Burritos

Taco, burrito, what's comin' outta your speedo?
.... Anyone? Anyone?
....SNL circa 1996
....alrighty then...

Last night I was determined to have Mexican for dinner. I had a mad craving that had to be taken care of.  Bring on the burritos baby. My husband and I could only eat one each and took the leftovers for lunch today -- chaaaa-ching! I will be making these bad boys again and again!

Yield:4 maaaaaaaaassive burritos

Ingredients
1 lb ground chicken
Splash of olive oil
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp cumin
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 can refried beans
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup salsa
1 cup cooked rice (I used basmati and threw in a 1/4 cup of salsa into the water so it could be absorbed during cooking)

Sour cream, salsa and cheese to garnish

Method
Cook rice. Set aside. In a large frying pan warm olive oil over medium heat. Add ground chicken and spices.  Cook though (until the pink is gone).  Add salsa, refried beans and water. Mix everything well and cook for about 5 minutes, or until most water has evaperated.  Remove from heat and stir in rice. Serve on large soft tortillas.  Garnish with cheese, sour cream and/or salsa.  

Buen Provecho!

Homemade Starbucks Chai Tea Latte

Picture borrowed from here

Last summer I told you all about my addiction to Chai Tea Lattes from Starbucks.  Those bad boys run about $4.00 for a small  (oh sorry, TALL....pff, what's with those size names anyways?) so I only allow myself to purchase one every three weeks or so. I always wait for a stressful, busy day so it's even more of a treat. Am I the only loser that strategically plans their latte drinking? My thoughtful family and friends know me so well that they often give me Starbucks gift cards for my Birthday or Christmas.  I mentioned here that I found a way to make them at home using the exact same concentrate that Starbucks uses.  The bad news is the price has gone up to about $7.99 (depending on where you get it). The good news is if you cross the border to the USA you can find it at Target for $2.99!  Have you ever been so excited and flustered when you stumble across a great sale that you aren't thinking clearly, you crack under the pressure and make a quick decision that you regret later? Story.of.my.life.That was me as we crossed the border back into Canada. "Dammit, I only bought 8 cartons?! What was I thinking? I should have grabbed 20!". Next time I will enter Target with a plan -- buy an entire skid. lol. There are 2 Targets coming to London, Ontario in the new year -- I wonder how much it will cost there!? The great thing about this product is that there is a Decaf option which is a wonderful evening treat while watching TV. My sister-in-law recently found the concentrate at 'Liquidation World' in her town for $2.00! I'm sure that was just fluke so don't rely on LW to be your constant suppler but it might be worth a peek if you have one where you live.

Yield: One yummy mug full

Ingredients
Tazo Chai Tea Concentrate
Milk

Method
Fill half of your mug with the concentrate and the other half with milk.  Warm on high in your microwave for about 1.5 minutes, or until hot all the way through.  Either stir with a mini whisk or a milk frother and enjoy every heavenly sip. Yeah, I said it. Heav-en-ly. 

Chicken Tacos

On Wednesday I had a few girlfriends over for a ladies night; an evening of catching up, eating and drinking wine. It was a great way to make the week go by a little faster.  We successfully polished off a few bottles of wine but I was left with half a bottle of white that had sat on my counter since.  I'm not a white wine drinker (university ruined it for me!) so tonight I decided to spruce up chicken tacos by simmer the onion, chicken cubes and taco seasoning in wine. I used one of those taco seasoning packets that typically call for 1 cup of water to be added with the seasoning.  Using wine instead of water made the tacos even more awesome. Worth a try if you happen to have extra wine sitting around. HA! I typically use ground chicken when I make tacos however I didn't have any on hand so I cubed up two chicken breasts. My husband and I both agree we prefer this new wine infused chicken cube approach to tacos.  I will definitely be making these again!

Want to make your own taco seasoning? Here's a simple recipe for you that I've used!

Yields enough to make one batch of tacos

Makes servings USMetricAdjust Recipe (Help)

Ingredients

1 tablespoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 teaspoondried oregano

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1 1/2 teaspoons cumin

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon pepper

 

Method

Add all ingredients to cooked chicken/beef in a skillet and add 1/2 cup of water. Simmer on low for 5 minutes or until most of the water is gone.

Banana Peanut Butter Muffins

Cha-ching! I was in the baking isle at the grocery store the other day and stumbled across a life changer! Peanut butter mini melts, which happen to be the exact cups found in the only ice cream I eat -- Loads of Chocolate Peanut Buttery Treat. Like I said; a life freakin' changer.

I spent the day paint our master bedroom and found myself bagged by 5pm.  After a long soak in the tub I decided to use the 'life changers' and make a batch of banana muffins.  So here I am curled up on the couch watching a PVR'ed episode of 'Parenthood' sampling a muffin. They are delish! So delish in fact, that I just chugged a curdled glass of milk and didn't even notice. True story. Nasty, I know but I don't even care because that muffin was epic (That's what he said). You should know that these are FAR from good for you -- so think of them more like a cupcake and enjoy every GD bite :)

Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened (or 1/4 cup butter, 3/4 cup apple sauce)
1 egg
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 large very ripe bananas
3 tablespoons instant coffee dissolved in 2 tablespoons of hot water
2 1/4 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup peanut butter melts (or chocolate chips if you are boring like that)

Method
Mix all wet ingredients and both types of sugars together in a stand mixer until thoroughly mixed. Slowly add dry ingredients until everything is mixed.  Spoon into a greased muffin tin and bake for 23 minutes at 350 degrees or until toothpick comes out clean when muffin is pierced (that's what she said!). Enjoy!