a Stefani Hood Blog

Being from Texas we love our fajitas! They are kind of a Friday night staple along with a margarita. And grilling them at home is not hard, but sometimes the weather is bad (read 120 degrees with mosquitos) or you don’t have a grill or you only have a charcoal grill and don’t want to fuss with it.  These Baked Chicken Fajitas are perfect for those nights!  They are SO easy and your family will love them! Plus you can make them ahead of time and keep them in a warm oven until you can sit down. I serve the with a side of homemade Quick Refried Beans, chips and salsa and cold beers for the adults.

These fajitas are packed with flavor! Chicken, peppers, onions seasoned with fajita seasoning topped with cheese and baked. YUM! I wrap these in flour tortillas, but you can use corn or none at all.  They are delicious any way you serve them.

Hope you enjoy!

[…]

Well the school year has started and that means crazy!  Although this summer was absolutely insane! I feel like we didn’t have one day of just “nothing to do” and it was gone so quickly. I still have one more week with my older two before they go back to school and I am savoring every minute!  One way I do that is by having family dinner and making really good food! This recipe for Baked Chicken Parmesan was a huge hit with all my boys. It is quick, easy and healthy-all requirements for a week night meal.

One way I make this healthy is by baking the chicken and not frying it like traditional chicken Parmesan. Don’t worry it is still crunchy and juicy, but with just less calories. Another way I make this healthy is to serve it over zucchini noodles or Banza pasta that is made from chickpeas and has a TON of protein in each serving. My boys shockingly like both options! But, if I don’t have either in my house […]

We all want summer to last just a little bit longer. The warm nights, the longer days, no guilt for sitting down and reading a book, having a glass of wine at 3 o’clock…  But, all good things must come to an end and the kiddos go back to school-that could be a good thing- and the days get shorter and the nights get colder, but we can keep the summer feeling alive with delicious summer recipes. This recipe for New England Style Shrimp Rolls is the perfect thing to make on a weeknight to bring back those summer feelings. I use shrimp instead of lobster only because it is easier to find, for most of us, and its cheaper! But, by all means use lobster if you have it!

There really aren’t many variations on the classic lobster roll so the ingredients are simple and easy to find. The way you make it your own is by adjusting the amounts. This is my favorite version, but play with it and find what your family likes.

Hope […]

This is what they call the dog days of summer here in Texas.  It is 150 degrees here in August and honestly the last thing I want to do is cook, but these little (I guess 6’3″ not so little anymore) people always want to eat.  So, I cook in August.  We have about 2 weeks left until school starts and that is when I will kick it into high gear. But, in the mean time I am trying to get a few family dinners in during the week just to get my kids off the damn x-box! It is so nice to just have a few minutes to see their beautiful faces without head phones on and to talk to them while they are looking me in the eye and not side-eye while they are looking at the screen.  Plus they need actual food in their growing bodies-Flaming Cheetos, gummy bears, yogurt, goldfish and Dr. Pepper aren’t exactly healthy:). But, we go back to the issue of its hot and I don’t want […]

Ah the Instant Pot-the new kitchen appliance that is taking the cooking world by storm.  Is it worth it?  Well, yes and no.  If you like to play with new kitchen tools and like “crock-pot” dinners then this is for you! It is very easy to use and does move the cooking process along, but it does not go without some hands on time so if you are looking for a dump and walk appliance then this is probably not for you. It’s not a set it and forget it type appliance.  You do have to “cook”.  You have to sear and reduce liquid….But, with that being said I do use mine fairly often-I would say a few times a month and everything that I have tried has come out great.  I plan on trying homemade yogurt and I will post my results.

