Let's Go!

Okay, so I thought I could post all my favorite past time entries before I started writing "for real," but with everything going on, it's hard to find the motivation to get them all in.  I'm going to start blogging now and throw some oldies in when needed.

I have always loved writing, and granted, it's always nice to get feedback from readers, but down the road, it's always fun to look back at see what I was up to and how my writing style and personality have evolved.  I hope to share the happenings in my life, as well as home projects, recipes, and crafts.

First up, my attempt at Chipotle at home.  I have loved Chipotle since I first tasted it as a junior at NYU.  (I even did a group project on the company!)  I used to eat the giant burrito, but now I'm happy with a chicken fajita bol everytime.  Sometimes copycat recipes are just too tedious in procedure and or require too many ingredients to make it worth trying.  Might as well just pay the $4.99 for Sakkio Japan's chicken teriyaki, right?

Having taken a knives skills class at the Institute of Culinary Education a few weeks back, part of me wanted to practice cutting up vegetables.  What better way than to chop up tomatoes, onions, peppers, and cilantro for salsa?  Thanks to ChipotleFan.com I was able to get recipes for Chipotle's tomato and corn salsas.  These have been tweaked based on the comments:

Corn Salsa
4.5 cups frozen sweet yellow corn (cook based on directions on bag)
3 green scallions, diced
1/2 Red Onion diced
2 Green Jalapenos - seeds removed & diced
1/3 Cup Chopped Cilantro
1 Tablespoon Lime Juice
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
Salt & Pepper to Taste

Combine all the ingredients and season to taste.

Tomato Salsa (same recipe as above, except replace corn with 5-6 medium diced tomatoes, use a little less jalapeno, and omit green scallions) 

Cilantro Lime Rice
The same site has this recipe:
but I used this "Skinny Version" from Pinterest - (If you're using a rice cooker, I'd use maybe 1.25 cups of water for 2 cups of uncooked rice)

Chicken
We thought the site's recipe was a little too involved, so Hubs just added his own mix of spices - cumin, paprika, chili powder, garlic. 

Here is the site's main recipe but in the comments, someone suggested a simpler recipe, so i might try that next time.

The results were delicious!  Now I find myself craving Chipotle less often because I've been making the corn salsa on a weekly basis as an add-on to my lunch salad.