FriedChickenTacos

Okay, so it's actually fried, chicken, tacos. Not fried chicken, tacos. Make sense? The name can be confusing. It's not actually a piece of fried chicken on a taco. There, that should explain it. I found this recipe in the Pioneer Woman's cookbook. If you haven't heard of The Pioneer Woman, you're missing out!! She is a chef on Food Network, food blogger, writer, and just plain funny. Check her out at pioneerwoman.com.  I love her show and her recipes. Definitely check out her cookbooks. I cook from mine all the time! Okay, so on to the recipe...
This is seriously so amazingly delicious. I wanted to make them again while I was eating them. YUM!! They are a little messy and time consuming, but worth it!! Here you go:
You will need:
Boneless, skinless, chicken breast (I used 2, but you can adjust according to the number of peeps you're feeding)
One 7oz can of diced green chilies
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
Cheddar and Monterey jack cheese, shredded (you could actually use what ever kind of cheese you like, these are what I used. And I always, always, always, grate my own cheese. Always. It's way better than that  already shredded bagged stuff. And trust me, it  may seem like a pain to have to grate it, but once you're used to it, it becomes a habit, and takes no time.)
Lettuce
Tomato
Corn tortilla (I used yellow corn, but white would work too)
Approx 1 cup oil (I use canola oil)

Directions:
In a small bowl, mix the chili, powder, cumin, and salt. Set aside. Then, cut your chicken into bite size pieces, and put in a skillet with about 1 tablespoon oil. I used my iron skillet. Next, add the green chilies (with the juice). Cook on medium heat for about 3 or 4 minutes, until the chicken starts to lose it's pink color.
Now add the chili/cumin/salt mixture, and stir it all up to coat the chicken. Continue to cook until chicken is cooked through, about another 4-6 minutes. Remove from heat and sit aside.
**Ps. You should know that if you are grating your own cheese (which I highly recommend, had I mentioned that? Ha!) it should already be done at this point.**
In another deep skillet, put the approx. 1 cup of oil. I say approx., because I didn't measure, but her actual recipe calls for one cup. Turn on med/high heat and let it get hot.
Now, take one tortilla, and spoon some of the chicken into it. Fold it in half, (I found the best way to do this was to use tongs) and place in oil. You will have to hold the top of the tortilla down for just a minute, so it don't open. Fry it for about 30 seconds, and then carefully turn it over and finish frying the other side. About another 30 seconds. Remove from oil (again, the tongs done this job the best) and put into several paper towels to drain.  Continue this process until you have made all you want to make. Then, carefully open the top of each taco, and put in some cheese. The idea here is for the cheese to melt. So what I actually done, was make like 4 tacos, then put the cheese in those while they were still hot, then finished frying the rest. Then, you want to add your condiments. Her recipe calls for sour cream, but since I am not a fan of sour cream, I used a mixture of ranch dressing, and Srichia hot sauce. For the kids though, I did use sour cream.  Then you add lettuce and tomato. Then you just enjoy the crunchy, spicy, cool deliciousness that is about to come your way!!!! These were so very good. The next time, I will add black beans to my chicken. I think that will be fabulous! I served this with Spanish rice. My whole fam loved it! Let me know if you try them!

My Clean Routine

Okay, this post may be borrrring to some, but if you're like me, a little on the ocd side, you will love this. It's all about cleaning! Lots of people ask me how I keep thing in order and (semi) clean with a 1,3, and 5 year old. The answer is lots of wine. Ha!! Just kidding, but one glass does help;)
Moving on, if you know anything about me, you know I like to make lists. Lots of lists. So it should come as no surprise that when it comes to my cleaning routine, I have a list. I searched Pinterest (my BFF) and found a printable list I could fill in to my liking. This is an example of what I came up with.

