Warm week in Seattle and a crazy week of work and getting settled in with the changes at home of having nanny and my wife going back to work has led to changing up how we make dinner.

Not often do I get the chance to make big traditional bottle+flame dinner after getting home… I need to plan ahead and do as much prep ahead or even start cooking in advance. And, here is a perfect recipe for starting the night ahead or at least in the morning.

Fajitas! Now who out there doesn’t love fajitas? (at least of those that don’t have IBS or some other gastrointestinal problems).

Fajitas are a mainstay in our house and they are amazingly easy to prep ahead and I’ll show you just how easy.

Yesterday morning I chopped all the veg, mixed all the spices and put it all in the slow cooker in 15min while cooling off in my bath towel before getting dressed for work.

Now you ask – what goes in these luscious fajitas…

– flank steak (2-3 pounds)
– 3 green peppers (sliced lengthwise with the seeds and core removed)
– 2 red peppers (same as the green peppers)
– 2 onions (I prefer sweet onions)
– 1 head of garlic (slice the top off)
– smoked paprika, cumin, garlic powder, and some special spice that I’ll keep as a secret (but feel free to spice this up as you see fit – or spice it down)

To save time in the morning you can slice all peppers and onions ahead and the just dump those in the slow cooker with the flank steak and spices on your way out the door. I wish I followed that advice yesterday, so I wasn’t prepping in my bath towel minutes before heading to work.

Once you’ve dumped it all in the slow cooker on low – just walk away! Go to work, go to the park, go shopping, just don’t mess with it for 8 hours or so.

The juice from the veggies will be enough moisture, so you won’t need to worry about adding broth or water or anything early or mid-way, so don’t freak out.

When you get home just lay out some tortillas, slice up some avocado, maybe some pico de gallo, or jalapeños and have at it. Dinner is served!

Now if you want to take it up a notch the pair it with a tasty pilsener or lager – like the Two Beers Presidential Pils. Nothing like some cross-border partnership of tasty fajitas and handcrafted local beer.

I sure do love me some local handcrafted beers and that’ll be a topic for another time.

Up next – what to do with leftover fajitas and maybe some more local beer reviews, and as a final parting gift I leave you this…