The Stir-Fry Incident

Last night I made a simple chicken stir-fry in an attempt to have a healthy dinner made relatively quickly.  I used a bagged stir-fry with the sauce packet (yes, I cheated) but I used my own chicken so that stands for something, right?  So, I make this lovely stir-fry with all sorts of veggies and chicken in a sweet teryaki sauce and serve it over white rice.  Mr. Picky Pants first asked me if it smelled good or like feet?  What?!?  I assured him it did NOT smell like feet.  We sit down to eat and he picks at it and eats the chicken out leaving all the veggies and rice in the bowl and disappears into the kitchen.  A few minutes later he comes back with a plate of hot dogs and tater tots.  Needless to say, I think this sums up my taste in food versus Mr. Picky Pants' taste in food.  I prefer to eat a flavorful, healthy stir-fry, and he prefers to eat a kids meal off the Denny's menu.  I can't win!

Taco Night!

Growing up it was always fun when we had tacos for dinner.  My Aunt Penny made up the name "burros" for soft tacos since they were kind of a cross between tacos and burritos.  Everyone has their own "recipe" for homemade tacos and my family is no different.  We always had vegetarian refried beans, taco seasoned beef, lettuce, tomato, shredded cheese, and sour cream wrapped up in a flour tortilla.  Since this is how I grew up eating tacos, this is how I make them now only I try to use ground turkey instead of beef and I make my own taco seasoning when I have time and ambition.

Come to find out, Mr. Picky Pants never had tacos of any kind growing up - at home or at a restaurant.  In fact he told me he didn't even go to a Taco Bell for the first time until he was in high school.  Apparently his family didn't enjoy the Mexican food.  Needless to say, there was a definite learning curve for assembling and eating homemade tacos.  Being the four-year-old that he is, Mr. Picky Pants insists that I assemble his taco for him since I "do it best".

I don't really have a recipe to share, but I will share how I make my homemade taco seasoning.  If I was smart, I would make a large batch and store it like my pot roast rub, but I haven't done it yet.

Homemade Taco Seasoning

1 Tablespoon Chili Powder
1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1/2 teaspoon Onion Powder
1/2 teaspoon Paprika
1 1/2 teaspoon Cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Mix all the seasonings together.  To use for taco meat, mix into browned and drained beef or turkey with 2/3 c water and let it simmer until most of the water is absorbed.