Knock-off Cafe Rio Sweet Pork Burritos, Enchilada Style
I made these for some of my friends on Sunday night, and it was a great hit, so I decided to post the recipe for everyone to see!
Sweet Pork Recipe:
3lbs pork roast
8oz taco sauce (I used enchilada sauce)
1/2 can Coke
1 cup brown sugar
Cook pork in crock pot about 6 hours, until it shreds easily. 2 hours before serving, shred pork and return to crock pot (discard juice from pork). Pour taco sauce, coke, and brown sugar over pork and mix well. Cook for 2 more hours.
Almost Cafe Rio Lime Rice
4 cups water
2 cups white rice
1/4-1/2 cup fresh chopped cilantro
3-4 T fresh minced garlic
4-5 tsp chicken bouillon
Juice of 1 lime
Saute rice in butter with garlic, cilantro, bouillon, and lime juice over low heat for 1-2 minutes. Stir in water, reduce heat, cover, and simmer until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender. Makes 6 cups.
Heat up some beans on the stove for the burritos. I used a 19.75 oz can of La Costena Whole Pinto Beans, as well as a smaller can of whole black beans so people could choose what kind of beans they wanted.
For tortillas, I used the uncooked tortillas from Costco (and then cooked them, of course).
Assemble the burritos and flip them so the seam side is down. Pour salsa verde over the top, sprinkle Mexican Fiesta cheese (or equivalent) on the salsa verde, and stick it in the oven or the microwave just long enough to melt the cheese. Serve hot!
This recipe makes TONS of food. I fed 5 starving college students (4 girls, 1 boy), and it barely looks like we made a dent. Enjoy!
Easiness factor: 9/10 (easy enough for someone with little to no cooking experience --me-- to make with no difficulties!
Yumminess Factor: 10/10 (tastes just like the Cafe Rio pork burritos. Yum!)
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
My Amazing Knock-Off Cafe Rio Sweet Pork Burritos
Saturday, January 31, 2009
The Facebook "25 Random Things About Me" thing.
1. I've never written a note on Facebook before.
2. I've never taken one of those "let's have everyone jump at once!" pictures.
3. I'm an EMT and volunteer for BYU EMS. And I love it just a little too much. People tell me I'm a sick person. I would say that I'm a workaholic when it comes to EMS. Except I don't get paid, so maybe I'm a volunteeraholic?
4. I highlighted my hair ONCE in eighth grade. It didn't turn out very well (it was one of those do-it-yourself kits), so I don't plan on ever highlighting it again.
5. I'm in nursing school right now at BYU. And I'm starting to go crazy with all of my classes this semester that I have to take for it!
6. I want to be an emergency flight nurse and fly in helicopters.
7. I saw the Star Wars movies for the FIRST time this last summer. And the LOTR movies came out in 2001, 2002, and 2003, and I didn't see ANY of them until August 2007.
8. The first boy I kissed was in kindergarten. Does that even count? It was behind the bookcases in our classroom when we were supposed to be outside playing on the playground. Nothing more than a peck, though! If that doesn't count, then Sean was the first boy I kissed.
9. I hated Provo all throughout my freshman year. I didn't want to come back, but I knew that I needed to be at BYU, so I didn't really have a choice. Now I love it! (But I don't plan on ever living here permanently).
10. I started asking for a cat when I was five. My parents finally gave in when I was 14. Then I went off to college 4 years later and they still have my cat. We had a cat living in our apartment last semester. His name was Zoram, and he was a little runt. Super cute, though! He was totally a devil. I think he was possessed. Now he lives in Arizona with one of my roommates who moved out after fall semester.
11. Pink is my favorite color. If it's pink, I'll probably like it, unless it's a car. I'm not a fan of pink cars (guess I'll never be a Mary Kay dealer then, right?)
12. I've only ever had one boyfriend. Sean. I dated him for a little more than a year, and he left almost a month ago to go on a mission to Houston, Texas, where he'll be for the next two years.
13. I'm thinking of learning Spanish, or at least SOME Spanish. Sean's learning Spanish at the Missionary Training Center right now, and I want to be able to talk to him that way. AND, knowing Spanish is almost a necessity if you want to be a nurse in California. Or anywhere, basically.
14. Because I took 5 years of French in high school, my parents took me to France during spring break of my senior year.
15. Monterey is one of my favorite cities. Sean and I went on several dates there.
16. 16's been my favorite number since I was 9. It was my number in class because when everyone was listed in alphabetical order by last name. And I was #16 when I was ten, too. And I was in room 16. It's Sean's favorite number too!
17. Sean and I have a ridiculous amount of things in common.
18. Apparently I'm a pretty good cook, but cooking stresses me out, so I don't like doing it.
19. I hate hate hate doing laundry. So much that I let it pile up until I have like, no more clean clothes, and I'm forced to do it.
20. Sean asked both Leslie and me on a date at the SAME time to the SAME place. That's when we started realizing how many weird little things we have in common (see #17).
21. I'm working on a project of transcribing all of my Grandpa Madsen's journals. It's going to take a long time - there's a lot of them!
