My Version of Cafe Rio.

This weekend I went camping with some of my brothers and their family. No one in the group really planned anything. My big concern was "what are we going to eat?" I ended up making food for the group. Spaghetti is pretty easy to make while camping, so that's what I decided on. I also brought a can of corn. When the spaghetti was cooked, I didn't want to dirty a pan to warm the corn. My sister-in-law suggested we just add the corn to the spaghetti. It was surprisingly tasty. My little niece ended up eating more than anyone.

Do you know what is better than spaghetti with corn? Copycat Cafe Rio!

I LOVE Cafe Rio. I have several Cafe Rio copycat recipes that I make, but I've never made them all together until today. Look at good the salad it turned out. Can you smell it? YUM!

Cafe Rio copycat salad

Here are the recipes and some of the steps that I followed.

Sweet Pork: I know, there are lots of copy cat Cafe Rio pork recipes out there. They all call for lots of ingredients. Not this one from my cousin. It's super, super simple. Ready?

1 pork roast

2 cups brown sugar

1 cup salsa

Put all ingredients in a crock pot and cook on low for 6-7 hours. 

Shred and mix together.

That's it!

Cilantro Ranch Dressing: (from http://therecipecritic.com/2012/07/cafe-rio-copycat-cilantro-ranch-dressing/

1 packet traditional Hidden Valley Ranch mix (not buttermilk)

1 cup mayonnaise

1 cup buttermilk

2 tomatillos, remove husk

1/2 bunch fresh cilantro

1 clove garlic

juice of 1 lime

1 jalapeno (I don't like hot things, so I removed the seeds)

Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend. 

Cilantro Lime Rice: ( adapted from http://therecipecritic.com/2012/08/cafe-rio-copycat-cilantro-lime-rice/ )

1 cup uncooked rice (I used long-grain white rice)

1 tsp. butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp. freshly squeezed lime juice

2 tsp. chicken bouillon granules

3 cups water

1 tbs. freshly squeezed lime juice

2 tsp. sugar

3 tbs. fresh cilantro, chopped

In a saucepan, combine rice, butter, garlic, 1 tsp lime juice, chicken bouillon, and water. Bring to a boil. Cover and turn to low for 15-20 minutes or until rice is tender. As rice is cooking, mix together 1 tbs lime juice, sugar, and cilantro. When rice is done, remove from heat and mix in cilantro mixture.  

Finishing Touches: The way I build the salad

Tortilla- I like to buy uncooked tortillas. For some reason I think they taste better. Today, when the tortilla was cooking on its last side, I sprinkled on shredded cheddar cheese and let it melt. 

Lettuce- I like using romaine lettuce. Wash and cut into bite size pieces. Add to tortilla.

Add cilantro rice.

Black beans- I open a can of black beans and rinsed them with water. I warmed them up in the microwave, since I don't like cold beans.

Load with sweet pork.

Top with cilantro ranch dressing. 

There you have it! Try it out.

I can't wait to make myself a burrito, nachos, and quesadilla. Hopefully not all on the same day.

Are there other ingredients that you like to put on your salad? I would love to hear from you. 

Recovery and Yoga

It was too hot to run outside when I get off work today, so I went to the gym. I really needed to run. After a few days of not doing much, my body craved some physical activity. My legs felt about 90% recovered. I don't necessarily like running on the treadmill or the deathmill as I like to refer to it. Deathmills are great when running outside is not an option. Today was one of those days. I rode the stationary bike for 30 minutes then ran 3 miles. The run was at a slower recovery pace. It felt so great to be able to run. 

A few months ago, I was told that yoga was good for runners and that I should try it. I knew this, but I just was afraid to try it. It looked difficult for a non-flexible person like myself. I finally caved and went to a yoga class at the gym. Why did I wait so long? I loved it. The only problem was that the gym needed to offer more yoga classes. I had to start looking for yoga other places. I found that I liked the yoga videos created by Runner's World the best. They are beginner friendly and easy to follow. If you are looking to try some yoga, I would suggest checking them out. http://www.runnersworld.com/runners-world-yoga-center I would also highly recommend purchasing a yoga mat. It makes the experience much nicer. Once you get the yoga posses down, I like to listen to the yoga station on Pandora. 

 

Cherry Goodness

June 24, 2014
Hello! This is my first blog post ever!!! I've been thinking about creating a blog for a while now and finally decided to make the leap. On Saturday I ran the American Fork Canyon half marathon. This was the BEST half marathon that I have ever done. This race raised money for cancer patients that need help paying for their treatments. I ran it in honor of my family and friends that have been lost to cancer, who are fighting cancer, and who are survivors. I got a little choked up reading all the signs on the race route. This race also represented my comeback to running. A year and a half ago I was told that I may never run again. Take that doctors. I did not set a PR, but I was pretty close. My time was 2:15. All I can say is that I am super proud of myself. I've been a little sore the last few days. I may go out for a run tomorrow if all my muscles agree.

Yesterday, I went to my cousin's house and picked LOTS of cherries. After eating a large amount of them, I decided that I needed to do something with them. I borrowed my parents dehydrator and now have half of the cherries drying. I heard that dried cherries are amazing. I sure hope so. I also found a recipe for Fresh Cherry Turnovers with Cream Cheese Crust on recipegirl.com. As soon as I found the recipe I knew I needed to make them right away. So I did. Check it out.

I'm wondering if cherry pie filling would work. What are your thoughts?

 First, I had to climb the cherry tree and pick the cherries.

 I washed and dried them. I also picked out the bad ones.

 Pitting cherries by hand is tough work.

 First time using a dehydrator by myself.

 Who knew that a food processor could make dough. I sure didn't.

 The crust dough was really sticky, so I rolled it between two wax paper sheets.

 The filling.

 The bowl made a perfect circle shape.

 Filling the turnovers with goodness.

 I'm so not a perfectionist.

 Finished product.

Yum!