Fruit Salad, Fajitas and other good things...

I just had to make a fruit salad yesterday. Ever since the 4th of July I've been wanting to make one, weird right? Nothing says summer time and hot weather to me like fresh fruit in a bowl! I made the classic fruit dip and my daughter thought that it was out of this world. What was it? Here's the recipe, don't blink...1 8ounce package cream cheese and 1 jar of marshmallow cream, mix them together and there it is!

My husband and I went to a surprise 40th birthday party for a good friend recently and the food was out of this world! Who knew that you had to go to the Holiday Inn in downtown Rapid City to get good Mexican food? LOL! We've been searching for really good Mexican food since moving to this area almost 4 years ago. Some friends told us of a Mexican restaurant in Spearfish but when we went, well lets day that we were NOT the least bit impressed with the place. Granted it was done up in Mexican decor but that was the only thing authentic about the place. From the ultra bad service and a more than a normal amount of flies buzzing around inside of the restaurant to the so-so quality food. Needless to say this family won't be going back to dine there. We had a very nice Mexican restaurant here in Rapid City but the health department closed the place...no not about the food but the type of mold that had grown in the fountain in the front lobby (Legionnaires disease) :-( Now there's a Walgreen's in it's place, go figure!So with those factors in place I'm left to do one thing...make my own Mexican food.

I feel very at home when making and creating meals in a few different ways Italian, what is called California Fresh, good ole barbecue and some New England type items. I deem myself as a gourmet cook and can make some excellent meals. But as for Mexican cuisine or Tex-Mex well I need to brush up on some things. Now the chicken Fajitas we had the other night were out of this world! If there's one thing I have developed is my knack for tasting something and being able to pick out what was used to create the dish. I asked my kids if they thought that was creepy and they said "no" actually they said that they think that it's it's "rather cool". So yesterday I recreated Chicken Fajitas with a spin of my own on it. I had it waiting for the kids when they got back from the pool...my daughter (who is going to have the same kind of taste buds as her mother, I can just tell) sits down at the table and tells me that the house smells wonderful! My son tells me that they're starved and the house smells great! Okay that's a good sign...they ask what for dinner and I have them look in the fish and they say okay I serve them each up a fajita and Hannah exclaims (with a full mouth) "Mom this is excellent" and what does Andrew have to say? "Mom, where's the cheese?" LOL! Typical man! At the end of the meal Andrew gave me a hug and kiss and said that it was a very good dinner and that I could make it again...what a crack up! So what did I use to make this fabulous meal? Don't roll your eyes but you know those packets of seasoning mixes that you can buy at the grocery store? Yup I used that stuff! So here is what I did...I grilled my chicken breasts But I used McCormick's chicken rub on those chicken breasts. Grill on a medium heat 7 minutes each side (lid closed and only turning after 7 minutes). Trust me your chicken is done cooking! Take out the chicken and let it rest on a cutting board (it keeps the chicken moist). I followed the directions on the packet...sort of, LOL! I added 2 medium to large sized red onions and 2 medium green bell pepper, 1 medium yellow bell pepper and 1 large red bell pepper and 3 packages of grilled chicken breasts (about 4 pounds) and last but not least 4 packages of the McCormick's Fajitas seasoning mix. Oh my word, it was like a little slice of Tex-Mex right in my own kitchen! The chicken rub added some extra spices to the fajita mix and gave it that extra kick! The chicken rub is not bland by any means (especially when you use as much of it as I did). I plan on making this the next time we entertain! When my husband got home from work yesterday (yes he had to work on a Sunday...the Air Force never rests) he was in Tex-Mex heaven!

Now back to the fruit salad I knew that something was missing but couldn't put my finger on it until Hannah speaks up and says that it needed pineapple. You know what, my girl was right! A word of advice for cooks out there...listen to your children you would be surprised with the kinds of things that they like. I never did have the pb&j thing going on at our house- with one of my children having a peanut allergy I never really could. So I got creative with other things and I see that it's really paid off for me, especially now in my children's teenage years.