Baked Chicken Fajitas

As a new mother, I'm always looking for easy meals to prepare so we don't wind up at some fast food place! This chicken fajita recipe is versatile, delicious, and EASY! Dump it all together in ziploc bag the night before or the day of, freeze it if you want, doesn't matter!

Baked Chicken Fajitas

1lb chicken, sliced in to strips
1 can rotel
1 onion, sliced
1 green pepper, sliced
2 T olive oil
2 t chili powder
2 t cumin
1/2 t garlic powder
1/2 t oregano
1/4 t salt

Preheat oven at 400f. Mix all ingredients together, coating well. Bake in an oven dish for 25 minutes! That's it!

Try this out! See what you think, then love that you have hardly dirtied any dishes for dinner :-)

Roasted Mushrooms

This is the time of year where fresh herbs are easy to come by, whether from your own home garden or from the farmer's market. Put them to delicious use with this fantastic and beautiful side dish. These mushrooms go very well with pork or chicken, especially when you cook those meats on the grill. You can prep these up ahead of time too, so that way all you have to do is toss them into the oven! I especially like these cold and leftover on top of a nice, crisp romaine salad. So here's the recipe!

Roasted Mushrooms

2lb mushrooms (we prefer baby bellas, but really any kind or a mixture of mushrooms would be fine!)
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 c olive oil
Salt/pepper to taste
1 t fresh chopped rosemary
1 t fresh chopped sage
1/4 c fresh chopped parsley
1 t balsamic vinegar

Preheat oven to 350f. Clean and dry your mushrooms very well, then chop mushrooms. You can chop them in half or in to 2 inch chunks. Mix all of the ingredients, making sure to coat all the mushrooms. Place them in a baking dish and bake for about 30 to 40 minutes, or until nice and tender. Remove them from the heat and drizzle with balsamic vinegar. Enjoy!

Balsamic vinegar is like some magic mushroom juice that makes even mushroom haters stop in their tracks! Stay tuned for other mushroom recipes in later posts!

My Birth Story

So, hi again! I sort of got caught up in real-life and didn't get the opportunity to rest or share the ending of my pregnancy. Yes, Owen has made his grand appearance! (3 and a half months ago...) So much has changed, so much has happened, and Owen has grown so much! He's my little growin' Owen! I'm going to take this opportunity to share his birth story :-) 

I was due May 5th, which was me and the hubby's wedding anniversary. May 5th came and went, me with a terrible attitude, hot and miserable and craving crab cakes. The 6th came and went. The 7th came and went. The 7th was so special and fun though...it was my last full day as a pregnant person! I didn't know this at the time, of course, but I'm glad we spent the day like we did, having a big fire in our outdoor fireplace, eating ice cream, relaxing, shopping trip to Target and Wal-Mart with my mother and grandmother. That night, we went to bed kinda early after I begged my husband to put the air conditioners in the windows. It was so cool and relaxing! I fell right asleep. At 3 am, I woke up, feeling a little weird and...DAMP! What the heck? I waddled to the bathroom and realized OMG MY WATER BROKE! I went to wake up the hubs, and I was in such shock, I didn't know if we should go to the hospital or not? I was having mild contractions, and so we made our way through the dark house and put our bags in the car and left. My baby sister was staying with us, but we didn't bother to wake her as she had to work early in the morning.

Upon arriving at the emergency entrance at the hospital, we were greeted by the male receptionist, Cameron. He made me ride in that blasted wheelchair, and took us up to L&D, which was just weird to me for some reason...I had been pregnant for so long, I thought this day would never arrive! My nurses were incredible! They abided by all of my wishes, checked on me constantly, and made me feel so cared for and special.

After about 7 hours of being in the hospital, my doctor started pushing having a c-section. I was not impressed by this idea! I even began to cry and beg the nurses to not even mention that to me anymore. It was the last thing I wanted! I wanted my midwife at the hospital but she was doing another delivery. By 2 or 3 pm, I had been in 'labor' for 12 hours, so they started me on pitocin to get things moving along with labor. That's when my pain got intense. It was completely manageable up until that point. I begged for a pain shot. Then around 5-6 pm, the pain shot wore off. I was not able to manage the pain anymore. I silently cried and balled up and got frustrated with myself and had the epidural. It wasn't working. I could still feel full intensity of the pain. By 7, it was pushin' time! I was so ready to get this thing over and done! My doctor was in the room, and I had never felt so upset in my life...I wanted Melissa, my midwife! All of a sudden, I heard Melissa's voice! I felt so relieved! She was so supportive through the entire delivery. I pushed for about 45 minutes...and for good reason...Owen's 14" head, 9lb 8oz body, and 21 1/2" body!! Yes, he was enormous! I was amazed at the relief I felt after the delivery. It was finally over and we got to meet the guy we'd been waiting so long to see! Unbelievable!