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Reviews

Eating Well on a Budget? For Reals?

by Joi on March 14, 2010

One of the books I’d most recommend to anyone right now is The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Eating Well on a Budget by Lucy Beale and Jessica Partridge. At a time when we’re all challenging ourselves to stay on a budget AND eat healthy, this is the book we absolutely needed the most. If you’re like me, you’d just about decided that eating as healthy as you wanted to was out of your budget. I was pretty much at that point when this outstanding book came along.

After arming myself with the knowledge and tips from these authors, I know that it isn’t just possible to eat well on a budget, it’s deliciously possible.

First, a few all-important facts:

You and your family won’t gain weight if you each eat about 2,000 calories a day per adult.
You don’t need to purchase more food than your target number of calories for the week.
You won’t be wasting food or letting it rot in the refrigerator. If it rots because no one eats it, be wary if you consider purchasing that food in the future.

Throughout the book, the authors provide a lot of what I call “Roadblocks” – thoughts and circumstances that lead us to choose poorly while at the supermarket or restaurant. They offer ways around, or through, these roadblocks. There are also great tips on saving money, staying on a budget, eating healthier foods, and making each calorie count.

There are also a lot of wonderful recipes… we’ll get to them in a minute!

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Eating Well on a Budget has 21 chapters in all and is over 300 pages in length. I suppose you’d expect authors who are so budget conscious to give their readers even more than they paid for. I’m very grateful and you will be as well.

A Few of the Chapters From Eating Well on a Budget

The Best Nutrition at the Best Price

The Budget

Food and Menu Planning

Eating Out on a Budget

The Shopping List

More Ways to Save on Food

Breakfasts

Beef and Pork Main Dishes

Desserts

The next time you dine out at a sit-down restaurant, notice the price of coffee, tea, and a glass of wine. They’re probably higher than you thought. You may choose not to order them again. – - Page 18, Eating Well on a Budget

I was really glad to see that the authors covered all aspects of dining – at home as well as in restaurants. They’ve included great tips on saving money each and every time we place a bite or drink into our mouths.

Chapter 2 includes a clear, perfectly laid-out plan for starting to budget. They tell you the tools you’ll need (receipts, notebook, calculator) to become a budgeting whiz and how you’ll need to go about the process.

Food Preparation is covered in Chapter 5 and includes…

Cooking to save money
Preparing in quantity, eating in moderation
Making delicious use of leftovers
Keeping prepared foods on hand

Here’s one of the great tips (“Kitchen Wise“) from this chapter: Keep sandwich fillings on hand for quick meals on the run. You’ll need bread, mayonnaise or mustard, and fillings, such as cheese, sliced meats, tuna, or peanut butter. Add an apple or other piece of fruit, and you have a balanced meal.

Some of the Remarkable Recipes in Eating Well on a Budget

The recipes the authors have chosen sound delicious! What’s more, they’ve included dietary information, cooking time, prep time, serving size, and “Tasty Tidbits.” Again, giving the reader far more than he or she expected.

A few of my favorite recipes from The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Eating Well on a Budget are:

Hummus
White Chili
Creamy Clam Chowder
Nine Vegetable Soup
Grown Up Peanut Butter and Jelly (YUM!)
Baked French Toast with Honey Walnut Syrup
Chile Egg Puff
Savory Spinach and Bacon Bake
Zesty Breakfast Burritos
Just Right Cheese Omelet (made with Monterey Jack Cheese!)
Hawaiian Ham Rollups
Egg Salad with Red Pepper and Walnuts
Ham and White Bean Soup
Red Chili
Quick Beef Fajitas
Lemon Pecan Stuffed Chicken
Herbed Salmon Cakes
Lasagna with Meat and Cheese
Fruit Glazed Carrots
Raspberry Banana Bread
Slow-Cooked Pudding and Fruit Cake
Cookies Flavored with Tea
Pear Cobbler
Buttermilk Corn Bread
Cheese Grits Casserole
Many, Many more!

Since we’re all thinking about Easter meals and Easter recipes, I thought I’d include the Fruit-Glazed Carrots recipe in the review. Save this one (better yet, print it out) for your Easter meal. There’s also a great recipe for Mustard-Glazed Ham in the book. Order today and you’ll be set long before Easter gets here!

