Chicken Fajita Baked Potato with Guacamole and Sriracha Cream Sauce

We have fajitas for dinner pretty regularly, especially when I was pregnant and I was horrible about eating vegetables.  Sometimes I would just grill up one chicken breast for my husband and I would add some zucchini and squash to my dinner.  It is such a great way to get a large serving of vegetables and they taste great!  This meal is a great way to use up the leftovers.  I’ll often do a similar version of this with left over steak as well, making it a Philly Cheese Steak Baked Potato!  Yum!

Of course, you don’t have to use leftovers, you can make this all in one night, it just takes a little longer.  The directions below are how I made it last night.  I had my husband add some extra chicken to the grill on Sunday, so they were already cooked, just needed a little reheating.  I made fresh onions and peppers and a lazy guacamole.  I find it pointless to put all the effort into a fabulous guacamole when you’re going to cover it up with a strong flavored sauce such as this sriracha cream sauce.  I just take the avocado, mash it up with some salt and pepper and call it guacamole.  I would rather have the good stuff as a dip, but on this dish, you’d never miss all the goodies mixed in.

The sriracha cream sauce is what makes this dish!  It is DELICIOUS!  I may have had a spoonful or two to taste test.  Gotta make sure it’s well flavored!  Our family likes a lot of spice, but the recipe below is more of a medium spice.  If you like things hot, add an addition tablespoon or two of sriracha.  If you like a more mild heat,  start with one or two teaspoons of sriracha.

CHICKEN FAJITA BAKED POTATO WITH AVOCADO AND SRIRACHA CREAM SAUCE (serves 4)

4 russet potatoes

2 TBS olive oil, plus more for brushing

1 large yellow onion, thickly sliced

2 large green peppers, thickly sliced

2 chicken breasts, grilled and sliced

2 avocados, mashed with salt and pepper

1 cup shredded cheese of choice

1/2 cup light sour cream

1/3 cup light mayonnaise or greek yogurt

1 TBS sriracha

1/2 tsp red pepper flake

kosher salt

pepper

 

Preheat oven to 425.  Microwave your washed potatoes for 8 minutes.  Brush the potatoes with a light coat of olive oil.  This gives them a shiny crisp skin after baking.  Bake on the center rack for 20-25 minutes, until fork tender.

Mix sour cream, mayo or yogurt, sriracha, red pepper flake, and salt & pepper to taste in a small bowl.

Heat a large saute pan on medium high heat.  Add 2 TBS olive oil, onions, and peppers.  Flavor with salt and pepper.  Saute until peppers begin to soften and onions are golden, approximately 8-10 minutes.  Add chicken at very end, stirring into vegetables and allowing to reheat for a couple minutes.

Remove potatoes from the oven, slice open, and top with onions, peppers, and chicken.  Sprinkle with 1/4 cup cheese.  Top with guacamole and sriracha cream sauce.

Motherhood

Thanks to these two, I am a mother. And being their mother has taught me more about life than I learned in all of college. It’s on the job training, and I make mistakes regularly, but my bosses are forgiving and they make sure I get it right eventually!

On my short drive to church on Mother’s Day morning, I couldn’t help but reflect on the connection to Jesus that motherhood has brought. The priest mentioned during mass, how mothers are the only people that will ever live the sacrifice of Jesus, truly understanding when he said “This is my body, this is my blood.” As a mother, you give yourself completely for your child, for nine months before their birth and for the rest of their lives. During pregnancy, your body is literally given up for them. Every breath you take, every bite you eat, every drink you sip, will affect their health. As a mother, you forgive the sins of your children, no matter how serious. You love unconditionally, sacrificing yourself to teach them, to help them grow and blossom. There is nothing on this Earth more powerful than the love of a mother.

As a mother, you sacrifice your body; your tight little stomach that once looked great in a bikini, and now hides beneath a loose fitting t-shirt protecting the world from seeing the stretch marks and loose skin from pregnancy. You sacrifice your sleep, waking every few hours to feed for the first months of life, comforting a crying toddler after a bad dream, and waiting for curfew to bring your newly independent teenager safely home (I’m not quite there yet, but I know it will come too quickly). You sacrifice your interests; the leisurely reading of novels is replaced with building blocks and Thomas the train. You sacrifice fashion, replacing designer jeans and silk blouses with yoga pants and t-shirts, high heels replaced with sneakers, if you manage to actually take your slippers off!

