Mission Style Carnitas Burrito

$2.28 per burrito

Cafe Rio. Chipotle. Barbacoa. Just typing those restaurant names made my mouth water! Everyone loves a burrito every once in a while, especially mission style burritos. They are huge, they are delicious, they are one of my favorite guilty pleasures. Since my husband and I have cut down our budget, we rarely get to eat out. Which is devastating to my husband's love for Cafe Rio. No joke, he once ate (actually this has probably happened more than once) Cafe Rio for lunch AND dinner. No, he didn't go eat there for lunch and have leftovers for dinner. He went TWICE in one day! He's told me that he would eat there every day and never get tired of it. I believe him.

Today I'm going to share with you my recipes for Carnitas and Cilantro Rice with Lime. I'm still working on the homemade tortillas, mine came out a little thicker than I would have preferred. So I will share those with you another time. There are several recipes out there for Cafe Rio copycats but I decided to go my own way and make something new. I hope you enjoy!

Nutritional Highlight: Pork Tenderloin. I use a pork tenderloin in this recipe because it is extremely low in fat. I'm sure you have heard this before as pork tenderloin has less fat, pound per pound, than chicken breast. This cut of pork is also full of vitamins like thiamin and niacin as well as lean protein all of which can help your body burn fat more efficiently. 

Slow Cooker Carnitas (serves 8-10)
$6.05 total / .60 per serving

2.5lbs Pork Tenderloin
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
2 Garlic Cloves, cut in half
1 tsp Cumin
1/2 tsp Oregano
1/2 tsp Coriander
1/4 tsp Cinnamon

Cilantro Rice with Lime (serves 4)
$1.67 total / .41 per serving

1 cup Long Grain White Rice
2 cups Water
1/2 cup Cilantro, packed
1 Garlic Clove
1 tsp Salt
Lime Juice to taste

In a small bowl, combine all spices. Trim any excess fat from the pork, leaving only a little bit. Rub the spice mixture into the pork tenderloin and then place in the crockpot fat side up. Pour chicken stock around the pork being careful not to wash away spice rub. Place some of the garlic clove halves in the stock and some on top of the pork. Cover and cook on low until the pork is tender and shreds easily with a fork, about 6 hours.

While the pork is almost finished, blend together the water, cilantro and garlic in a blender. Transfer mixture to a small saucepan, then add the rice and salt. Cook over medium high heat until it begins to simmer. Reduce heat, cover and cook for about 20 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed. Remove from the heat and let rest, covered, for 5-10 minutes. Add lime juice to taste and fluff with a fork.

While the rice is resting, start shredding the pork. I like to take the pork out of the crockpot and shred in a separate bowl, adding juices as necessary to moisten the meat. Your finished product should be moist but not swimming in juices.

Now the fun starts! You can assemble your burrito however you wish. My husband and I both like salsa verde so I whipped up some Creamy Salsa Verde. I also made a side of black beans. Toppings are limitless: pico de gallo, sour cream, fajita vegetables, cheese, guacamole, beans, lettuce, etc. Make it your own!

***This recipe makes extra Carnitas that I will show you what to do with next!*** 
Click here: White Chili with Carnitas

**Based cost per burrito on my recipes for carnitas, cilantro rice with lime, black beans, avocado salsa verde, sour cream and Trader Joe's $2.99 tortillas.

Nutritional Analysis:

Carnitas per 4oz serving: 186 calories, 3.8g fat, 0.4g carbohydrates, 33.5g protein and over 15% daily value of Vitamin B-6, Magnesium, Niacin, Phosphorus, Riboflavin, Selenium, Thiamin and Zinc

Cilantro Rice per 1/2c serving: 54 calories, 0.1g fat, 12.1g carbohydrates, 1.2g protein

DIY Christmas Cheer

Create your own Holiday Decor that fits your style. I found the idea to make this window display from a posting I saw on Centsational Girl. This isn't the best picture (we need to clean the outside of our windows...yikes!) I finished this project last Christmas so I'm not sure what the exact price was. I do know however, that it was really inexpensive. Most of the supplies are easy to find at Michael's or Hobby Lobby (the Hobby Lobby's in Utah are always having 50% off sales so that made it even cheaper!)

