Pondering what to have the grandkids help me cook for supper, I leaned on the refrigerator door, staring in at the contents like Silas Marner in one of his cataleptic trances. Finally seeing leftover Jamaica jerked chicken and leftover lamb shanks it hit me. Fajitas! I could get out some flour tortillas, some beans, some rice, fry up some green peppers and onions, add cheese and we’d have a meal fit for a… Charro!

This involved helping the kids learn how to use “leftovers“ and still make a fun and healthy meal. They learned to pull the chicken and lamb apart, then fry up the peppers and onions. This involved using sharp instruments, and heat!

Then they learned the finer points of boiling ranch style beans with ham hocks, and mixing onions, chopped peppers, peas and carrots in to the fried rice with a touch of saffron and turmeric to make it yellow.

The key to making all this edible for kids from four to twelve years of age was given to me by my son, their father, who said:

“Put enough salt and cheese on it and they will eat anything.”