A Tale of Dinner

Really, these dinners couldn't be more different except that they were both delicious!  I thought of giving each dinner it's own glory, but sharing is an important skill, so they will need to play nicely.  Can you tell that I am a preschool teacher/referee?  It just can't be contained, I guess.  Last week, I went menuless.  I know that's not a word, but still, you know what I mean.  One whole week without a plan of what to make when?  I mean, how was I supposed to figure this out? Every time I started to work on one, something happened.  It was just a week of interruptions and paperwork.  The boy's 11th grade homeschool evaluation is coming up in a week and I needed get all of my files in order, go through his assignments, find any missing books for the list; you get the idea.  Gotta love that paperwork.

On top of that - the marathon is in ONE week.  How am I supposed to concentrate on menus when I know that I'll soon be running 26.2 miles, and I have not one person to blame but me!?!  Or, I could just blame the hubby because he says that every bad decision I make or don't like the result of I blame on him.  I don't know what he's talking about, but I will say that he is the one who showed me this marathon when I must have been at my absolute weakest and I couldn't help myself except to register.  It just can't be my fault I decided to torture myself in this way, can it?  I just can't decide if I'm talking myself into running it or out of running it most of the time.  Some days it's both.  Today?  Well, let's just move on to the food.

Anyway - dinner each day this week was planned something like this:

Hubby - "What's for dinner?"

Me - "I don't know.  What do you want?"

Hubby - "Ugh.  Do I have to decide every night?"

Me - "We could have spaghetti.  Oh no, we just had pasta.  We could have tuna melts?  Oh no, we just had something similar to that.  We could have burgers.  Oh wait, I didn't make buns..."

Hubby - "Can you decide what we do have, can make and haven't just had before you tell me and make me hungry for something we don't have?"

Me - "Grumble, grumble, grumble (sometimes under my breath)"

At which point I usually come up with something that works. I don't know if I've worn him down and he'll accept anything at that point or if he just really likes what I come up with.

Which on  Thursday night was a meal from my childhood - Boiled shrimp, Steamed Swiss Chard, Baked Sweet Potato & Hushpuppies



It was a great, put together at the last minute meal.  And a good reminder that good food doesn't have to take a long time and is almost always quicker than take out.  Not that we don't still enjoy some take out from time to time, but when you can eat like this...why do it all the time?

Friday night we were out running some errands and I talked the hubby into going to our favorite Mexican restaurant.  And by talked into, I mean that I was getting grouchy because I was hungry and he wanted to salvage the evening.  I think I'm learning...

So, we went and had wonderful food as always!  My favorite there is the Pineapple Chicken Fajitas.  I love them so much and so does hubby.  He's a Shrimp Enchiladas kind of guy there but he even said that next time he thinks he's ordering the fajitas.  They bring it out, hot, sizzling and steaming in a hollowed out pineapple shell.   Excuse my droid's photo quality, but you get the idea...



So, tonight we decided that we'd like to have the Pineapple Chicken Fajitas again..so we did.  I made them at home and they tasted pretty close.  I cheated and used taco seasoning blend but I wasn't sure of the components of their seasonings and thought it was a good place to start.



As far as a recipe...pretty simple.

Pineapple Chicken Fajitas

• 2 large chicken breasts, cubed


• 1 c  fresh pineapple chunks, canned should work as well


• 1/2 c pepper strips


• 1/2 c diced onions


• 1-2 T taco seasoning


• Oil for frying


• Warmed Tortilla shells


• Any toppings you might want

Cook chicken sprinkled with taco seasoning in frying pan over medium-high heat.  Once cooked, add pineapple, peppers and onions and cook until vegetables are tender.  Spoon onto warmed tortilla shells and add any toppings you like.

Now, I better go and work on next week's menu... :)