Dadvice Weekly #7/ Farmer's Market Fajitas
Dadvice Weekly - #7
Farmers’ Market Fajitas Recipe
This week I had a few of our subscribers reach out and ask about the farmers market fajitas recipe. I thought it would be fun to share, so here we go.
I wish it was more sophisticated, but the beauty of good fajitas is that it doesn’t have to be. For our family of 3 (I really cook for 2 since we have a 10 month old), I buy as close to a pound of skirt steak as possible. At the farmers’ market I have yet to get a cut that’s a pound, so I’ve been buying 2 that have equated to ~1.5 pounds. I like getting 2 bell peppers and 1 onion. So if your family is bigger, the golden ratio is probably 1.5 pounds of meat : 2 bell peppers : 1 onion. Also don’t go cheap on the tortillas. If you live by an HEB, you know what to do. If you live elsewhere, find a place or vendor that sells good tortillas because it really matters.
I pull out the skirt steak so it can sit at room temperature for about 45 minutes. I’ve been using Meat Church fajita seasoning, but any will do. While that’s happening, I slice up the onions and bell pepper to be the size of the vegetables of a fajita order at Chuy’s.
Once the vegetables are sliced, start the grill on high. Put on the sliced vegetables while the grill warms but put them in a cast iron skillet or a strip of foil over the burners so they can sear but not fall through the cracks.
Once the grill is 400 degrees, put the fajita meat on. All you’re trying to do is get some nice grill marks on the meat. Keep flipping it every 4 minutes. Each time you flip probe the meat with a thermometer. I’m a medium rare guy, so once it hits 130, take it off and bring the meat in to rest.
At this point, your vegetables should have a nice color and are seared. If they’re not, no worries. Just keep them on the grill until they are to your liking. The key thing here is to let the meat rest for at least 10 minutes, so you really have 10 minutes to get the vegetables where you want them to be.
Once its time to eat, start slicing the meat against the grain. This is actually pretty important so you have a less chewy bite. If you don’t know what that means, check out this video at the 22 second mark and you’ll get the gist. -SW
Mexican Rice Recipe
Since we’re talking fajitas, I figured I’d share our recipe for mexican rice. Alicia’s really perfected it over the past year, and now it’s a staple for us. It makes a ton, which is perfect because we portion it out for lunches and eat it all week.
What You’ll Need
2 tbsp neutral oil
2 cups rice
1 diced onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
16 oz can tomato sauce
4 cups water
1 packet Sazón seasoning
Chicken bouillon (to taste—don’t overdo it!)
How to Make It
Toast the Rice: Heat a large pan over medium and toast the rice with oil for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Build the Base: Add diced onion and garlic, sauté until fragrant, then stir in the tomato sauce.
Simmer: Add water, Sazón, and chicken bouillon. Stir, reduce heat to low, cover, and let simmer 15–20 minutes. Stir once, then let sit covered another 15 minutes until rice is fluffy and tender.
We love it as a side, but it’s just as good with cubed chicken breast stirred in for an easy Arroz con Pollo. Serve it hot the first night, then enjoy the leftovers all week. -KC
Morning Brew Newsletter
My favorite newsletter (other than Dadvice) is the Morning Brew. It’s a free daily newsletter that breaks down the biggest stories in business and the economy in a way that’s scannable, skimmable, and surprisingly fun to read.
I’ve been a subscriber for 8 years, and it’s helped me better understand the market and how it reacts to everything from Fed rate decisions to job reports to housing inventory levels.
If you’ve ever wondered what the latest economic headline actually means for you, Morning Brew does a great job of explaining it. Think of it like Oscar explaining to Michael what a "surplus” is on The Office. Only instead of a lemonade stand, it’s the news and financial markets. -SW
Callaway Preowned Website
A website I’ve enjoyed over the years is the Callaway Pre-Owned website. Its basically a place where you can buy and sell golf clubs that are used. I’ve picked up a few wedges and woods that are 1 generation old from the newest stuff in the stores. Every purchase has been a great deal where they have been heavily discounted compared to the newest version. They also classify the used clubs condition to be: like new, very good, good, and average. At first I stuck to the like new classification but the last 2 purchases I went with average. They’ve been in really good shape even for “average” and I’ve been really pleased with building my bag this way.
Another bright spot of this website is they have a one year warranty that is no questions asked. I actually snapped a club this summer and I called them to see what my options were. Since the club was purchased less than a year ago, they gave me the option to replace the club with a similar one or get my money back. -SW
You Tell Us: Getting Kids Involved in Cleaning Up
Most weeks we bring the tips, but this week we’re asking for yours.
I have four kids at home, and while we’re blessed (😇), the house is constant chaos. Even at our best, keeping even just one room in the house tidy is next to impossible. We’ve tried the clean up song, timers, the “make it a game” tricks, and still, mounds of toys and plastic nonsense clutter the floors.
So here’s our question: How do you motivate, encourage, or entice kids to clean up after themselves?
If you’ve found a strategy that works in your home, we’d love to hear it. Comment on the newsletter with your tips or send us a note at dadviceweekly@gmail.com. We’ll feature some of the best ideas in next week’s issue.
Dadvice Weekly is written by two friends in their thirties trying to be thoughtful, present dads without losing our minds. It’s our small way of sharing gear, routines, and ideas with other dads who are in the thick of it too.
We publish once a week. No fluff, just useful stuff to help you lead your home with a little more purpose and fun.
If that sounds good, stick around and subscribe. We’re glad you’re here.
Mom of five here (they’re all grown now) but one thing I tried: take a plastic kids rake and rake everything on the floor into one pile. Then in order for them to do anything, go anywhere, the pile had to be gone. My instructions also included, “touch it, put it away, no matter what it is.” I never actually did this, but you could also include “whatever is left, is given away.”