No, I did not make dinner on my way home from work!
It’s amazing to me that after picking up the kids and running errands, moms will walk in and the family will ask, “So, what’s for dinner?” As my friend and author, Kathi Lipp, has said in interviews, this is the question every mother dreads to hear and she has been asking herself the same thing since 4 p.m.!
I am lucky that we live in California and all summer my husband is happy to grill the main event. But that leaves me 9 months or 36 weeks or 270 days worth of “Hey mom, What’s for dinner?”
Today is going to be a busy day leading into an even busier evening! By the time I get everything done today , it will be time to turn it all around for a function we have this evening. By the time we get to dinner, everyone will be tired and hungry!
With a little bit of prep work and planning ahead, I can have dinner ready and on the table in 15 minutes! Here’s what I did:
The Meat:
- I had two generous steaks (for a family of 3) in the fridge.
- I wrapped them in wax paper and pounded them with the bottom of a cast iron pan.
- I sliced them into strips and put them in a gallon ziplock bag.
- To the meat I added olive oil, chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper and garlic powder.
- I was in a panic about not finding my main ingredient for the marinade; red pepper flakes! Lucky for me I had saved several packs of red pepper flakes from past pizza deliveries. I added 2 individual packets of the pepper flakes and sealed the bag.
The Veggies:
- Then I sliced up red, yellow and orange mini peppers. I’m no hero, trust me, I found a bag of these tri-colored peppers on sale a few days ago! They are so pretty and add sweet flavor and bold color to any meal. I always grab them when I see them on sale.
- I sliced an onion and added all the veggies to a separate plastic bag.
- I sprinkled a little bit of olive oil and added salt and pepper.
Then I put both sealed bags into a glass container and put them in the fridge. (NOTE: I use glass containers or disposable plastic ziplock bags whenever I am storing onions, peppers or cumin. The strong flavors can seep into your plastic containers.)
Putting It All Together:
When we all walk in tired and hungry, all I have to do is sauté the meat and then add the veggies. I have brown rice left over from last night’s dinner and some canned pinto beans. I grated about half a block of cheese when I had time earlier this week – another time saver for easy dinner prep. I’ll serve the fajitas with rice, beans, tortillas, with grated cheese and jarred salsa.