Fruit-Glazed Carrots Recipe

Page 246, Eating Well on a Budget

4 cups sliced carrots
2 TBS water
2 TBS fruit jam or jelly – peach, strawberry, or apricot
1/2 tsp. red wine vinegar
1 TBS olive oil
dash salt and ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place carrots in a microwave-safe bowl with water. Cover and microwave on high for 8 minutes. Drain well. Add jam, vinegar, and olive oil. Mix gently.

Transfer carrots to a lightly oiled 8×8x2 or 9×9x2 inch baking dish. Season with salt and pepper. Bake 15 minutes. Serve hot or chill 20 minutes before serving.

Variation: Try orange marmalade or chutney to intensify the flavor of the carrots. For a spicy taste, substitute 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce for the vinegar.

Kitchen Wise: The sauce for these carrots tastes great on other vegetables as well, such as broccoli, snap peas, and spinach. You can also serve the sauce on the side for dipping. – Page 246, Eating Well on a Budget

Hmmmmm, I just happened to think of another way to use this sauce. Have you ever made homemade fried jalapenos? This sauce (particularly if you use Red Plum or a berry-based jelly) would be outstanding to dip fried jalapenos in.

Do yourself, your family, and your budget a huge favor and head over to Amazon right now to order this wonderful book. I wouldn’t recommend it to you if I didn’t know 100 percent that you’ll love it as much as I do. Here’s the link to healthier eating and a happier budget: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Eating Well on a Budget

Make Starbucks Drinks at Home

by Joi on March 5, 2010

I’m a Starbucks fanatic and a green tea addict – so it’s only logical that I’d be a Starbucks Green Tea Frappuccino fanaddict. When the weather’s cold, I almost always go with Chai Tea Lattes, Skinny Caramel or Mocha Lattes, or hot tea – but when the weather begins to warm up, they know what I’m there for.

My youngest daughter, Stephany, and I are completely hooked on the Green Tea Frappuccinos made with whipped topping on top and drizzled with raspberry syrup. Some people like the syrup mixed in with the green tea, itself – but it’s much prettier and much tastier if they just drizzle some on top. We both threw ourselves into one yesterday while out enjoying every single digit of the 49 degrees. That may not sound too warm, but it is when your weather’s been in the 20’s longer than my aunt was. She outsmarts the rest of us. She spends about 20 years in each decade.

While driving along slurpping, ooohing, and ahhhing, I thought how outstanding Starbucks Raspberry Syrup would be on smoothies, ice cream, pound cake, white cake with white icing, cool whip covering strawberries or hot green tea, my hand… This stuff is that good.

I jumped online and found that you can order some of your very own. In fact, you can order any of their remarkable syrups and get all kinds of remarkable in your kitchen. Think about the possibilities with each of these:

Starbucks Cinnamon Dolce Syrup

Starbucks Caramel Syrup

Starbucks Hazelnut Syrup

Starbucks Vanilla Syrup

Click through any of the flavors listed for more information – there are also Sugar Free versions available. My mind just doesn’t spend much time with the words sugar free. Sometimes when I’m huffing and puffing on the treadmill I wish it did. But, there you have it.

I’d recommend each one of these perfect syrups for flavoring coffee and/or using in the seductive manners I described. Whatever you do, you MUST grab a bottle of the Starbucks Raspberry Syrup and a bottle of the Starbucks Caramel Syrup.

You can have a lot of success making Starbucks-like drinks at home, but having great coffee, great tea bags, and these flavored syrups are essential. And delicious!

Covermate Has You Covered: You’ll Love These

by Joi on March 1, 2010

I was recently sent a box of Covermate Stretch to Fit Food Covers. The deal was for me to tell you about them if I liked them or found them to be useful.

How about this? I loved them and am wondering how I ever lived without them. So, yeah, I do believe I’ll tell you all about this ingenious way to deal with leftovers.

Picture it: You’ve covered the leftover Easter ham, Thanksgiving turkey, Christmas casserole, cupcakes, cookies, or buffalo wings with plastic wrap or foil. Each time you or a hungry loved one gets under the foil or wrap, it loses its grip a little bit more. It isn’t long before more of the leftovers are exposed than covered and all of your brilliant culinary craftsmanship goes right out the door. You swear up and down that the cupcakes were once moist, but watch as everyone washes down each bite with milk.