I’ll admit, sometimes I get overwhelmed with the sacrifices of motherhood, and I wish for a day of freedom from the responsibility, a day to put on the high heels, to actually use a blow dryer on my hair, to wear a shirt that doesn’t have spit-up stains on it, and to enjoy a quiet meal alone! I think a day like that is important for my mental health, but at the end of it, I don’t look back and laugh at the funny things my son said that day, or feel the butterflies in my chest from hearing the baby laughs of my daughter, and that makes me miss the sacrifices and look forward to tomorrow—-when I intend to stay in my pajamas until nap-time and I’ll be lucky to get a shower before bedtime!

At mass, the priest read this article from Erma Brombeck. I leave you to read it and then call your mothers and tell them how beautiful they are!

Mother Earned Her Wrinkles

She has iron-starved blood, one shoulder is lower than the other, and she bites her fingernails.

She is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. She should be. She’s worked on that body and face for more than sixty years. The process for that kind of beauty cannot be rushed.

The wrinkles on her face have been earned…one at a time. The stubborn one around the lips that deepened with every “No!” The thin ones on the forehead that mysteriously appeared when the first child was born.

The eyes are protected by glass now, but you can still see the perma-circles around them. Young eyes are darting and fleeting. These are mature eyes that reflect a lifetime. Eyes that have glistened with pride, filled with tears of sorrow, snapped in anger and burned from loss of sleep. They are now direct and penetrating and look at you when you speak..

The bulges are classics. They developed slowly from babies too sleepy to walk who had to be carried home from Grandma’s, grocery bags lugged from the car, ashes carried out of the basement while her husband was at war. Now they are fed by a minimum of activity, a full refrigerator and television.

The extra chin is custom-grown and takes years to perfect. Sometimes you can only see it from the side, but it’s there. Pampered women don’t have an extra chin. They cream them away or pat the muscles until they become firm. But this chin has always been there, supporting a nodding head that has slept in a chair all night.

The legs are still shapely, but the step is slower. They ran too often for the bus, stood a little too long when she clerked in a department store, got beat up while teaching her daughter how to ride a two-wheeler. They’re purple at the back of the knees.

The hands? They’re small and veined and have been dunked, dipped, shook, patted, wrung, caught in doors, splintered, dyed, bitten and blistered, but you can’t help but be impressed when you see the ring finger that has shrunk from years of wearing the same wedding ring. It takes time – ands much more to diminish a finger.

I looked at Mother long and hard the other day and said, “Mom, I have never seen you look so beautiful!”

“I work at it,” she snapped.

Tomato, Corn, and Avocado Salad with Chipotle Honey Lime Vinaigrette

Summer is right around the corner and this makes me start craving fresh seasonal vegetables.  I LOVE avocado!  It is by far my favorite vegetable, or technically fruit that tastes like a vegetable.  I often find myself snacking on it as I cook, dipping it in some kosher salt.  Corn is also in season and I have a very hard time walking by it at the store without buying a few ears.

This is one of my favorite summer salads.  You can make it year round, but it is much cheaper and tastier in season!  I often add some black beans and bell peppers to the mix, and if my husband isn’t around, I’ll throw in some peas.  My mom makes a similar salad with cauliflower and radish.  Really you can throw in whatever you like, just leave out the lettuce.  Or throw it on top of a bed of lettuce, whatever floats your boat.

TOMATO, CORN, AVOCADO SALAD WITH CHIPOTLE HONEY LIME VINAIGRETTE

2 cups corn

1 pint grape tomatoes, halved

2 avocados, cubed

1/4 cup chopped red onion

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

1/2 cup Chipotle Honey Lime Vinaigrette

 

Vinaigrette

1/2 tsp lime zest

juice of 1 large lime

1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, finely chopped

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tsp honey

1 tsp dijon mustard

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp chili powder

 

Put all the vinaigrette ingredients in a bowl and whisk together, or in a jar and shake.

Put corn, tomatoes, red onion, and cilantro in a bowl.  Mix to combine.  Pour vinaigrette over vegetables and stir.  Refrigerate until ready to eat.  Add avocado just before serving.  This salad is best if it sits for an hour before adding the avocado and serving.