Basically, there are things I do every day: make the beds, unload/load dishwasher {I run mine at night when we are sleeping. Gotta love the delay start:)}, manage clutter {just like it sounds, pick up stuff that just isn't where it belongs. and that does mean toys. Some people have different feelings on this, they say "why pick it up, they are just going to get it back out again" and yes, they are, but I just can't help it. And I'm just talking about the baby's toys here, the bigger girls pick their own things up. I really feel like managing the clutter is the key to not letting it get piled up and overwhelmed.} one load of laundry, sometimes two {I realize that this may not be feasible for, say, a household of 2, but with 5 in our fam, if I don't do at least one load of laundry every day, it get out of control in no time. And I don't want to spend a day that my husband is home doing laundry!}, wipe down kitchen counters {that is a constant!}, spot sweep {if there's a mess after lunch, I sweep it up, then after the kids go to bed at night, I sweep the whole floor. On days that I mop, I will vacuum the entire floor first. I don't have any carpet in my house except in the bedrooms, but I use the vacuum on the tile in the kitchen and the hardwood in the living room and hall to ensure that every little speck of anything is gone before I mop. There's that ocd again.} I also spot clean the bathrooms every day by just wiping down the counters and toilet with a Clorox wipe. {Wednesdays are the day I really clean them good} That's what I do every day. When you see it in writing, it seems like a lot. But, it literally takes me maybe 30 minutes...In addition, to the daily things, each day I have something different I add. For example, on Monday's, I also vacuum all the bedrooms, and clean the appliances. I have stainless steel appliances and 3 small kids, you can imagine the fingerprints...ahhhhhh! I use a stainless steel cleaner I get from Sears. On Tuesdays', I clean the windows, and all the mirrors in the house. You get the gist of it. On Saturday, I like to go back and do some of the things I may not have done during the week. Because, let's face it, I am human and life happens, so maybe one Friday, I don't dust, I make it up on Saturday. Sunday is a day of REST! I realize this may seem a little crazy, or weird to some, but this is what works for me. If I have a list I can reference, and check off, I am one happy mama! I love this approach, and find that usually, if I stick to my routine, then it's never really a chore to clean. Not letting it get out of control is the key. That's not to say that doesn't happen here, because it does!!! On the subject of the kids and cleaning, they are basically responsible for picking up their stuff from the living room {or where ever it may be} and putting it away in their rooms. This is a constant struggle because they are kids!! They do it sloppy, they don't put things exactly where they belong, they groan and complain about it. It is very very hard for me to not just do it for them, because then, it will be like I like it. Okay, maybe I have some control issues. But, I am trying to let them do it themselves. They will never learn other wise, and I don't want them to grow up expecting everyone else to do things for them because that's what their mommy did!! Lol.

I also am not a big fan of splitting chores between my husband and me. I know a lot of people disagree. They feel like everything should be split equally. Blah, blah, blah!!! I am old fashioned, and I feel like since I stay at home, that is my job! I cook, clean, and raise the kids! The outside is the hubs job! So don't expect to see me using the weed eater anytime soon! I will work in the garden and flower beds, but that is about it. Ha! Having said that, I'd like to give a shout out to said hubs for washing and cleaning out my car yesterday!! I do also want to point out that he will help me with inside things. He will do laundry, he will clean bathrooms, he will put dishes away. He doesn't mind at all. I just don't want him to. Obviously, it wouldn't be done the way I like ;) I know, I know, get over myself. But the measuring cups don't go there!!!!!! Hahaha!!!

So that's it. That's how I keep things going around here. Is it perfect? No. Is my house always sparkling clean? Uh, No. Would this approach work for everyone? Negative. This is what works for me. us. :)

Ps. one very important thing to me too, is for my house to SMELL good. Whether it is the smell of Pine Sol or bleach, or the candles I burn constantly, it has to smell good. You never know when someone will pop in unexpectedly, and it's easy for them to ignore that little pile of toys on the floor if it smells good! And that leads me to my last thought {thank goodness, right?!} I hear people say "I don't care what it looks like, people aren't coming over to see my house anyway, they are coming to see me" This is true, but when your surroundings look nice, and smell nice, you just feel good! Okay got to go, those windows aren't going to clean  themselves. Unfortunately. Do you have any tips or routines that help you stay on track with your cleaning?