I’ve been using the Covermate Food Covers and the scenario above (or should I say the end to the scenario above) is what I love most about these stretch to fit covers. I also love that they’ll fit any shape of dish, plate, pan, or bowl.

Covermate covers allow you to easily cover plates and bowls of food. You simply stretch one of the clear covers over the dish and allow it to snap securely into place. Thanks to the brilliant built-in FlexBand™ technology, uncovering and re-covering are just as easy. So you won’t have to tell anyone that your cupcakes were once moist or that the wing’s weren’t dried out when you made them!

Another plus as spring and summer finally roll into the neighborhood – flies won’t be able to find a way into your food, after all they don’t care if the cupcakes are dry or not!

Covermates also keep your food fresher: They’re made from heavy-duty clear plastic material that is twice as thick as standard plastic wrap. A micro-sealed edge and FlexBand™ combine to form a tight hygienic seal around all dishware to keep food as fresh and fabulous as you want it to be.

I also just happen to love the way they look. SO chic.

My box is the Variety Pack which has had (told you I loved them!) 10 covers: 4 medium, 4 large, 2 extra large, and a bonus Small Can Cover – I used it on evaporated milk… washed it off and used it again on sweetened condensed milk. What is it with me and cans of milk?

If you head over to Covermate Covers.com, you can actually sign up for a free sample pack. Would it be tacky of me to do…. Oh, don’t look at me like that, I’m only sort of kidding. I will be checking my grocery store for these today, though. Oh, I almost forgot another favorite use: I always have a few bowls of dried fruit, candy, and nut combinations sitting around the house. I like to put covermate covers over them to keep our cat Alexa out of them – she loves to dig them out and swat them to the floor. I try reasoning with her, telling her how much cashews cost but she just doesn’t care.

Now Covermate has me and my cashews covered – and Alexa perplexed. Go grab your sample pack and look for these in your store!

Vegetarian Recipe: Raw Hummus Romaine Roll-Ups!

by Joi on March 1, 2010

The vegetarian recipe below is from the wonderful cookbook you see pictured above – The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Being Vegetarian. I’ve already reviewed this book on Get Cooking, so I’ll spare you the details about how much you need your own copy (which you do!). You can find my review linked below the recipe. I’m even more impressed with this cookbook now that I’ve re-read it and tried out more of the recipes. There are more than just recipes, of course, there is a wealth of information for everyone – whether you are…

A vegetarian who hasn’t touched meat in years.
A new vegetarian.
A semi-vegetarian.
A fish, and chicken-lover who is trying to eat more vegetables and more vegetarian meals.
Eating a burger right this minute and wish I’d shut-up about veggies.

No matter what category you’re in, you’ll love this book. Personally, I’m a 4… a very happy 4 who is about to eat a fish sandwich for lunch.

Vegetarian Recipe: Raw Hummus Romaine Roll-Ups

Serves 4 | Prep Time: 15 Minutes | Serving Size: 1 Roll-up
1 cup sprouted garbanzo beans (or steamed)
1/2 cup tahini
1 cup olive oil
2 TBS fresh parsley
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 TBS tamari
Salt
Pinch cayenne
Water
Large romaine lettuce leaves (washed, patted dry)
Feta cheese, crumbled
1 tomato, chopped
1 cucumber, chopped

Place the garbanzo beans in a blender or a food processor. Add tahini, olive oil, parsley, garlic, lemon juice, tamari, salt, and cayenne, and blend until creamy.

Spread several tablespoons hummus onto 1 romaine leaf, and top with crumbled feta cheese, chopped tomato, and chopped cucumber. Roll and eat.

This makes an outstanding hummus – whether you bring the romaine lettuce to the party or not. I love this hummus served with raw vegetables and/or crackers.

From my own experience (this isn’t from the book), you can substitute creamy peanut butter for tahini and soy sauce for the tamari. Tahini can be pretty costly. It depends on the mood I’m in at the grocery store whether I buy it or just use peanut butter. I’m familiar with both and, honestly, can’t tell a discernible enough difference to recommend one over the other.

The wonderful recipe above is from The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Being Vegetarian by Frankie Avalon Wolfe, M.H., Ph.D. You can read my review of the cookbook and see if you’d be interested in a copy of your own. Whether you are a vegetarian or not, this really is an outstanding book.

North Star Fine Coffees: Taste the Commitment

by Joi on February 27, 2010

Coffee is life. Okay, so maybe that’s a really broad, really ambitious statement – so sue me. Just don’t take my coffee from me.

