Week 2025-22: Chicken Fajitas

(Serves 6)
The Recipe
800-900g chicken breasts
1 can diced tomatoes
3 bell peppers, sliced
1 large onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp honey
EITHER
1 bag taco seasoning
OR
2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp basil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

For serving:
Tortillas, salsa, sliced avocados, shredded cheese, tomatoes, cucumber

If using your own taco seasoning, mix this in a small bowl.

Pour half the canned tomatoes into the bottom of a slow cooker. Top with garlic and half the onions. Add chicken breasts, sprinkle with half the taco seasoning, turn over the chicken and add the rest. Top with remaining tomatoes and onion.

Cook on HIGH for 2 hours or on LOW for ~4.5 hours, add the bell pepper and cook for an additional 30 minutes.

Remove chicken and cut into strips. Spoon out about 1-2 cups of the liquid in the slow cooker (mostly tomato juice) and discard. Add lime juice and honey to the slow cooker and stir to combine. Return chicken and stir.

Serve with tortillas and toppings.

The Verdict
Not too different from other similar recipes I already have in my regular rotation, but the addition of the honey and lime juice really worked! Added a nice touch to the finished dish. I need to be less careful spooning out liquid though - there was still HEAPS left.

I made it with premade taco seasoning. Will have to try making my own next time.

Week 2025-17: Vegetarial Chili Mac

The Recipe
1 onion, medium chopped
1 bell pepper chopped
1 14oz can black beans rinsed and drained
1 14oz can kidney beans rinsed and drained
2 14oz cans crushed tomatoes
1-2 tsp chili powder
1tsp paprika
2 tsp cumin
½ tsp salt
A dash of black pepper
1/2 l vegetable broth
225g elbow macaroni pasta, uncooked
~100g shredded cheddar or mozzarella cheese with more for serving
Chopped spring onions for serving

Place first 10 ingredients (onion through broth) in a crockpot and stir to combine. Cover and cook on LOW for ~7 hours.
Stir in pasta and continue cooking on HIGH for 15-20 minutes, until pasta is cooked through. Stir in cheese.
Serve topped with remaining cheese and spring onions.

The Verdict
The original recipe called for 1.5tbsp chili!!! That seemed like a LOT so I tried with 1tsp chili instead. I think next time I could easily use 1.5 or 2 instead as it really was quite mild. Apart from that it was really good and super easy to make, so I'll definitely add this to my regular rotation.

I served it with bacon for the non-vegetarians people.

(2024) Week 42: Pico de Gallo

The Recipe
1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp lime juice
1/2 teaspoon sea salt, more to taste
2 large ripe red tomatoes chopped
A dash of chili flakes

Mix and leave to marinade for at least 15 minutes

The Verdict
Really good! Using lime juice instead of lemon juice made a huge difference. It did need some fresh herbs of some sort - the original recipe had cilantro, which I don't like, but perhaps some fresh oregano, thyme or basil? Will have to try it out.

(2024) Week 26 - Waldorf Salad

The Recipe
2 apples
1tbsp lemon juice
1tsp sugar
1-2 celery stalks, chopped
40g chopped walnuts
40g raisins (or the equivalent in grapes)
50g mayonnaise
Salt, pepper

Chop the apples into 1cm cubes. Transfer to a bowl and toss with lemon juice and sugar.
Chop celery and walnuts and add to the bowl. Mix with raisins and mayonnaise.
Add salt and pepper according to taste.

Leave cold until serving.

The Verdict
I made it with raisins, but really want to use grapes next time. Waldorf salad (or celery, basically) is one of those things that I hated as a kid but love now, so I'd never actually made this myself before, but it's SO easy, so I'll definite add this to my regular rotation.

(2024) Week 10: White Chicken Chili

The Recipe
100g bacon
Butter
1 onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
1 jalapeno pepper, diced (optional)
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1tsp cumin
½dl flour
1l chicken broth
1 340g jar of salsa
450g chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 large potatoes, cubed
2,5dl cream
100g shredded cheddar cheese
1 small can of corn (or the equivalent frozen)
Salt, pepper

Cook the bacon in a pot. Set aside, reserving the bacon grease.

Turn down the heat, add butter to the grease if necessary and cook onion, bell pepper and jalapeno for 5-10 minutes. Add garlic and cumin and cook for about a minute. Sprinkle in the flour, mix and cook for a minute.

Add broth, salsa, chicken and potatoes. Bring to a boil and leave to simmer until the potatoes and chicken is done - about 20 minutes, adding the corn about half-way through.

Add the cream and cheese and let it melt. Return the bacon to the pot and season with salt and pepper.

The Verdict
The original recipe had 2 entire cups of corn which ended up being FAR too much! I'll try to make it with just one can next time instead of two - or I might go ahead and replace the second up with beans instead, to turn it into more of a chili.

But apart from that, I loved it! The chili I had found was on weak enough for my DH to be handle the heat, and I just added chili flakes to my bowl when serving it instead. I'd wondered if the chicken would suffer from just being boiled, instead of being browned on the pan first, but that wasn't the case at all, and it ended up being really juicy and tender. Definitely worth a repeat.

(2024) Week 9: Crockpot Honey Garlic Chicken

The Recipe
450g chicken
3 garlic cloves, minced
3tbsp honey
4tbsp ketchup
4 tbsp soy sauce
oregano

In a bowl, mix together last 5 ingredients.
Place chicken in the crockpot, pour sauce on top and cook on LOW for 4-5 hours (HIGH for 3-4 hours).
Cut the chicken into thick slices and return to the crockpot for ~15 minutes to soak up the sauce.

Serve with rice and some veggies.

The Verdict
This is my favourite type of recipe - super easy to make and REALLY yummy! What's not to like?! :-D I cooked mine for 4.5 hours (including the 15 minutes after carving) and the chicken turned out PERFECT! Not dry at all. Definitely a keeper.

I served it with the air fryer carrot fries found elsewhere on this blog.

(2024) Week 3: Air Fried Chinese Duck

The Recipe
(Serves 2)
2 duck breasts
2tbsp soy sauce
2tbsp honey (divided)
1tsp five spice powder (divided) (I didn't have this, but google told me I could use garam marsala instead...)

Prepare ahead of time Mix together the soy sauce, half the honey and haft the five spice powder in a bowl with a flat bottom. Pat dry the skin of the duck and put into the bowl skin-side up, making sure the skin isn't covered by the marinade - dump some out of you have to. Cover, but leave a few holes for air to circulate and leave in the fridge overnight.

Place the duck in the air fryer, skin side up and pat the skin dry one last time. Cook at 165C for 15 minutes.

Mix together 2tbsp warm water, the rest of the honey and the rest of the five spice powder. Coat the skin of the duck with the honey mixture and cook at 200C for another 10 minutes.

The Verdict
Smelled sort of weird while cooking, so I was a bit hesitant, but OH my goodness! It tasted AMAZING! I had added potatoes to the air fryer and cooked the duck on top of them, which worked really well, but honestly, you can serve this duck with just about anything that doesn't require a sauce of some sort. Would be delicious in a salad as well.

Next time I also want to try to add 1tbsp oyster sauce and 1tbsp minced garlic to the marinade as I didn't have oyster sauce and forgot(!!) the garlic this time around.

Really delicious, so I will definitely be making this again!