22. I try and act like I'm doing really well with Sean being gone, even if I'm not. I don't like people seeing me as vulnerable. Most of the time I am doing okay. But sometimes it's just too hard. But letters and tapes from him are the BEST!
23. I've ridden my bike from Livermore to Yosemite TWICE. Yes, it was long. Yes, it was hard. Yes, it was 170 miles. But I love my bike. It's a Specialized Allez. Oh yeah, baby. We've gone through a lot together.
24. I didn't like the Body Worlds exhibit. Sean and I went to see it when it was in Salt Lake City, and we both came away feeling like it was disrepectful. Well. Some of it. The blood vessel parts were neat. Also, because of this, I think, I don't like the cadavers in Anatomy very much. And yes, I realize that it's for a good cause (science and learning and all of that) and that it is a wonderful teaching tool, but it kind of creeps me out a little. It might be better for me if I knew something about these people - what they did for a living, how many kids they had, etc. But I don't know. We'll see how this semester goes in Anatomy Lab.
25. I LOVE my desktop computer. It's pink (my favorite color)! I want to see how my laptop would fare vs. gravity out my bedroom window a lot of the time. But don't worry, I won't test that one out because it still comes in handy once in a while!
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
Coping
Sean is five days into his mission. I'm coping. I think I'm actually doing a decent job. If someone were to ask me, "How are you?" I would be lying if I said good, or great, or awesome. But I'm okay.
I just hope that he's okay too. I hope he's soaking up the the information that's being presented to him - that he's learning how to teach people, that he's learning the scriptures and messages contained therein, that he's learning the Spanish language.
I still miss him, sure, but he's where he needs to be. I'm where I need to be. I'm really hoping to hear from him soon - I want to know how he's doing so badly!
I talked to a friend who sent off a missionary (and married him after he came back), and she told me that she wouldn't trade the two years that he was gone for anything because it was such a wonderful opportunity for the two of them to grow - both individually and as a couple. I just need to take advantage of this. One of the emotions I felt when Sean left was a feeling of self-evaluation. Sean's giving two years of his life to the Lord, doing His will. What am I doing? Well, starting last night, I've made it a goal of mine to read the scriptures and study them everyday, even if it's only for a little while. I'm doing great so far - I'm 1 for 1!
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Saying Goodbye. Again.
I loaned my best friend to the Lord today for two years.
I thought saying goodbye last Saturday was the hardest thing I'd ever done, but this was harder. After he hugged his family goodbye, he turned a shook my hand, said "I love you," and nearly ran out of the chapel, out the door "Missionary Exit." I walked out the door "Family Exit," fighting back the tears. I told him I didn't want him to see my cry today. I'm afraid he might have seen a few tears from me, but at least I didn't completely lose it. I suspect that he nearly ran out the door for two reasons. 1) I think he was close to crying and didn't want us to see him tear up. and 2) He is actually excited to go, which is wonderful.
He looked so official with his name tag on that said "Elder Herrmann" with "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" (in Spanish) stamped onto it.
I came home, gave Leslie's wedding dress to his family to take back to California, and then cried. Yes, I'll admit it. I bawled like a baby. My best friend is gone for two years. I'm so used to being able to pick up my phone and call him whenever I want to, and now I can't. This will certainly be a big adjustment for me.
He'll be a great missionary, and he's doing what he needs to be doing. Besides, I'll see him in two years. Hopefully the time will go by faster than it has in the 3.5 hours it has been since I watched him walk through that "Missionary Exit."
¡Adiós, Elder Herrmann!
Monday, January 5, 2009
Saying Goodbye
Goodbye's the last time I will hold you near
Someday you'll say that word and I will cry
It'll break my heart to hear you say goodbye."
I had to say goodbye to Sean on Saturday. It was one of the hardest things, if not THE hardest thing I have ever had to do. Sean and I have dated for a year, and I have come to love him more than I ever thought I could, so it was really hard to say goodbye. He is leaving on a mission for church - he'll be a missionary serving in Houston, Texas, speaking Spanish, and will be gone for the next two years. As I've told him, the Lord is the only one I am willing share him with for that long. We stayed outside in his car talking (and crying, for me at least) for a while, and then he came inside to say goodbye to my family. When we were inside I gave him one last present - I played on the piano and sang "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing" for him, which is one of his favorite songs. I had the hardest time singing it because I was crying. After I finished, I said to Sean, "Sorry, it was really hard to sing and not cry," to which he said, "It was really hard to listen and not cry." He loved it. My parents, who were in the kitchen (and not supposed to be listening!) said that it was beautiful and a wonderful present for Sean. Sean and I went outside again because he had to go to San Mateo, and we hugged for a long time, neither one of us wanting to let go of each other. When he finally drove off, I went inside and found my mom and dad waiting for me just inside the door with open arms to comfort me. Next time I see Sean, the only physical contact I can have with him is a brief handshake, as he is now a missionary. I'm going to dinner with him, Linda, Joe, and one of his sisters and her baby boy when they get to Provo to take him to the Missionary Training Center, where he'll be for nine weeks, learning the Spanish language and learning how to teach the gospel to the people of Houston.
I love him more than I can say and will miss him so much. Good luck on your mission, Sean. You will be a wonderful missionary and servant of the Lord. Godspeed.