Quick and Easy Chicken Fajitas

I realized the other day that I have not yet talked about one of my favorite dinners to make of all time: chicken fajitas. It's one of my favorites because it is easy, yummy, healthy, and it is a crowd-pleaser with the natives. All except The Monkey, who is pickiest of all. And even she likes it when I make fajitas because she gets a cheese quesadilla with her chicken and peppers on the side. See? Everyone is happy. Especially mom.

I didn't realize I hadn't posted this recipe until I was partway into cooking dinner last night, so I don't have any lovely pictures of slicing the chicken and letting it marinate, but I'm sure you can figure out that part on your own. In fact, I didn't have to slice the chicken last night, because I had sliced it into fajita strips and froze it in a quart-sized freezer bag about 2 weeks ago. (I told you I love to make this - I wasn't kidding. It's a staple around here!) And then, there I was... didn't get home until 5:30, had things to do before I could start dinner, and a husband who was working late and couldn't help with dinner or the kids. So what did I do? I thawed the chicken in the microwave, dumped in the seasoning, oil, and water, and did my stuff that had to be done before dinner. Then, 15 minutes later I started cooking up a storm and taking pictures!

Chicken Fajitas
(Makes 4 adult servings, about 160 calories each for the filling only. Extra calories are added depending on how you serve this - tortillas, cheese, sour cream, etc.)

For the record, I eat one adult serving at a meal. My husband eats 2. If you have a large family, you may want to increase the recipe size.

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
1/2 package Great Value Fajita Seasoning
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 c. water
2 bell peppers, any color
1 small onion

Slice chicken and place in a large ziplock bag. Add 1/2 package of the Great Value Brand (this is Wal-Mart, people!) of Fajita Seasoning. I know this is the off brand. I have tried the "on" brands. I like this one best, and lucky for me it's also one the cheapest. Lucky me! After adding the fajita seasoning, add oil and water. Massage bag gently to evenly distribute the seasoning mixture around the chicken. Let sit at least 15 minutes if you have the time! If you don't have the time, it's not the end of the world. Just slice your peppers and onion and move on.

While the chicken is marinating, slice the peppers and onion. If you really don't like onion you can leave it out, but Horsie Lovers gobbles this down, onion and all and doesn't even notice. The easiest way to slice peppers for fajitas is to slice the pepper in half lengthwise.

Using your knife, cut the seeded area out of each pepper half and discard.

Then slice your peppers into strips.

When you're ready to begin cooking, dump the entire contents of the bag into a preheated pan on the stove. Over medium heat, cook chicken until a little over half done. You should only see small patches of pink on the outside.

Add your sliced peppers and onion and continue cooking.

Cook until the chicken is done and juices have mostly cooked out of the pan. The peppers should not be limp, but should be crisp-tender.

Serve as desired. We usually eat ours on tortillas with cheese and salsa.