The Ox Mama: Fajita Bowls : [Cooking With Toddlers #2]

For today's Cooking With Toddlers, I wanted to do something easy at first, that we have already done before together. But at the last minute, I changed my mind and chose something new to us. And I am SO glad I did. It was delicious and I am so excited to share it with you!

Cooking with Toddlers: Chicken Fajita Bowls

The funny thing is: Little Ox #1 is usually always so excited when he gets to cook with me. And he was at first, but part of the way through he gave up and decided he had better things to do. :) Which is always okay! I made sure to let him know whenever I moved on to a different task in the cooking process to see if he wanted to join back in though.

Taking a break to read on the step stool

Now on to the fun stuff!

Again all of BOLD, have your toddler help!

Chicken Fajita Bowls

Feeds two adults and a toddler with leftovers!

Ingredients:

· 2 Chicken breasts cut in small strips
· Fajita Seasoning*
· 3 Bell Peppers, any color
· ½ Yellow onion
· 1 Tbs Olive Oil
· 2 Cups (uncooked) of Brown Rice
· 1 can of Black Beans

*Homemade Fajita Seasoning:

· Combine Salt, Black Pepper, Cumin, Paprika, Chili Powder, Garlic Powder, and Cayenne Pepper seasonings all in a bowl. You can mess with the amount to match your taste.
· This is a better option than most pre-packages ones because you can control the flavor (AND the amount of salt added!)

Directions:

Mix fajita seasonings in a small bowl

Cut the chicken into small strips (I cut and had these ready before my toddler woke up from his nap)

Heat up pan with olive oil and add 1 clove of garlic, if you prefer.

Pour chicken in a hot pan with the olive oil.

Pour (most of) seasoning evenly over the chicken as it starts to cook

Place cooked chicken in a bowl and set aside

Grab a somewhat dull knife and assist toddler with cutting strips, after you have cut out the insides of the bell pepper. Of course, you can do this by yourself, but I like to let him help because he is fascinated with knives at the moment, unfortunately! hah! Luckily, it is a good opportunity to teach him hand/eye skills and about the importance of safety in the kitchen.

Cut up onion in large strips

Have toddler toss all peppers and onions into a bowl.

Pour peppers and onions in a pan with a small amount of oil. Add the rest of the fajita seasoning to this if you saved some.

Cook and stir peppers and onions until they are soft but crispy

Add everything to one big pan to cook together. Add cilantro and lime juice for extra flavor, if wanted.

My toddler loved squeezing the lime into the pan.

While everything is cooking, cook rice and heat up black beans in a pan. We used minute brown rice because it is faster, but use what ever rice recipe works for you!