I’m not sure how many years we’ve been doing this, but evidently, it’s too many for me to count. Super Bowl Sunday for many is enjoying the big football game, but for me it’s being together with our little family. I hardly ever get to watch the game or the half-time entertainment because I’m always busy “helping” Ronnie with his fajitas which I’m happy to do. 😊 This year our daughter Errin came early to help us cut up the peppers and onions and I was so grateful! We cook a lot of food when everyone is here, and it’s a lot of prep work. While Errin and Ron cut up the peppers and onions, I made the sauce. We got our meat from our favorite local butcher and had it pre-sliced which is wonderful! We always do two different options of fajita fillings – one with chicken and one with steak.

Just as we were ready to start cooking, our other daughter Steph came, and it was fun to watch the girls and Ronnie outside cooking together. He made me get in the picture, but it really should have been him - he’s the star of this party! I make him a list of everything we need from Costco and the grocery store and he picks it all up. I love not having to do that part.

When we started doing this yearly family tradition, Ronnie suggested we make fajitas, one of his most favorite meals. This may surprise you, but I am not a huge fan of Mexican food… at all. I don’t like anything hot or spicy. My motto has always been, “anything that should have a label that says, ‘Warning! Inflates lips to 40 pounds’ shouldn’t be consumed”. However, there are actually some things I don’t mind and have actually learned to enjoy. Ronnie’s fajitas are one of them.

Through the years we’ve tried all kinds of recipes from homemade sauces to store-bought mixes. We’ve always come back to this one and it actually comes from a cookbook I received when Ron and I got married. Ron grew up in the small community of Morgan, Utah on the back side of the Wasatch Front – just over the mountains from Kaysville. It was common back then for church groups of women, known as the “Relief Society” in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, to compile recipe books. These books are legendary for the BEST recipes on planet earth! This book is no exception. We happened to find the recipe by mistake one year as I was searching for something else. I mentioned to Ronnie that we should try it for his Super-Bowl-Sunday-Grandpa-Ronnie-Fajitas. I don’t know who Janet Thornton is, but she is the woman who submitted this recipe to the “Morgan 1st Ward Relief Society Cookbook” more than 42 years ago, and it’s a keeper!

We’ve tweaked the recipe just a little, and this year was the best yet! It may have also helped that we cooked it in our new “Smithey” cast iron skillet we received at Christmas from Ron’s work.

It came with the optional glass lid, leather sleeve for the handle, and care kit. This pan is a bit pricey but cooks a mean batch of fajitas! And we always cook these outside on our “Camp Chef” stove no matter what the weather is. I love cooking messy, greasy, and smelly things outside. Clean-up is so much easier. I also do all my canning on the Camp Chef stove. We have the 3-Burner stove and bought it from Costco over 18 years ago. We’ve never had an issue with it. We added locking, rolling wheels from Amazon to make it easier to roll in and out of the garage when we use it.

https://www.campchef.com/collections/shop-cooking-systems/products/explorer?_pos=1&_fid=6c7393b1b&_ss=c&variant=47208038531321

https://smithey.com/collections/castiron/products/no-12-cast-iron-skillet?variant=29170749309021

We ordered flour tortillas from Café Rio, a Fresh TexMex restaurant based here in Utah. We picked those up the day before as they are closed on Sundays. They make their tortillas fresh by hand daily. https://www.caferio.com If you’re ever in Utah, you should definitely have a yummy salad or burrito at Café Rio! My favorite meal is the shrimp tacos with mango salsa, but they are only available on Thursdays.

Anyway, back to the fajita recipe. I am including the small family size recipe in addition to the recipe we use when we have all 17 of us here. We like to get our red, green, and yellow peppers from Costco. They come 6 to a package – 2 of each color and are always fresh and beautiful. Yes, it’s a lot of garlic but the flavor is amazing. We make a batch of chicken ones and a batch of steak ones. These are one of those dishes that make good leftovers the next day as the flavors meld together overnight.

I’m grateful to the women who submitted tried and true recipes for this community recipe book so many years ago, many of which are now angels in Heaven. These books are a treasure, and a way to honor the homemakers who worked hard to create hearty meals for their families each day.

I have 4-5 of them from different wards (church congregations) we’ve been in through the years, and each one has incredible recipes that I still use today!

Cooking and enjoying meals together as a family is a lot of work, but can also be a LIGHT filler in our homes.

My wish for you this week is to try a new recipe for your family but work together as you prepare it. If you like fajitas, maybe try this one and let me know what you think! I hope you like it as much as our family does. When it all comes down to it, sitting down together to share a meal is a great way to create LIGHT in our homes. Strengthening family bonds and relationships is more important today than ever!

Have a great week! Love Ya, Les 😊

Chicken or Steak Fajitas – Janet Thornton

For Small Family of 5-6 People

1 - Red Pepper

1 - Green Pepper

1 - Yellow Pepper

1 – Large Sweet Yellow Onion

4 – Chicken Breasts or equivalent amount of Steak

Slice vegetables in lengthwise strips and place in a bowl.

Slice meat in strips and place in a separate bowl.

Sauce:

¼ tsp. Crushed Red Peppers

2 Tbsp. Olive Oil

1 Tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce

1 Tbsp. Soy Sauce

1 Tbsp. Rice Wine Vinegar

2 Tbsp. Lemon Juice

2 Cloves Garlic

1 ½ tsp. Ground Cumin

½ tsp. Chili Powder

Whisk all ingredients together and use as needed to cook your meat in, and again as needed to cook your vegetables in during the cooking process. Cook the meat first, then cook the vegetables. When both are done, mix together just before serving.

For Large Group of 18-20 People

3 - Red Peppers

3 - Green Peppers

3 - Yellow Peppers

2 – Large Sweet Yellow Onions

6-8 Pounds Chicken Breasts or equivalent amount of Steak

Slice vegetables in lengthwise strips and place in a bowl.

Slice meat in strips and place in a separate bowl.

Sauce:

1 ½ tsp. Crushed Red Peppers

¾ Cup Olive Oil

6 Tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce

6 Tbsp. Soy Sauce

6 Tbsp. Rice Wine Vinegar

¾ Cup Lemon Juice

5 tsp. Crushed Garlic

4 tsp. Ground Cumin

3 tsp. Chili Powder

Whisk all ingredients together and use as needed to cook your meat in, and again as needed to cook your vegetables in during the cooking process. Cook the meat first, then cook the vegetables. When both are done, mix together just before serving.