Saturday, January 26, 2013

Fiesta Bowls

Doesn't that look yummy? This week I tried two new recipes and used a new Christmas gift to make these Mexican salads. We've named them Fiesta Bowls, because they are a party in your mouth!

Whenever I travel in the west, I try to make it a point to visit Cafe Rio, one of my favorite Mexican restaurants. So I was tickled to find a recipe for Cafe Rio Shredded Chicken and Cilantro Lime Dressing on Pinterest. It turned out to be super easy and although I can't say for sure if it tasted like Cafe Rio (because I always get the pork), it got rave reviews at my house. One of the things I often do is cook meat in big batches, in order to have enough for several meals. This chicken is great because it can be used as fillings for tacos, burritos, enchiladas, or as I used it here in salads. I even caught someone piling leftover chicken onto a bun with mayo and proclaiming it, a pretty good chicken salad sandwich. I'm thinking having some of this on hand would be a nice shortcut for this recipe, and this one too. I'm sensing lots of possibilities here.

I put five whole boneless chicken breasts in my crock pot in the morning and added Italian dressing, ranch dressing, chili powder, cumin and chopped fresh garlic.

I set the crock pot on high and let it cook for about six hours. The house filled with a wonderful aroma that even sent the carpet installer into my kitchen at one point, exclaiming, "what are you cooking that smells so good?!? I almost felt like I should've invited him to stay for dinner since he had to endure smelling it cook all day.

Later in the day, I mixed up the dressing for the salads and left it in the refrigerator so the flavors could get happy with each other. I used plain greek yogurt, mayo, milk, lime juice, garlic, chives and

lots of chopped cilantro,

and mixed it all up in the food processor.

The fun part of this meal was getting to try out my tortilla pan set that I received for Christmas. You gotta love having a friend who just has to buy new kitchen toys for you when she buys them for herself. Thank you, Tara!

With these nifty pans, all I had to do was press a flour tortilla in each one and bake them in the oven
for eight to ten minutes. Once cooled, the bowls popped right out and looked quite professional.

I shredded the chicken with two forks and we were ready to assemble the salads. We loaded the bowls with lettuce, tomato, shredded chicken, black beans and corn, cheese and topped them with the cilantro lime dressing. Deliciosa!!!

I just looooove Pinterest, don't you?

Cafe Rio Chicken

2 lbs chicken breasts
1/2 a small bottle of zesty italian dressing
1/2 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 pkt ranch dressing mix (mixed with 1/2 cup of water)
1/2 Tbsp. chili powder
1/2 Tbsp. ground cumin

Place all ingredients in a crock pot. Cook on High 5-6 hours OR on Low 8 hours. Shred with fork and serve in salads, burritos, tacos…etc. You can also double or triple this to make extras for freezing. Then simply thaw and reheat for a lickity split meal.

Cilantro Lime Ranch Dressing

3/4 cup light mayo

3/4 cup plain greek yogurt

2 T. fresh lime juice

2 T. olive oil

1/3 cup milk

1/3 cup packed cilantro, rough chopped

2 cloves garlic, rough chopped

1/4 t. salt and pepper

2 T. chives

Blend in food processor. Adjust flavors as desired.

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

2013 Possiblities

I can hardly believe it's the fifteenth of January and I'm just now getting around to talking about my hopes and dreams for the new year. Ordinarily, I would've jumped on this two weeks ago, because this is the kind of thing I love to do! I have thought about it and a number of other "beginning of the year" posts, but there are simply not enough hours in the day to do all my heart desires. Blogging is a "heart desire", but not at the top of the priority list. Sister Julie Beck (one of my spiritual mentors) taught an important lesson on balancing our lives, when she was the General Relief Society President. I won't quote her, because I don't have her exact words, but this was the basic idea. We should categorize our activities in the following way; essential things, necessary things, and "nice to do" things. Essential things are the activities that I need to do to bring me closer to Heavenly Father and help me to become more like Him. This would include scripture study and prayer, service, temple worship, partaking of the sacrament. These are essential and must be done first, because they can easily be pushed aside in the rush of a busy life. The necessary things, are the duties I must attend to that keep my world operating and allow me to be with the most important people in my life. Things like, spending time with my husband and other family members, keeping my home clean and comfortable, preparing healthy meals, tending to my health, being a good steward over the gifts I've been given are examples of necessary activities in my life. There are a lot of things that fall into this category, from doing laundry to exercising and shopping, carting away the garbage and recycling and gardening. Pretty soon, it will include training puppies! The last area is the "nice to do" things. This includes blogging, having lunch with friends, getting a massage, taking a road trip, enrolling in classes, watching tv, reading... I could go on and on with this, because these are the really fun things I love to do. According to Sister Beck, she found that when she prioritized her time in this way, the most important things were accomplished and she was always amazed at how many of the "nice to do" things she was able to fit in to her life. Following her teachings, I try my best to organize my schedule this way. And I've found it to be a true principle. When we put the Lord first in our lives, everything else seems to find it's proper place. He seems to bless my time, so that I can do the things that are essential and necessary and still have time to do the fun things I enjoy. So, if I'm not in this space as often as in the past, just know I'm probably up to my eyeballs with the essentials and necessaries. And I'll return as soon as I have some time for the "nice to do's".

This year I've moved away from making resolutions, which can seem to put so much pressure on a person, to making a list of possibilities for the new year. I like the sound of that better. These are the things I hope will be a part of my life in 2013.

2013 Possibilities

* Take a photography class. I think it's time I get some real training with my camera. I have lots of fun snapping shots and every now and then I think I end up with a great picture, but it's pure luck. I keep my camera on auto mode and let it make all the decisions for me. I need to put it on manual and accept some responsibility for the photos I take.

*Section hike on the AT. I really, really want to hike the Appalachian Trail. The only way for me to accomplish this goal is to choose a section and work on it. This year, I hope to hike the section through Georgia. I have sons who have hiked this and are close by to help me make plans. I realize that hiking the trail this way will take years, but no time like the present to get started, right?

* Learn to make challah. I love the idea of having special foods for the sabbath. Many Jewish people eat challah on the sabbath and other holy days. It's a beautiful braided bread that's a feast for the eyes as well as the tummy. I want to learn to make it myself.

*Slow down. This one doesn't need explaining, does it?

* Visit Kirtland, Ohio. Somehow, I've missed this one on my quest to visit church historical sites, and since we're studying church history this year, I've decided it's a good time to go.

* Eat asparagus from my garden. Last year it was hard to see it grow and leave it in the ground, but this is the third year, so according to all my gardening resources, I should be able to harvest all I want. I can't wait!

*Knit. I don't know what it will be, but I have to spend more time on this skill if I want to master it. I really enjoy knitting, when I feel like I know what I'm doing and not messing up all the time. I need to practice, practice, practice.

*Be more charitable. I know that's vague and not at all a SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, timely) goal. But I'm focusing on charity this year in every aspect of my life and am sure to share more about that in later posts. Charity is my word for the year too. Remember, how I choose a word for the year? You can read about my word for the last two years here.

*Clean out my basement. It's horrible and even though I don't have to look at it every day, I know what's down there and it's messing with my peace of mind. Out of sight, out of mind doesn't work for me.

*Spend more time with people I love. When it's all said and done, it's the relationships with people we love that will matter. This year I don't want to be too busy to make memories.

That's it. My list of possibilities for this new year.