Chicken Sausage Fajitas

I have been really into creating healthy recipe's for my family lately.  I finally have my exercise routine under control, and now want to focus on meal planning.  My dad introduced me to chicken sausage when I was visiting a couple weekends ago and it is DELICIOUS!  I combined it with our love of fajitas. Enjoy!

Chicken Sausage Fajitas

Ingredients

- 1 medium onion, chopped

- 1 red bell pepper, chopped

- 1 cup of corn 

- 1 TBSP olive oil

- 1 pkg Johnsonville Chipotle Monterey Jack Cheese Chicken Sausage, chopped

- 1 TBSP Lemon Juice

- Flour Tortillas, warmed

- 1 cup shredded Mexican Blend Cheese for topping

Directions

1.  In a large skillet, saute the onion, pepper and corn in oil until tender. (I chop the sausage while this is cooking)

2.  Add the sausage and lemon juice and heat through (I like my sausage to get a little browned)

3.  Spread sour cream on tortilla shell

4.  Spoon sausage mixture down the center of the tortilla

5.  Sprinkle with cheese, lettuce, or fresh pico de gallo

6.  Roll up and enjoy!

Kristin’s Smothered Chicken

We have been trying hard to eat healthy, and expose Hailey to healthy foods.  So far, so good...she loves her veggies and chicken!  I created this recipe based on the Cracker Barrel low carb menu.  The chicken on their menu is just chicken, bacon and cheese. I, of course, had to spruce it up!  The whole family enjoyed it, especially Hailey, and I hope you do too!

Kristin’s Smothered Chicken

Looks like a mess, but it's delicious!

Ingredients

- 1 lb Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts, Sliced thin and into tender like strips

-  1 pkg Baby Bella mushrooms, sliced

- I small onion, sliced thinly

- I small red bell pepper (or whatever bell peppers you like), sliced thinly

- 8 bacon strips done flat and crispy (this is best acheived in microwave or grill)

- 1 cup Mexican shredded cheese (or whatever cheese you prefer)

- 2 TBSP Butter

Directions

1.           Turn oven to broil so it can heat while you do the following…
2.           In a large skillet, melt 1 TBSP of the butter, add mushrooms.  Cook several minutes until half way cooked and add sliced onions and peppers.  Sautee until tender
3.           When mushrooms, onions and peppers are finished, dump into bowl, cover and set aside.
4.           Melt the other TBSP of butter in the pan.  Add a squirt of Lawry’s Teriyaki marinade.  Add pieces of chicken and pan fry until cooked through.  Add some of the marinade as you turn the pieces.
5.           Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with Pam.  When the chicken is cooked, take out and place in two’s on the baking sheet. 
6.           Place the bacon strips on each pair, distributing evenly.
7.           Spoon the onion, mushroom, pepper mixture on top of each pair.
8.           Sprinkle the shredded cheese over each piece of chicken
9.           Place in the oven under the broiler until cheese starts to bubble and is golden brown.

Serving Suggestions
    
      We had this will Uncle Ben’s Whole Grain Santa Fe Rice.  We use the extra mushrooms, onions and peppers as our vegetable.

The Wrath of the Stinkbug!

Crawling all over your walls, lying dead on your floor, flying around erratically in search of a place to land...yes, I am taking about the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug!  These nasty bugs have been invading our home for several years now, but it is not until today that I now have a personal vendetta with them.  

My one year old daughter Hailey is your typical one year old, getting into things she shouldn't, running in and out of rooms and sticking everything and anything in her mouth.  I should have taken the penny I had to pull out of her mouth this morning as a bad omen.   

I took Hailey into the living room, which I can see from the kitchen, and proceeded to the kitchen to make toast and eggs for breakfast.  Apparently my little Haileybug (aggh, I will never be able to use that nickname again), couldn't wait for me to finish.  I looked over and she was chewing on something.  I ran over and opened her mouth only to find a stink bug crawling in her mouth.  I quickly tried to finger swipe it out, but scared her and ended up only pulling off a leg.  It was like slow motion as I saw her swallow it...BLEH!  

Since it was alive, I called the emergency line and they recommended I take her since it was alive and they like to cling to things, meaning it could cling to her throat or esophagus.  To make a long story short, she threw up about 5 times, kept swiping at her throat, was miserable and wouldn't eat or drink.  The ER doctor took an X-ray of her neck, but they couldn't see anything.  He then called a toxicologist from Pittsburgh for advice because he didn't know if they were poisonous or not.  I personally researched and there is  ZERO information out there on them.  The toxicologist said that they started researching more because many young toddlers were coming in because of the same issue.  The conclusion has been they are not poisonous, that the children are more than likely throwing up because of the taste.  The red swollen throats of about almost all the children they have seen is most likely because the secretion they release burns.  So needless to say, we were the test subjects on what to do for others to come for the same thing.  We were both just glad to go home after the 3 hour adventure.

Since there is so many, I decided to research a way to get rid of them, or at least lessen the amount.  I came across this website and it talks about what the stink bug does, solutions on how to get rid of them and stories from other. http://stopstinkbugs.com/

I am going to check it out and try  a few things.  I will update when I do and give you my reviews! In the meantime, good luck out there!

Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese

Any Jalapeno Popper lovers out there?? If so, you will LOVE this recipe.  It's a yummy twist the your typical grilled cheese (adapted from Pinterest, one of my favorite places to find ideas).

Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese

Ingredients

• 2 jalapeno peppers, cut in half lengthwise and seeded
• 2 slices sour dough bread (any type will do, but not too thin)
• 1 tablespoon butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup jack and cheddar cheese, mexican cheese blend or plain cheddar, shredded
• 1 tablespoon tortilla chips, crumbled

Directions

1. Place the peppers on a baking sheet with the cut side facing down, drizzle with olive or canola oil.
2. Place the baking sheet on the top shelf in the oven and broil until jalapenos are soft.
3. Place the peppers aside and let cool while you do the next steps. 
4. Remove the skins if you want or if they were "blacked" while broiling.  
5. Butter the outside of each slice of bread and spread the cream cheese on the inside of one slice. Place the jalapenos on the cream cheese, pushing down slightly so they "stick". Sprinkle half of the cheese on top of the jalapenos.  Now add the crumbled tortilla chips, the remaining cheese and finally the other slice of bread.
6. Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat, spray with PAM. 
7. Grill until golden brown and the cheese has melted, about 2-4 minutes per side.  Be careful flipping your sandwich, the ingredients may fall out.  I usually put the turner underneath and hold the top with my hand while I flip.  I heard you can use tongs as well, which would pinch it shut.

Enjoy, I know we did!!!

Welcome!

Hello and Welcome to Everyone!

For those that don't know, my name is Kristin.  I am originally from the city of Pittsburgh, now a country livin' momma!  I have a pretty hectic life, teaching the 7th grade, operating my small business, Dimples & Giggles with my friend Rachel, and being a mommy to my baby girl, Hailey Grace.  

My husband's name is Mike and he is from this area...right smack in the middle of PA...which is how I ended up as a "Country Girl".  The past seven years that I have lived in this area, I have grown to love many things that I maybe would not have been interested in before including camping, crafting, gardening and "yard-saleing", to name a few.  

The goal of this blog is to share my ideas about those things, my business, and the things I was already interested in like, education, cooking, photography and organization!  Just to forewarn everyone, I love to share stories about my family, especially my daughter, so a little of that will be thrown in as well. I hope you find this blog to be helpful and enjoyable!

Kristin