Some of you tease me (good naturedly, of course) about my unwavering stance on not cutting corners when it comes to baking. I’ve said it a gazillion times, more times than not, you get what you pay for. When it comes to ingredients, your food will taste better if you take the quality of each ingredient into account. If you’re making a German Chocolate Cake, for example, and you want it to taste first rate, you’d better have first rate ingredients – otherwise, you’ll have to settle for the outcome, just as you settle for the ingredients.

Granted, I will look for bargains and if something’s on special, I load up. I want to get what I pay for because I have a strong distaste for wasting money or being foolish with it.

However, experience has taught me that some things are simply worth the extra price. Vanilla extract, cocoa, chocolate bars, and coffee each are at the top of this list.

Premium Coffee: Why It’s Worth the Price

Some people question buying premium coffee. I can almost hear them asking now, “Why buy premium coffee beans when I can buy ground coffee at the store for next to nothing.” That’s akin to asking, “Why buy a Cadillac when I can buy a clunker?”

Premium coffee simply tastes better and leads to a much more enjoyable, satisfying, and lovely coffee-drinking experience. Why do you think coffee house coffee is so extraordinary? They take what they do seriously. They don’t buy clunkers.

Neither do I.

What’s Special About North Star Fine Coffees?

What distinguishes North Star Fine Coffees from other coffees, even other premium coffees? I can think of a few words:

Commitment
Pride

Here’s where rubber meets the road – or rather where the bean meets the grinder: There are twenty-eight grades of coffee. Most people drink, on average, a grade 15 – 28. Even drinkers of ’specialty’ or ‘Gourmet’ coffees aren’t enjoying coffees any better than a grade 5, which qualifies at the minimum level for a specialty coffee. North Star Fine Coffees only offers premium grade 1 — the absolute finest available in the world.

This commitment to standing apart from the rest shows. You can taste it in every sip. You can smell it when you grind the beans! No lie, this may be something that only coffee drinker extraordinaires like myself, my husband, and our oldest daughter would recognize, but when we grind North Star Fine Coffee beans, you can smell the goodness throughout the kitchen and the dining room. I love to put on an evening pot and I always grind the beans right before Emily gets home from work. This way, she’s hit with the Heavenly aroma the minute she walks in the house.

Needless to say, it’s something we all enjoy each morning as well.

I’ve spoken through e-mail and social media to the President of North Star Fine Coffees and he’s as friendly and likable a person as you’d ever hope to meet. How could he not be? Coffee people are the coolest people in the world! Something always stands out to me: He’s very warm, sincere, friendly, and positive – some of my favorite traits! But there’s something else. He takes a great deal of pride in his coffee and in his company. You can tell it isn’t a job for him or just a way to make money. He’s passionate about his coffees and he’s passionate about North Star Fine Coffees reputation.

My household is so overjoyed that he is!

***This fact is supported by the Specialty Coffee Association of America.

{ Literally pauses to take a sip of North Star’s Seattle Reign Blend! }

Where to Buy North Star Fine Coffees

I’d love for you to try North Star Fine Coffees for yourself. I want you to taste just how special this coffee is and I want you to see, first nose, what I’m talking about with the aroma. It’ll have you floating through the air!

Click any of the links in this post (or any of the images as well) to learn more about North Star Fine Coffees and to place your order. I have tried and thoroughly enjoyed the following blends: Black Label and Seattle Reign.

Seattle Reign: A decadent medium bodied coffee with soft earthy undertones, slightly sweet nutty flavor and a luxuriously smooth chocolaty finish. (Yes, chocolaty! – a delicious subtle flavor of chocolaty Heaven.)

Black Label: Luxuriously smooth, seductive aroma, rich full body, with smokey overtones, and a semi-sweet finish.

I honestly can’t say which is my favorite – I love them both equally. I guess this calls for more testing, right?!

{ Heads off for more testing… I love my life.}

Doi Chaang Coffee

by Joi on February 26, 2010

I was recently sent 3 bags of Doi Chaang Coffee and it has been my supreme pleasure to test each one. I’ve tried the following beautiful, aromatic, and delicious varieties: Single Estate: Signature, Single Estate: Medium, and Single Estate: Piko’s Peaberry.

