Monday, September 29, 2008

Sweet Pork Mex Salad (Cafe Rio Style)



So I received a few requests to blog this recipe so here it is. Is it just like Cafe Rio's yummy salads..no, but pretty darn close. The other great thing about it is if you get pork butt roast(which is not literally butt ..had to research that as I wasn't sure I could go there) on sale you can feed a group for the cost of a salad a drink at the restaurant. Here Goes:

Sweet Pork Fresh Mex Salad

LAYER
Tortilla
Black Beans
Cilantro Lime Rice
Chopped Romaine Lettuce or Spinach
Sweet Pork
Guacamole
Pico De Gallo
Tortilla Strips
Lime Wedge
Tomatillo Ranch Dressing

SWEET SHREDDED PORK
5 lbs Butt Pork Roast (bone in)
1/4 c. ketchup
1/4c. soy sauce
1 1/3 c. brown sugar
2 fresh garlic bulbs minced
1/2 c. chicken broth

Cover bottom of crock pot with water. Place pork in crock pot. Cook on low for 8 hours. Or place pork in a 9x13 pan and cover w/ aluminum foil. Bake @ 325 for 5-6hrs. Take pork out and shred. In a sauce pan combine the rest of the ingredients and cook until the sugar is dissolved. Pour over pork and serve.

CILANTRO LIME RICE
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 tsp. grated lime peel
1/8-1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
2 c. chicken broth
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Combine rice, garlic, lime peel, pepper and broth in a medium saucepan, bring to a boil, stir, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until rice is tender. Stir in cilantro.

TOMATILLO RANCH DRESSING
2 c. mayo
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 bunch cilantro leaves
2 Tbsp. white vinegar
1 jalapeno seeded
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp salt
2 toamatillos (take off outside paper)

Blend all ingredients together in blender or food processor. Refrigerate for an hour or two.

GUACAMOLE
As you like it. I mash avocado's, add salt to taste, a little lime juice and some fine chopped cilantro. yum!


PICO DE GALLO

I do not like the canned tomatoe recipe this came with so here is mine:

1/2 red onion chopped
1/2 yellow onion chopped
1-2 jalapeno peppers, use serrano peppers if you like hot
4 sprigs of cilantro, chopped fine
2 green onions, chopped fine
1-2 cloves garlic minced
salt and pepper to taste
squeeze of fresh lime juice

Combine all the ingredients and refrigerate for a least 30 minutes. (This recipe makes alot..scale down if you are only feeding a few).
Enjoy!

And what's for dinner tonight? I am trying this recipe. I have a few spaghetti squash to use up and so we are giving this one a try. Serving it with steamed carrots and Fresh Limeade . Hope it's as good as it sounds!

P.S. Came across this dressing recipe that claims it tastes just like the Cafe Rio one..give it a try if you want and let me know!

House Dressing
1 dry buttermilk ranch packet (like Hidden Valley)
1 cup buttermilk (we substitute this with sour cream)
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tomatillos (husk removed & diced) .
½ bunch of cilantro
1 clove garlic
Juice of 1 lime
1 Jalapeno
Blend all ingredients in blender and refrigerate for 1-2 hours

Monday, September 22, 2008

What's New?

So here's what's new...

* A shorter haircut.. soo forgot to hit the Macro Focus!

* My Pumpkins. They are not really new. Amber and I got together with our Goodwill pumpkins, mod podged some ripped up books. I had a few Spiderwick Chronicle ones from some cereal boxes, hit the the dollar store for a crow and leaves and done! No guilt crafting . Love it!* Yeah! My swap partner. Wild Whimsy! Hmm..have an idea!

*Joined the Gym..sigh! Must be done! It is so not in the budget so my soda habit is going to have to pay for it! Those QT visits add up. So, this one I'm sucking down right now is the last. I should probably be avoided for the next few days, could get ugly!

* My fabulous finds..went to TJ MAxx to get something for one of my boys and came home with a few lovelies. I rarely post about my shopping ventures, most likely due to the lack of them but this time...I had to since they were all 3.00 and under.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Swap!


Wow! I'm actually posting two days in a row! I was going on about my trip and wanted to keep this separate. I am taking part in my first craft swap. My friend Amber is doing it. She was picked up by SwapDex and people from all over are signing up. Go to her blog if you want to participate the theme is recycle, use what you've already got! Oh, I forgot to mention I went to SCRAP in SF. A place where people in the industrial area etc. drop off everything they don't need. Including fabric. So, here's a photo of some of my loot..not bad for $15. My sister-in-law also insisted I take some fabric from her. If you insist...now I just need to start sewing.!

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

San Francisco

I really haven't ditched the whole blog thing. My life has truly been crazy these past few weeks and it is finally starting to calm down a bit. After I babysat my aunts four pugs for four days, had friends over for Indie film night, hosted a family gathering. I had to start getting ready for our week in San Fransisco. This would not usually be a big deal except that we were driving(13 hours, with kids), staying with my sister-in-law who is organic and 98% raw food follower, and where it is 40 degrees cooler then home. Oh, did I mention we were on a budget? What was saved in the envelope was what we had to spend! So, I was a little stressed prepping for the trip, but finally we hit the road with only a few forgotten items, the cord to my camera so I would be able to blog while we were gone..the camcorder...Science Center passes so we could get into the museums for free...oh and my pj's! Guess what...everything worked out and we had a great time. Here are a few photo's etc. from our trip:
We took the train and the bus to Pier 39 and China Town.
Pier 39
We hit Ghirardelli Square for cupcakes..and as I was eating my $3.50 cupcake I kept thinking Chocolate cupcake with caramel filling and ganache frosting ...how hard can it be? So, I promised my husband some by the end of the week . We'll see if I pull it off.
China Town for fake swords, good food and the boys favorite part...Jamues' five bags of smoke bombs!
We went to the Marina spent the day at the Exploratorium.
Walked the bridge.
Went to Marine County which is beautiful and saw Red Wood trees and then even though it was 65 degrees out we went to the beach. I froze and Isa, Greg and Monica collected shells, the boys....swam.

We really did have a wonderful, busy week full of visiting, ethnic food and first time experiences for the kids. Groucho was so happy to have us home, I think he may have been a little stressed...
so thank you to all who looked after him.