For today we are talking about Crispy Pork Carnitas! YUM!  This recipe turned out so delicious that I have made it several times in the last few weeks and all my sons […]

It is grill season! Living in Texas we can pretty much grill all year, but something about summer just screams it’s time for easy, light, quick grilled dinners. There is usually very little or no clean up with grilled dinners and everything tends to be rather light and healthy with the exception of ribs. Last night we had two of our three boys home for dinner-during the summer I let night family dinners slide and only require Wednesdays and Sundays for full family sit down dinners.  I found some beautiful tuna steaks at Central Market and decided to use a bright flavorful summery Tuscan rub on them and throw them on the grill. I served them with Trader Joe’s mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli. Easy summer dinner!

If you don’t have a grill you need to get one, but if you aren’t able to have a grill you can absolutely place the tuna steaks in a cast iron skillet or baking sheet and bake in oven at 450 degrees for about 8-12 minutes depending on […]

Being a Texan means we eat A LOT of Tex-Mex food! Its just in our blood to crave a margarita, chips, hot sauce (that’s what we call salsa), fajitas on a Friday evening… And we like it spicy, but not Cajun spicy! It has to have a tang of lime along with the heat of the jalapeños.  To give you an example of what I mean when I say “in our blood”, my oldest son would sit in his high chair starting when he was about 9 months old and eat, with a spoon, a bowl of “hot sauce” at our favorite Mexican restaurant, Mi Cocina. It was the damnedest thing! He still to this day LOVES spicy- I ship him jars and jars of his favorite salsa, chips and pickled jalapeños to school. Thank God for Amazon!

So what does this have to do with the following recipe?? Well, when we have a busy weeknight and don’t have time to go to our favorite Mexican restaurant I make Mexican Lime Chicken with warm tortillas (we […]

Happy Monday! The sun is finally shining here in Texas! And when the sun is shining in Texas in the Spring that means pollen, ugh!!!  I don’t know about you but I am dying!  My car is green and I cannot stop sneezing, but the sun is shining!!  So let’s get cooking!

I am back in the kitchen after a lot of travel and I have a fantastic healthy, quick weeknight dinner for you, Healthy Cajun Jambalaya!  YUM!  It is a little spicy and very flavorful and I serve it over Trader Joe’s cauliflower rice. Now, you can definitely serve this over traditional rice, but I thought I would give this a try and you know what the family LOVED it! My youngest son did ask, “What is this kind of rice is this?”, but I just said its rice that I toasted in the oven and he said “oh, ok I like it!”  Who said you are not supposed to lie to your kids? Had I told him it was cauliflower I can guarantee he would have […]

This recipe is what I call a cheat dinner! It is SUPER easy and very comforting and takes about 20 minutes to get on the table. And it can sit on the stove until everyone is ready or you can serve it in shifts for those busy sports nights.  I remember my mom making this when I was a child and I always loved Sloppy Joe nights (and chip beef on toast, but that is another topic).  It just meant it was a casual, easy, quick dinner night. It didn’t mean we didn’t have placemats and napkins, but it was just a casual night. Not many dishes to clean up and it was yummy and filling. And as a mom now yummy and filling are what I am needing for 3 teenage boys!

My mom always used the canned sloppy joe sauce and it was delicious, but I thought I would try to recreate it without using the can. It turned out pretty darn good!  And it really was just as easy. This is one of […]

Can you tell I am on a spring kick?!  For some reason I am just wanting fresh and light dinners and lunches.  Don’t worry I will get back to the fattening, yummy dishes soon enough:) But, in the meantime here is another delicious, quick and easy recipe that you can have on the table in 30 minutes with about 10 minutes hands on time! Caprese Chicken is all the fabulous flavors of the traditional Italian salad of mozzarella, tomatoes, balsamic vinegar and olive oil, but stuffed into a chicken breast then roasted in the oven until the chicken browns and the mozzarella becomes ooey and gooey. YUM!

This is a great recipe for using your tomatoes that aren’t quite ripe or your basil that is not quite in full bloom. Since they are going to be cooked their natural sweetness will come out in the roasting.  And this is also a great recipe for using the standard grocery store mozzarella.  You want low moisture mozzarella so that it melts gently when cooking. So dont waste your money […]