Burrito Bowl-Pies

I experimented in making my own recipe last week and here is the product.  I bring to you Burrito Bowl-Pies!  They have all the filling-goodness of a pie and the holding capacity of a bowl.  And you can eat the bowl as part of your dinner.  How cool is that?

The finished product with a glass water splashed with lemon juice.

Ingredients:

• 5 tortillas (corn because wheat sucks)
• 1/2 diced onion
• 1/2 teaspoon of Old El Paso taco mix
• 1 chicken breast for the whole diner
• 1/4 cup of rice (uncooked)
• 2 teaspoons of La Preferida refried black beans per tortilla
• 1/2 teaspoon of cilantro paste per tortilla
• 1 teaspoon of Goya pico de gallo per tortilla
• Pinch of Mexican cheese blend per tortilla

All the ingredients.  Except the garlic paste; I never wound up using it.

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Cook the rice before you do anything else.  Caramelize the onion on a pan with olive oil.  Then "bread" the chicken with Old El Paso taco mix and pan-fry until half-done after you have removed the onions.

Your "breaded" chicken.

Cut a tortilla and wrap it into a muffin tin.

Cut...

...and wrap

 Add one teaspoon of rice for each tortilla.  Add a few chicken strips and onions.  Then cover in 1 teaspoon of refried black beans.  On top of that, put the cilantro paste and the pico de gallo.  Top with cheese.  Place in the oven for 15 minutes.  The tortillas should be ready to go become friends with your taste buds and tummy.

Before the oven.

Continuing with the spirit of experimentation (no, not that kind), I decided to give myself bangs and dress cooler and edgier.  Since this dish involved many layers working together to create something wonderful, this outfit reflects that spirit perfectly.

Hat: ASOS, Sweater: Free People, Necklace: Anne Taylor LOFT, studded cuff, Jeans: BDG

I'm also practicing taking pictures of my outfits and looking awesome while doing it.  Let me know on my Lookbook or comment on how I'm doing!

Keep it yummy,
Jo

A Gluten-Free Thanksgiving

Since I had no way of uploading pictures to my computer back home, this post is several days late.  But I was pretty excited to hear that my cousin would be accommodating and make all this gluten-free stuffing that she and I can eat for the Turkey Feast.  I just loved that my family took such good care of everything and it's exciting to know that marketplaces and restaurants have gluten-free options for those of us who want traditional foods, but cannot eat them.

Clockwise: Corn bread stuffing, corn pudding, sweet potatoes, wild rice stuffing, turkey.

Everything was so delicious!  I'll be totally honest, I could not enjoy the meal as much as I wanted to because of the allergy medication I took that morning because my cousin has a dog in the house.  Being drowsy does not make me very hungry.

Gluten-free pumpkin pie.  YUM!

I like to dress up for family occasions.  I could have worn something fall-themed, but decided not to.  I just wanted to look nice for spending time with my family.

Tobi dress, lace tights, Bonanza shoes from Steve Madden

Keep it yummy,
Jo

Chinese Food Pt. 1: The Lazy Susan & Peking Duck Dinner

Usually when I have been on a tour with a group of people, we had menus when we went out to eat meals included with the trip.  These usually had also been at crappy restaurants where the food made me feel bloated and gain ten pounds in three weeks (thank you Planet Hollywood and Applebees.  This misfortune happened before I had any sense and reason when it came to eating).  But when in China, do as the Chinese.

The Chinese seem to like to share their meals.  Four people would get together, order four different meals, but everyone ate a bit of what everyone else ordered.  Which, I think, is a better attitude than looking at each order as my dish.  It is called "sharing a meal" after all!

I present to you: the Lazy Susan

The meal depicted in the above picture is not the one I am highlighting in this post.  But that same day, for dinner, we went to one of the best Peking duck restaurants in Beijing (apparently).  So I felt it was appropriate to wear a bird dress with a feather necklace.

Because surfing duck is awesome.  Dress: H&M, Necklace: Urban Outfitters, Purse: Cooperative, Shoes: Converse, Bracelet: Found in my house

I wish I could exactly tell you, dear reader, what the food was.  But as far as I know, my favorite part was the blood-soaked tofu and rice pancake roll-up with the duck and cucumber and onion slices.  It was really good, but people in my group did not enjoy it.  I have no idea why that could have been.  Then again, I will eat most food as long as I am not in immediate danger of getting sick.

The duck roll-up is on the right.  This disaster used to look like:

Look at this awesome plating, you guys

So that was the first meal I had in China after being delayed in Detroit for almost a day.  I took pictures of all my meals, but some I will not show-case as they do sometimes include wheat products (I was getting such bad stomach problems from eating most things that I gave up and started eating everything.  Also, this blog focuses on wheat-free options for people, so my diet deviations will not be featured.  Unless someone asks).

More posts to come in the upcoming days!

Keep it yummy,
Jo

Lemon & Garlic Roast Chicken

Happy New Year, everyone!  So, my father and I have been doing some cooking together and decided to try our first recipe from What to Cook and How to Cook It by Jane Hornby.I've been wanting this book since the summer when I stumbled upon it in Urban Outfitters (cook books at Urban, what?).

(Source: Amazon)

Anyway, today my dad and I tried making the "Roast Chicken with Lemon & Leek Stuffing" minus the leek stuffing because that involves bread and right now, I don't have plain toast.  The only toast I have is Udi's cinnamon raisin toast (which, by the way, is delicious as French toast).  I'm not going to post pictures of us making it because my dad hates that sort of thing and the book uses that kind of format.  So, I don't want too much copyright infringement.  But I will post a picture of the final product.

The chicken in the back, some steamed veggies in the front

The recipes in the book are legitimate.  My dad was worried that cooking the chicken at 400 degrees would completely dry it out and burn, but quite the opposite.  The meat was succulent, juicy, but will leave you tasting garlic and lemon for a while.  This is, however, an excellent dinner choice for those of us that want to avoid gluten.  You might notice that there is no starch but that's because my dad didn't think of anything that would go.  Even though I suggested little red roasted potatoes.  Because potatoes are awesome and go with everything.  Actually, I used to dislike potatoes after eating them for a straight month while in Poland, but now that I'm getting more creative in the preparation, they are becoming more delicious.

Well that's my first entry for 2012 and hopefully there are many more to come!