That's What I do. I cook and I say Encouraging Things (and Workout): Tanktimus' Challenge

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

13 hours ago, Tateman said:

I look forward to adventures in cooking and workouts  And also Happy Birthday Sra. Tanque

 

Thanks.

4 hours ago, NicTheRugger said:

Happy belated birthday to Sra. Tanque!

Thank you.

3 hours ago, shaar said:

YAY for birthdays and YAY for good workouts too!!!  The ones that almost make you perish are the best. (Workouts, not birthdays.....)

Yep, you feel so good knowing you did it. (The workout, not perishing)

41 minutes ago, GoodDoug said:

Welllllll, it has been proven that the more birthdays you have, the more likely you will perish...

You're not wrong...

[sarakingdom]

1 hour ago, GoodDoug said:

Welllllll, it has been proven that the more birthdays you have, the more likely you will perish...

 

On the other hand, the more birthdays have, the more practice you have at not perishing. In fact, I would argue that it's not having any more birthdays that's more closely linked to the probability of perishing.

[GoodDoug]

2 hours ago, sarakingdom said:

In fact, I would argue that it's not having any more birthdays that's more closely linked to the probability of perishing.

That makes me feel better as; I will have another birthday just after this challenge finishes, let's see if I don't perish right afterwards.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

3 hours ago, sarakingdom said:

 

On the other hand, the more birthdays have, the more practice you have at not perishing. In fact, I would argue that it's not having any more birthdays that's more closely linked to the probability of perishing.

You also make a compelling point. Somewhere the Ghost of David Hume is making some pedantic statement about the futility of extrapolation.

1 hour ago, GoodDoug said:

That makes me feel better as; I will have another birthday just after this challenge finishes, let's see if I don't perish right afterwards.

I personally hope for zero perishes.

 

Today is a good day. I did Yoga and laundry. I don't know whether or not I'll cook. I don't really want to.

[deftona]

1 hour ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

 I don't know whether or not I'll cook. I don't really want to.

 

[Moros]

1 hour ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

I don't know whether or not I'll cook. I don't really want to.

 

Have a salad!  For certain values of salad:

 

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

1 hour ago, deftona said:

 

This is an example of why our friendship works.

1 hour ago, Moros said:

 

Have a salad!  For certain values of salad:

 

I love awkward yeti.

 

I did not cook. And that's fine.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Friday was a good day. We had an ultrasound appointment and got some great images.

Unfortunately, I can't get them in a format to post on the forums at the moment.

 

I then went to work.

Yesterday was a good day. I made some low effort high flavor tacos. I got some chicken thighs preseasoned for fajitas, cut them into strips and pan fried them. I served them in some tortillas that were a mix of corn and flour, with cheese, sour cream and sauteed onions. We had a ceasar salad on the side. No workouts, becuase I was run down, a combination of allergies and poor sleep quality.

 

Happy Easter everyone!

[Guzzi]

You should share some genuine taco and fajita pics/recipes for those of us who live elsewhere and have probably NEVER eaten an authentic taco or fajita.  I bet they’re nothing like what we serve over here  

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

1 hour ago, Guzzi said:

You should share some genuine taco and fajita pics/recipes for those of us who live elsewhere and have probably NEVER eaten an authentic taco or fajita.  I bet they’re nothing like what we serve over here  

As I often state, Fajita is simply the word used in Spanish for a beef skirt steak. In US English it has come to refer to meat seasoned the same way that cut of beef is traditionally seasoned. Before white people figured out how good fajitas are in the 80's it was a very inexpensive cut of meat. Before I was born my father worked building a power plant in Laredo (2 hours southwest of San Antonio, on the Mexican border). He said they used to throw in a few bucks each and get massive amounts of fajitas and cook them after a work day. It was very inexpensive, even by the standards back then. As a result, by the time I was born, he would make them quite often before they hit the mainstream.

 

The simplest thing to do is get a skirt steak and season it with Fajita seasoning. In the event it's hard to find on that side of the pond, here are google search results for making your own:

https://www.google.com/search?q=fajita+seasoning&oq=fajita+seas&aqs=chrome.0.0j69i57j0l4.2633j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

 

Once the meat is properly seasoned, grill or cook in a cast iron skillet till done (There should be at least some pink left in the meat, cooking the skirt steak to medium is a good idea). Cut into strips perpendicular to the grain of the muscle after letting the meat rest a bit. This is important because skirt steak can be tough. If you cut perpendicular to the grain your teeth will naturally come down in between the muscle striations and make it easier to chew. 

 

I recommend sauteing onion and bell peppers, that's a natural to go with fajitas.

 

Serve with shredded cheese, salsa, guacamole, and sour cream.

 

Put them all in a tortilla, and you have a fajita taco. Some people use the term fajita to refer to the tacos themselves, but technically it only refers to the cut of meat in the tacos, and only to beef. The seasoning is good on pork or chicken, but those are not pork or chicken fajitas, they are pork or chicken seasoned for fajitas. 

 

A note about the tortillas, you have to heat them up first. And they can be done in the microwave, but it's way better if you use direct heat. Get a skillet hot and put the tortilla directly on the skillet (no oil). When it gets toasty, flip it. You'll need something to keep them warm, because you can probably only do two at a time. If you have good quality flour tortillas, they will puff up while warming. This is normal, just steam forming in the tortilla. It will go back to normal after it comes off the heat. Corn tortillas don't typically get those big air bubbles. People who do this all the time do it with their bare hands. Their fingers simply toughen up.

[Harriet]

43 minutes ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Friday was a good day. We had an ultrasound appointment and got some great images.

Unfortunately, I can't get them in a format to post on the forums at the moment.

 

I then went to work.

