup and stir to mix together. Cook on low. When heated through add the american cheese slices ( you can use shredded cheddar cheese here instead but again I was out). When the slices start to melt stir into the hamburger hash brown mix. Dish up and add the Parmesan cheese to the top like and dig in. Very good, filling and the family loved it.

Even though I didn't fix what I had planned and had to go to the pantry to make something, it really didn't turn out bad. You can add more of the onions, garlic salt and taco seasoning to your taste but in our house less is used because some don't like to much of the seasoning.

Give this a try it really was good. It can be gluten free if you use gluten free seasonings, sour cream, ketchup, picante sauce and cheese.
So Dig In and Enjoy!

Pretty in Pink Afghan

I have found when you need an afghan in a hurry that this pattern is the easiest that still has some flare to it. My daughter needed a baby afghan for a co worker and I needed to get it done fast so since she was having a girl I did it in two colors of pink. This pattern works for hot pads and dishcloths and washcloths as well as scarfs. Anything you want to be done fast and look good too.

Material:
1 skein red heart pink
1 skein baby rose pink
K hook

Instructions:
ch 131
Row 1 sc in 2nd ch from hook, hdc in next ch, dc in next ch, trc in next ch, dc in next ch, hdc in next ch, sc in next ch repeat in this pattern across ending with trc in last ch. ch1 turn
Row 2 sc in top of trc, hdc in top of dc, dc in top of hdc, trc in top of sc, dc in top of hdc, hdc in top of dc, sc in top of trc. repeat across.
Row 3-66 repeat row 1-2 at end of row 66 finish off. weave in end

On my baby afghan I started with the lighter baby rose pink for first 9 rows then switched to pink and then did the baby rose pink for last 9 rows.

Scarf in the Round or Kristy's Scarf

As promised here is the second scarf I crocheted for a Christmas present It is an infinity scarf and can be worn in several ways. It is a fast easy pattern and could be made over the weekend.

Materials:
1 skein any worsted weight yarn
K hook

Instructions:
ch 250 being careful not to twist join last ch to first with a sl st ch 1
Rnd 1-3 Hdc in joining st and ea st across. Join to first hdc with sl st. ch 1 repeat for 2 more rounds
Rnd 4 This rnd hdc in first hdc ch 1 sk next hdc, hdc in next hdc. Continue around in this pattern at end join with sl st to first hdc. ch 1
Rnd 5 Hdc in first st, hdc in ch 1 sp, hdc in next hdc, continue around join to first hdc. ch 1
Rnd 6-7 Hdc in ea hdc around. Join with sl st in first hdc. ch 1
Rnd 8 repeat rnd 4
Rnd 9-11 Rep rnds 5-7
Finish off and weave in ends.
This can be made with another repeat of rounds 4-7 if you like before you finish off. It's all up to you

Enjoy.