Cafe Rio Salad

Ok ok after many requests (and by many I mean two!) I will post the cafe rio salad recipe. Enjoy!


Café Rio Salad/Burritos
Sweet Pork
¾ lb. Pork loin roast
1 cup brown sugar
1 bottle red taco sauce
1 T cumin
1 can coke (not diet and caffeine free....haha)
Cover roast halfway with water and cook on low in crock pot for 6 hours.
Discard the liquid and shred the pork with 2 forks.

Mix brown sugar, red taco sauce, cumin, and can of coke and pour mixture over pork and put it on low (in crock pot) for 3 more hours.

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) Matt and I don't use these and it is still delicious.
½ bunch of cilantro
1 clove garlic
Juice of 1 lime
1 Jalapeno
Blend all ingredients in blender and refrigerate for 1-2 hours

Rice
Cook normal, except use chicken broth instead of water, and add a handful of cilantro and the juice from 1 lime.


Assembly:
You can cook your own black beans or get them in a can. Also with the tortillas you can buy them pre cooked or buy the doughy ones that you fry up. Just add the rice, pork, tomatoes, dressing, romaine lettuce, and whatever else you feel like. It is soooo delicious!

I'll Be Home For Christmas

Matt and I were very fortunate to be able to go home for Christmas. We drove down Friday night and stayed until Christmas night. We had so much fun and had no time to rest.

Saturday

We went out and had family pictures taken. Then Saturday night we went to a friends house and watched BYU play a most hideous game. Luckily BYU came through in the end and blocked a field goal kick to win the game!

Sunday

Matt took the train to NYC to be with a co-worker who had lost his young wife and unborn baby a few days earlier. From this experience we are learning how important and short this life is. I was able to attend church and hear wonderful Christmas music. Sunday night Matt and I made Cafe Rio sweet pork salad and it was delicious. My dad couldn't get over how all of the different tastes are so 'delicious' together! haha.

Monday

We visited with some good friends, Mary and Eddie, who currently live in Utah. Monday evening we all sat down for our traditional Christmas Eve dinner, homemade sushi, shrimp cocktail and taquitos. There was some murmuring from the girls this year that it wasn't filling. But the tradition will go on! We then opened presents from Dad and Matt read the Silent Night Holy Night book. We all settled in to watch "Scrooge". This year was especially special to us because there is a scene in the movie where a hideous looking child sings about Scrooge saying, "He's a Banshee". Well not so....Uncle Whitney ruined our fun by telling us that the kid really says, 'he's a bandit' and told us our dad had been lying to us all these years. We put the closed captions on during the song and all cried when we read the sad truth. We still screamed out that he was a banshee and will continue to do so....so there.

Tuesday

We woke up to find that Santa had come and left gifts all around myself and Matt. We were later yelled at by my younger sisters who said we shouldn't have slept in the room that Santa brings the gifts to. Matt received a brand new razor, a set of golf clubs, a MP3 player and many other things. I received a Sapphire ring and a matching necklace, many gift cards, a jewelry armoire and many other tasty treats. Of course we had our annual Christmas Breakfast. This year was the largest by far. We had about 80 people attend and we even ran out of food for the first time ever! We later attend our traditional Christmas Dinner at the Mercado's home, which sadly will be our last year as they are moving to Idaho:( Matt and I left that night and made it back to CT in 2 1/2 hours, record time. We had so much fun and wish it could have been longer but were lucky to spend time w/ our family.

Merry Christmas and a have a Happy New Year!!!!

It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

One week until Christmas! It's weird, but I don't really feel like it's the holiday season. I don't know if it is because we are in a new place and I don't know how to get into the spirit here. I feel rather disappointed that I am not more excited and jolly. We have done plenty of Christmasy things this past month.

On December 8th we went into the city and saw the grand tree of all trees at Rockefeller Center.

So cute:)

One day I will ice skate here.

We can tell my hair has had about enough

Kickin it in Grand Central Station

And of course it wouldn't have been fun w/out our friends the Stokes and the crew from The Office!

I guess I just really need to remember the reason for the season. We attended a well done Christmas Pageant on Saturday put on by our ward. This week is full of festivities and work parties! Matt and I get to go to my home for Christmas this year and I am so excited! I love being home for the holidays. That is really what it is all about!

Ok this picture has nothing to do with Christmas but it is hilarious! Matt sporting a mullet at our ward Halloween party.

Oh The Weather Outside Is Frightful

It is 3:00pm and I am at home wrapped in a blanket w/ the TV on. Yes that is right, I am home on a weekday at 3pm! Only because the weather is so very frightful. It is raining ice outside so they had everyone leave work early. So cold! It took me 30 minutes to get home while normally it takes 15 minutes. Not too bad. I am beginning to remember why I dislike Winter so much. Next stop after CT is somewhere warm w/ a no snow policy!

Lovely Ladies

Les Mis was well.....interesting. No, really we enjoyed it but we could have done without some of the gestures during "Lovely Ladies" and "Master of the House." On the other hand, we appreciated the uplifting messages found in this timeless musical. For example don't steal bread in France and you can blame anything on a prostitute. The music was great and the performers did a wonderful job.
We also went with our friends to see the great dying Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center. Did you know that its LED lights are powered entirely by solar panels? It's the first "green" Christmas tree. hehe. I'm sure Al Gore is proud.

A Spoonful Of Sugar

Matt and I learned that a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down. Well we needed that valuable lesson in our lives, especially in Matt's(work, work)! We saw Mary Poppins last Saturday w/ my fam. It was quite good. Not much like the movie, had some old songs, some new. No penguins, but did have a naked dancing statue. We all starred in awe for a few minutes before really understanding what was going on before our eyes on a Disney produced show. I also quite liked the scene where the toys come alive and dance around the room scaring Jane and Michael. I don't know what kind of toys they have in London, but I had nightmares that night. Other than that, it was very very good. Really enjoyed the special effects and the props. Go see it! We are planning on seeing Les Miserables next. Of course we have to wait for Broadway to end their strike rampage.

Twilight

http://imdb.com/title/tt1099212/


Ok they have announced Twilight. It is in pre-production and no open casting calls:( I really thought I was meant to play Bella.