Yesterday was a good day. I made some low effort high flavor tacos. I got some chicken thighs preseasoned for fajitas, cut them into strips and pan fried them. I served them in some tortillas that were a mix of corn and flour, with cheese, sour cream and sauteed onions. We had a ceasar salad on the side. No workouts, becuase I was run down, a combination of allergies and poor sleep quality.

 

Happy Easter everyone!

 

Exciting! I mean the pictures. But the fajitas sound good, too. Hope you get some better sleep soon.

 

23 minutes ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

The simplest thing to do is get a skirt steak and season it with Fajita seasoning.

 

24 minutes ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

I recommend sauteing onion and bell peppers, that's a natural to go with fajitas.

 

Serve with shredded cheese, salsa, guacamole, and sour cream.

 

Oh yeah, those fajitas are going on my list of things to attempt to cook. 

 

[Moros]

On 4/21/2019 at 10:07 AM, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

As I often state, Fajita is simply the word used in Spanish for a beef skirt steak. In US English it has come to refer to meat seasoned the same way that cut of beef is traditionally seasoned. Before white people figured out how good fajitas are in the 80's it was a very inexpensive cut of meat.

 

As always, Tank is right(TM). 

 

If you want to get fancy, you can get the small cast-iron skillets that are used in Mexico, called a "comal" 

The only advantage is that they are sometimes smaller (if space or weight are an issue), or you want to

impress your friends by dropping a skillet like they do in Mexican restaurants.

 

[Snarkyfishguts]

Fajitaaaaaaas are so gooooood. I loved your fajita class. Thank you. At my house we season chicken that way, and eat it in a flour tortilla. The steak is soooo good, but the chicken matches our dietary needs a wee bit better. 

 

 

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

On 4/21/2019 at 9:32 AM, Harriet said:

 

Exciting! I mean the pictures. But the fajitas sound good, too. Hope you get some better sleep soon.

 

 

 

Oh yeah, those fajitas are going on my list of things to attempt to cook. 

 

Still searching for enough sleep, I hope you feel better soon.

6 hours ago, Moros said:

 

As always, Tank is right(TM). 

 

If you want to get fancy, you can get the small cast-iron skillets that are used in Mexico, called a "comal" 

The only advantage is that they are sometimes smaller (if space or weight are an issue), or you want to

impress your friends by dropping a skillet like they do in Mexican restaurants.

 

Comals are the best way to heat a tortilla.

49 minutes ago, Snarkyfishguts said:

Fajitaaaaaaas are so gooooood. I loved your fajita class. Thank you. At my house we season chicken that way, and eat it in a flour tortilla. The steak is soooo good, but the chicken matches our dietary needs a wee bit better. 

 

 

I'm glad you enjoyed it. Chicken makes good tacos as well.

 

Today is a good day. Still sleepy, but not a bad day. Wednesday we are looking at houses with our realtor!

[Tesseract]

I served them in some tortillas that were a mix of corn and flour
 

Were they those Mixla tortillas or something different?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Moros]

2 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Wednesday we are looking at houses with our realtor!

 

Wow!  That's encouraging.  Hope you find something promising.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

35 minutes ago, Tesseract said:

 

Were they those Mixla tortillas or something different?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Yes, those exactly. The ones from the aisles, not the ones from the bakery. Do you live in HEB territory?

22 minutes ago, Moros said:

 

Wow!  That's encouraging.  Hope you find something promising.

Thanks

[Tesseract]

2 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Yes, those exactly. The ones from the aisles, not the ones from the bakery. Do you live in HEB territory?

 

San Antonio! Woot! And those tortillas are freaking delicious!

[MrsVan]

On 4/21/2019 at 3:45 PM, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

No workouts, becuase I was run down, a combination of allergies and poor sleep quality.

Ja, spring comes with it's own problems. Hope it clears up soon, so you can sleep, breath and exercise better.

[Guzzi]

.....the chicken matches our dietary needs a wee bit better. 

 

Wait, what is this????  **looks at Snarkyfishguts through slitted eyes**  Where are you from? 

 

[RuthixCube]

Great goals, Tank! Simple and achievable. I'll have to remember not to read while I'm still in my fasting part of the day, because now I really want fajitas... haha. 

[Dusk]

House hunting! How exciting!!

 

I too hope you sleep better soon. Any idea why you’ve been sleeping poorly?

 

Mmm... fajitas...

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

11 hours ago, Tesseract said:

 

San Antonio! Woot! And those tortillas are freaking delicious!

Neighbor!

6 hours ago, elizevdmerwe said:

Ja, spring comes with it's own problems. Hope it clears up soon, so you can sleep, breath and exercise better.

Thanks, me too.

3 hours ago, Guzzi said:

 

Wait, what is this????  **looks at Snarkyfishguts through slitted eyes**  Where are you from? 

 

Ach, ye dinnae ken tha' th' internet means accents and parlance ge' a' ramfeezled?

46 minutes ago, RuthixCube said:

Great goals, Tank! Simple and achievable. I'll have to remember not to read while I'm still in my fasting part of the day, because now I really want fajitas... haha. 

In my defense, fajitas are amazing.

37 minutes ago, Shadri said:

House hunting! How exciting!!

 

I too hope you sleep better soon. Any idea why you’ve been sleeping poorly?

 

Mmm... fajitas...

I've been sleeping poorly due to going to bed too late and congestion.

[Dusk]

9 minutes ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

I've been sleeping poorly due to going to bed too late and congestion.

 

Ah, fair enough xD well hopefully the congestion will ease up.

[Snarkyfishguts]

5 hours ago, Guzzi said:

 

Wait, what is this????  **looks at Snarkyfishguts through slitted eyes**  Where are you from? 

 

Pennsylvania!