Homemade Pico de Gallo

Homemade Pico de Gallo

2 1/2 cups diced tomatoes (about 5-6 tomatoes)

1/2 cup fine-diced red onion

1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro

1 small jalapeño, finely minced

1 clove garlic, finely minced

Juice of 1 lime

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Carefully dice the plum tomatoes. An easy method is to quarter the tomatoes and then cut each quarter in half. Dice into small bite-sized pieces. In a medium bowl, add all of the ingredients and toss well to combine. Taste and add additional salt, if needed. Transfer to a serving dish and enjoy with your favorite chips! If you have time, it taste better if it sits for about an hour before eating!

DIY Taco Seasoning

So, Mexican is a favorite in this house. And by favorite, I mean we sometimes have Mexican 2 or more times a week.  There is an amazing new Mexican restaurant here and they have 99 cent Chalupa's on Monday, Taco's on Tuesday, and Enchilada's on Wednesday! Our family can eat for $10 or less!!!  BUT, we do eat Mexican at home a lot too! My handsome man absolutely loves fajitas.  We usually grill flank steak and then grill/sauté peppers and onions! Pardon me while I wipe the drool from my mouth, but when we grill the peppers and onions instead of doing them in the kitchen it makes such a huge difference! I also make my own taco seasoning! So delicious and minus all the crazy chemicals, and you know exactly what is in it. So without further ado, here are recipes for DIY Taco Seasoning, Flank Steak Fajita's, Homemade Pico de Gallo, and Zesty Avocado Chicken Bowls.

DIY Taco Seasoning

(I got this recipe from Pintrest-recipe and photo credit to the blog Family Fresh Meals)

 

 

 

1 Tsp. Garlic Powder

1/2  Tsp. Onion Powder

1 Tsp. Dried Oregano

2 Tsp. Black Pepper

2 Tbsp. Chili Powder

1 Tsp. Paprika

1/2 Tsp. Red Pepper Flakes

2 Tsp. Sea Salt

1 Tbsp. Ground Cumin

 

Mix all ingredients together and store in an old spice jar or an air tight container. When ready to use, use 2 tablespoons per 1 pound of meat.

 

I usually double this recipe and then just store it for later!

 

 

Please forgive me.....

Hello blog world! Please excuse my MAJOR absence! We have been so very busy-with A LOT of new things going on!!! My baby sister went to visit her sweet beau in Alaska-visit her awesome blog and look at all of her blog post and pictures of her "Taking Alaska" HERE! (And as a side note-we've started a craft business too-Anchored Down South-it's on her blog AND you can follow us on instagram too @anchoreddownsouth! I will be adding some of my baby crafts soon!) So, all of December I worked second shift for her! Let me tell you-WOW! This Momma hasn't worked since a few months before my blue eyed baby was born, and while being a stay at home Momma whose married to a hardworking UPS man is hard-being a working Momma is hard too-kudos to all you working Momma's! My sweet handsome man and I had been talking and throwing around a lot of things-having another baby; buying, building, or renting a new house closer to his work; buying a new car, etc. One day my sweet Momma called me up to tell me that she had passed a cute little house that was for rent, and when I saw it-it was perfect!!!!! We cut my man's weekly travel down by 100 MILES!!!! Shortly after we decided to move-which was right before Christmas-I had been feeling really strange, but I chalked it up to stress and the new schedule of working. SURPRISE!!!! It wasn't just crazy life, it was a new life!!!! So, in December, I worked and packed and we moved from a 2 bedroom city house to a 3 bedroom country home with land, just in time to remodel and make room for baby!!!! Life since January has been a lot of nesting-a whole lot!!! I have "decluttered" and downsized and then gone back to what was left and downsized some more! We've painted and carpeted and tiled and fixed lots of little things all while get my 18 month old into her big girl bed AND getting her potty trained! She has been such a good sport.  She loves our new house and our big yard, and she has been extremely easy when it has come to her big girl bed and using the big girl potty! She is growing up, and it just tears my heart to pieces ya'll! We just found out that, like my parents, we will be having a house full of estrogen! Another girl!!!! When I think back to July and the months shortly after when my sweet girl was born, I think of how I just would lay and rock her and watch her sleep.  This time I am very nervous because I have grown very attached to my sweets and she's very attached to me! This time will be different because I have two babies to divide my attention between! Is it possible to love someone as much as I love my Whitley? Questions like this came when about to have my girl, and after she got here I never once asked myself "How can I love her?", so I know that when August comes, all of my fears will subside and I won't question myself like I do now!
This entire year is going to be very busy! My middle sister is getting married July 18, my sweet blue eyed babe will be two July 22, and August 16ish, we will become a family of four!!!! (There are a few other big things going on too, but I can't talk of those just yet!) SO.....I have quite a few recipes to post tonight, but I will do my best to get back to my original "one recipe a week" commitment. We are also going to be trying a monthly meal plan instead of doing it weekly.  I am excited about this! We have done it twice and I seriously loved it, but this time I am going to try to incorporate more healthy meals! We will see how that goes!!!
So, Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Valentines Day, Happy St. Patrick's Day, and-finally-Happy April Fools!!!! Thanks for sticking around during my absence! I can't wait to show you some of our new foods!!!