My favorite? Whichever one happens to be in the pot at the time! Seriously, each is outstanding and I don’t think it’d be possible to go wrong with anything with the name Doi Chaang on the front.

About Doi Chaang Coffee:

From Doi Chaang’s Website: Doi Chaang Coffee is a single-origin, premium Arabica. It is certified organic, forest canopy grown, hand picked, fresh water processed, sun dried, hand sorted and freshly roasted to ensure the highest possible quality for each cup of Doi Chaang Coffee. Naturally low in caffeine, it has a complex and flavourful profile which is enhanced and released through detailed cultivating, processing and roasting methods. Read more….

Click the following link to shop online for this wonderful premium coffee. It’s more than just a cup of coffee, it’s an experience: Buy Doi Chaang Online.

Burger King to Serve Seattle’s Best Brand Coffee Starting This Summer

by Joi on February 18, 2010

Wow, I didn’t see this one coming. As you know, I am the epitome of a coffee expert. My husband and our oldest daughter (Emily) are the same way. What can I say, we know our java. We always have a fresh pot of coffee brewing in the kitchen and we certainly know the spots around town with the best coffee when we need a quick fix away from home.

Emily and I are completely wild about Burger King’s coffee. For some reason, it is just always tastes outstanding. Apparently it’s about to get even more outstanding, if that’s possible. Starting this summer, new coffee will be served at Burger King’s nationwide.

Burger King will roll-out Starbucks Corp.’s Seattle’s Best Coffee to more than 7,000 of its restaurants in the United States. Burger King’s brand, BK Joe will be forced into retirement. Emily and I will miss it something fierce.

John Schaufelberger, senior vice president of Burger King’s global product marketing and innovation, told The Associated Press that coffee switcheroo is part of a continued effort to improve its breakfast business. He called Burger King’s morning menu one of their “top strategic priorities.”

Seattle Best Brand, which I love by the way, is one of coffee giants Starbuck’s babies. Starbuck’s acquired the Seattle’s Best brand in 2003. Seattle’s Best Brand is already served at 9,000 Subway franchises.

Ronald Reagan’s Favorite Macaroni and Cheese Recipe

by Joi on February 14, 2010

One of my favorite human beings, let alone Presidents was President Ronald Reagan. He was one of a kind and I’m not sure there’ll ever be another like him. The country fell in love with him and for good reason. His charm, personality, and sense of humor made him a force to be reckoned with and they made him always appear to be larger than life.

The recipe below is reportedly a favorite of this great American and would be perfect for a President’s Day supper – or any day for that matter… it sounds delicious!

Ronald Regan’s Macaroni & Cheese Recipe

Serves 4 as an entrée, or 6 to 8 as a side dish

1/2 pound macaroni
1 tablespoon butter
1 egg beaten
3 cups grated sharp Cheddar cheese
1 cup warm milk
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Pinch of paprika

From White House Cookbook, Revised and Updated Centennial Edition by H. Haller and V. Aronson

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 2-quart casserole dish.
Add macaroni to 2 quarts of boiling salted water and cook for 10 minutes.
Drain well in a colander. Transfer to a mixing bowl.
Stir in butter and beaten egg. Add 2-1/2 cups of the grated cheese.
In a small bowl, combine milk with salt, mustard and Worcestershire sauce.
Spoon macaroni and cheese into the prepared casserole. Pour milk mixture over and sprinkle top with the remaining cheese.
Sprinkle with paprika. Bake on middle shelf of preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until macaroni is firm to the touch and the top is crusty and browned.
Serve at once, either as a light entree accompanied by a hot green vegetable and a crisp salad, or as a side dish with Hamburgers or Meat Loaf.

Nigella Lawson’s Roquamole Recipe from Nigella Express: In a Word, Divine!

by Joi on February 10, 2010

It’s been well-documented that Nigella Express is one of my all-time favorite cookbooks… and if there’s something I know inside/out it’s cookbooks. A collection numbering in the hundreds earns you the title expert.

A recipe I return to often is Nigella’s Roquamole. Like Nigella, I’m completely obsessed with avocados, so I thoroughly appreciate new and creative things to do with them. This recipe makes a throroughly modern Millie type of recipe that I know you’ll love.

