mini vacation for raul's birthday.

raul had his birthday last sunday. my dad was in town and we had a bunch of people over for dinner and it was too busy to make dinner. so my present to raul was a date night. a night away from the kids. simultaneously, raul got a great review at work, got a raise and a bonus! we went on hotwire to get the next cheap hotel room downtown. we found one for $90 at the swissotel right on the lake on the 29th floor!. we made a fancy dinner and packed it in tupperware, bought some champagne and then we got on the train to check into the hotel. it was a really nice night and that hotel is super fancy.

anyway here's the menu for the fancy birthday dinner.

portabella bella mushroom, chicken, squash quesadillas with a little spice
pan roasted potatoes with onions
homemade ranch dressing with assorted veg
fruit salad ala mick klug farms

quesadillas

1/2 squash - zucchini, chopped
2 small chicken breasts
1 portabella mushroom, chopped
1/2 jalapeno, fine dice
4 taco sized tortillas
grated cheese.
refried beans 1/4 can
3 tbs butter

melt 1 tbs butter in sautee pan. sautee veg. add jalapeno, stir well. you don't want one giant bite of jalapeno... or maybe you do if you're raul. set aside
cook chicken however you see fit - grill, bake, or pan fry like i did (p.s pan fry does not mean fry... this isn't kfc in other words, just cooked in a pan) set aside
lay out tortillas and layer the beans and top with the rest of the fixin's top with cheese. fold tortilla in half. repeat two other times.
melt 1 tbs butter in sautee pan and place two quesadillas in the pan and brown both sides. repeat with the last bit of butter and the last two quesadillas.
cut the quesas in half.

ranch dressing

1 cup milk
1 cup mayonaise
1 tbs chopped parsely
3 cloves garlic, chopped
salt n' pepp

mix it all together and refrigerate.

potatoes and onions.

self explanatory but just don't rush it. let potatoes and onions cook as long as they need on low heat.

by the time we got the hotel the food was a little less than warm but it was still good so when you make it at home and eat it hot it'll taste even better.