Homemade vs. Qudoba vs. Chipotle

For my parent's anniversary I tried to make a Chipotle-esque meal.  Our family is a big fan of Chipotle's veggie bowls.  And their chips.

However, a Qudoba opened in town a few weeks before my parent's anniversary and I was curious to see what they had to offer.  Turns out they didn't have much.  I really, really wanted to like Qudoba, because the 'local' Chipotle is an 2 hour drive round trip.  The Qudoba is only 10 mins. away.

Unfortunately, I was disappointed by Qudoba.  Not only are the portion sizes half the size of Chipotle's - Qudoba is more expensive and the food is very flavorless.

I tried Qudoba twice, because I wanted to believe that the first time was just a bad mistake.  The 2nd time I took some 'authentic Mexicans', as in friends visiting from Mexico.  They also thought the food was flavorless and we all walked away disappointed and still hungry.

I wish I had weighed the 2 meals!  The Chipotle one was MUCH heavier.  The round bowls are deceiving.

Qudoba: Veggie/Naked bowls $6.29 each + .69 for veggies (stupid) = $6.98

Chips - $1.99

Chipotle: Veggie bowl $6.25

Chips $1.25

After eating the Qudoba meal I was still hungry.  I could only eat 1/2 of the Chipotle meal.  

I did the testing on 2 different days - to be fair ;)

So could I make Chipotle at home???

Well, I tried.  I made a Cuban black bean recipe that had green olives and chocolate in it.

I had corn, olives and queso fresco - which is tasty with lime squeezed over it.

And I made fruit salad.  Bonus fruit salad ingredient picture!

I sauteed onions in achiote oil - achiote paste and olive oil.  It makes a tasty red oil.

I pan seared peppers and onions.  Plus added a little bottled smoke flavor to give them that grilled smokiness.

And we had a delicious meal.  BUT I would still drive 2 hours to eat Chipotle.  It just can't be replicated!  Or replaced!

40th Anniversary

It was my parent's 40th wedding anniversary in May.  These are pictures from the anniversary dinner at my house.

Flowers from my garden.

The dinner. 

Roasted Purple Asparagus

I hate asparagus. 

I love this asparagus!

Purple asparagus from my Dad's garden.

It's the only asparagus I will eat.  I cooked it at 400 F for 15 mins.  First I coated it with olive oil, sprinkled it with salt and lime powder.  Roasted to perfection!

I'm not sure if it is the lime powder or the salt that makes the little red pokadots, but it's cute!  And yummy :)

Painted Birdhouses

I painted some birdhouses.  I gave 3 to my parents and kept 3.  I've never painted something like this, so I practiced on the back of each one, before I tried my design on the front.

I think they turned out pretty nice!  My parent's already have birds nesting in the birdhouses that I gave to them.  Mine are still empty, but I have some other bird houses in the yard full of nesting birds, so maybe they will be chosen to raise a little family next year.

Signs Of Spring

Easy and Quick Chile Salmon

This is yummy and cooks quickly.  It's a no fail recipe. 

Chile Salmon

1 salmon fillet

salt

lemon juice

olive oil

chile powder

Pre-heat oven to 400 F.  While oven is pre-heating, sprinkle fillet with salt and lemon juice.  When the oven reaches 400 F - place fish in a cooking spray coated baking dish.  Drizzle fish with olive oil and sprinkle liberally with chile powder.  Cook for 15-20 mins. 

To check if fish is cooked through:  Insert a knife into the thickest portion of the fish, count to 3, place flat of knife against your arm.  If the knife is warm/hot the fish is done.  Not warm?  Fish needs more time.

Recirculating Bather

This is something every dog owner and definitely every Tibetan Terrier owner should have.  It is the MOST amazing thing I have ever used.  And bonus!  I made it myself!

So what is it?!?!

It's a recirculating bather.  Basically a pump that circulates the bath water and sprays it over your dog.  Why is it so amazing?  Well, I used much less water bathing Tibby with the recirc. bather.  She came out super, super soft and extremely clean.  Like she has NEVER been this clean EVER.

Here it is in the tub all ready to use.  So wanna make your own?

You will need:

One 1/4 hp utility pump

A short (6 foot or so) leader hose or connector hose

One spray nozzle

You can see I duct taped the spray nozzle, so it will stay open all the time.  I also put a rubber mat on the tub bottom, so the pump wouldn't make SO much noise.

Then simply fill your tub with warm water.  Add some shampoo to the water.  Add dog. :)  Turn on pump.  Spray dog.  It's very relaxing.  Tibby leaned into the spray. 

Then drain tub.  Rinse dog with clean water.  I have a spray head on my shower, so I used that.

Then re-fill tub.  Put conditioner on dog.  Turn recirc. pump on and DEEP condition.  Then turn pump off.  Drain tub and rinse dog with clean water.

  Tibby liked it and I thought it was amazing! 

 These are the before pictures.  Tibby doesn't LOOK that dirty, but she was SO dirty.  And getting matty too :(  I think the detangler I was using was too greasy.  Her fur just felt nasty.

Post recirc. bather bath.  She is SOOOO silky and soft.  I can't stop touching her fur.  It's like the softest thing I have ever felt.  The pictures aren't the greatest.  We started her bath at 8pm and it was almost midnight before I was done with the whole blow dry, brush, dematt thing.

Pictures today.  She is sparkling white and golden.  My Mom has been recently saying that Tibby was losing her color, but I think it was just the nasty detangler I was using - too greasy and yucky.  And I was using gobs of detangler, because I couldn't get her clean in the bath.  Vicious cycle.

These are the products I used.  I was waiting for them last night and snatched them out of the UPS man's hands - that's how excited I was to get them!  LOL!  Last night I used the Clean Start and the Spectrum 10 conditioner and Ice on Ice for the detangler, but I hardly needed any detangler - amazing how clean fur brushes SO much easier.  Also a wonderful pin brush.  I can't wait to try the White on White and Gold on Gold shampoo!  Tibby will look so amazing!



Winter Turkeys

When I was walking with Tibby today, we saw a huge flock of turkeys.

There were at least 25, but they were a little shy.