Nigella Lawson’s Roquamole Recipe

Yield: 4-6 Servings
1 cup crumbled Roquefort or Saint Agur blue cheese
1/4 cup sour cream
2 ripe avocados
1/4 cup sliced pickled green jalapenos from a jar
2 tablespoons finely sliced scallions
1/4 tsp paprika
large bag of blue corn tortilla chips (the blue corn ones make a huge difference, I recommend them with this recipe)

Crumble or mash the blue cheese with the sour cream in a bowl
Mash in the avocados. If they are ripe, a fork should be all you need.
Roughly chop the jalapenos and stir them into the mixture along with the finely sliced scallions.
Arrange in the center of a plate or dish, dust with paprika, and surround with tortilla chips. Dive in.

Steak Fajitas, Guacamole, Shrimp Fajitas, and More Guacamole

by Joi on February 1, 2010

One of my beloved culinary gifts this past Christmas was from my daughter Brittany: Fajita Plate Set with Wood Tray and Hot Mit. I’ve used it, and loved it, quite a few times since December 25. In fact, if it hasn’t totally been used to death by December 25, 2010, it’ll be a miracle. Love it! Before the meal (about 20 minutes before plating begins), I place the fajita iron skillet in a 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes. Then, when the meat and/or vegetables go onto the skillet, their moisture cause a heavenly sizzle that I’ve become somewhat infatuated with.

For supper tonight, I made steak fajitas and shrimp fajitas (indecision often leads to a varied meal and always leads to a large grocery bill). I also made guacamole, of course, and a tossed lettuce and cilantro salad. I made a dressing for the salad by using avocados, lime juice, salt, and sour cream.

I marinated the strips of skillet steak for an hour. I would have preferred skirt steak, but Kroger didn’t play along with that game plan, so I compromised a wee bit.

Here’s the marinade I used:
4 TBS vegetable oil
3 TBS freshly squeezed lime juice
dash of salt
dash of pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder

I added sliced onions and whole garlic cloves to the ziploc bag along with the meat and marinade. In hindsight, I wish I’d added more garlic cloves – they wore the marinade beautifully PLUS garlic is ridiculously good for you. Oh yeah, should have added more.

After an hour, I cooked the meat, onions, and too few garlic cloves on my George Foreman grill (which needs to be replaced with a new one, by the way). When the steak strips were just the way I wanted them, I transferred the whole shebang to a dish and covered it with Reynold’s 100 % Recycled Aluminum Foil (GREAT STUFF! 4 Stars out of 4 Stars). I put it on the stove to keep it warm.

I thawed some beautiful big, juicy, tailless cocktail shrimp and tossed it with lime juice and a little bit of seasoning – Mrs. Dash Extra Spicy Seasoning Blend. When the laid back Mrs. Dash gets all spicy, it’s a beautiful thing. The shrimp cooked really fast, so I didn’t leave its side for a minute. Again, with the Reynold’s 100 % Recycled Aluminum Foil (again, I love this environmentally friendly foil).

Finally, I sauteed an onion and three beautiful bell peppers in a few tablespoons of vegetable oil – one red, one yellow, and one green. I didn’t allow them to get too tender, as I always want them to show up to the party sort of crispy tender. While they were making the kitchen smell like a Mexican kitchen in Heaven, I warmed the flour tortilla shells in the oven – - – - wrapped in what? Yep. See why it’s so important to me that this foil is 100 % recycled – I use the heck out of it!

I carefully… oh so carefully….. removed the fajita skillet as well as a larger iron skillet that was impersonating a fajita skillet from the oven. Then I put the shrimp and some of the pepper and onion blend onto the fajita skillet. Sizzzzzle! Then, I did the same with the steak strips and the rest of the pepper mixture – I poured them into the large iron skillet. Sizzzzzle!!!!!

While we’re at it, something else you’ll want to invest in before you make another Mexican-inspired meal is a Tortilla Warmer (pictures above). They’re perfect for keeping your tortillas perfectly warm and soft. Before Britt hooked me up with all of these wonderfully perfect accessories, I just assumed soft, warm tortillas were something you could only get in a true, authentic Mexican restaurant. Ha! I can have them anytime I want now in my own kitchen. For some reason… the type of reason only Alton Brown could explain… tortillas keep their personality much more intact with a tortilla warmer than they do with anything else.

If you don’t have a fajita skillet or a tortilla warmer, please repent and see the error of your ways. Furthermore, you must try the Reynold’s 100% Recycled Aluminum Foil – it’s brilliant!

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