What you need: 

An idea! (Joy, Noel, Merry, Snow, Believe, etc.)
Ribbon, preferably wire-edged
Wooden letters to spell your word
Paint
Paint brush
Hot glue/hot glue gun
Wood board, cut to fit your specifications (I found a piece at Home Depot for a couple bucks and they cut it for me for free!)
Accents like greenery, garland, berries, candles, etc. This is where you can really get creative and make it your own. These will also help to weigh down the board and keep it in place.

Let's make it:   

First, paint the letters your desired color. Wait until dry and then hot glue one end of a ribbon strand to the back of each letter. Keep your ribbon fairly long, you can always cut it once you decide your layout.

Second, arrange your letters on a flat surface and play around with different variations before committing to a design. Then determine your length; how long do you want the letters to hang? Don't stress about this last part too much because we can make it so the decoration is adjustable.

Third, mark your ribbon and cut off any excess length from each ribbon piece. To make the decoration more adjustable, keep the ribbon longer than desired so you can wrap the ribbon around your board. This will let you shorten or lengthen individual letters or the whole word. 

Fourth, hot glue the ends of your ribbon to your wooden board. Use something to protect your fingers as you press the ribbon into the glue and spread it out. 

Fifth, decide how many times, if any, you are going to wrap the ribbon around your board. Place it in its desired location and finish by decorating with accessories. Voila!

Chicken Stock

$.09 per cup *without chicken feet

Chicken stock is something that I use all of the time. Lucky for me, it's so incredibly easy and cheap to make! You might wonder what the big deal is because stock is readily accesible at the grocery store and it has a long shelf life. Well, you are right! However, making your own stock enables you to take ownership for the amount of nutrients provided in that pantry staple while also avoiding MSG and controlling the sodium content.

I bet most of you buy chicken broth, I use to. I honestly didn't know there was any difference at all between the two. For the most part, the two are very similar. The difference lies in that stock is made with bones and broth is made using only the meat. There are nutritional differences that make stock a better choice, but I'll get to that later.

If you can, it is best to use bones from organic, free range chickens. This will definitely boost the cost of dinner but it also boosts the quality of the stock. You can also increase the benefits by adding chicken feet. The feet are excellent because of all of the connective tissue and added collagen. The best place to find such a delicacy is at a large Asian Market - typically the prices will be very good here as well. You know you have a good quality stock when it gels as it cools. The collagen will make the stock look like gelatin. Ah, success!

Nutritional Highlight: Bones. The reason bones are significant in broth is because there are uncounted healing properties that come from bones. Most of the health benefits are attributed to the bone marrow and cartilage. From these two parts of the bone, you get several different minerals, collagen and amino acids. Bone broth has the power to strengthen the immune system and is good for joints and ligaments.

Chicken Stock     (makes 10 cups)

Chicken Carcass, with skin & juices
Chicken Feet, *optional
4 Stalks of Celery, broken in half
1 Yellow Onion, quartered
3 Carrots, washed but unpeeled
1 bay leaf
Leaves from 1 sprig of Rosemary
2 Garlic cloves, peeled and cut in half
1 tsp peppercorns
splash of Vinegar
3 quarts Cold Water, *4qts w/chicken feet


Start with carving your chicken. I like to make this stock when I've just bought a chicken from the store for dinner. I take the meat and divide it for two meals and then get ready for some stock making! If you don't have the time to put in to making the stock, I have also made a 'stock kit' by placing the carcass, vegetables and seasonings in a gallon ziplock container to freeze until I have the time or need to make more stock.

Place all ingredients in a large stockpot. Pour cold water in last (it is essential that the water be cold, this is the best way to extract all of the minerals and collagen from the bones). Bring the water to a slight boil and immediately turn down the heat to low. As the stock begins to simmer, skim the scum occasionally, 3-4 times, off of the top. Continue to simmer the stock for 6-8 hours, uncovered (You don't have to keep watching it at this point).

When you are ready, strain the stock. Cool the stock by placing the stockpot in an ice bath in the sink. Let it come down to room temperature and then place in the fridge to rest overnight. Scoop the fat from the top of the stock. Now divide the stock into containers to freeze. You can divide by the cup(s) or even by placing some in an ice cube tray for dishes that require very little stock like a pan sauce.

Nutritional Analysis: 

***It's hard to calculate the nutritional value of the stock due to not actually consuming the ingredients but extracting nutrients from them instead. I will post the nutritional stats for Swanson's Chicken Stock and make some comments as to what the differences could be.

Per cup: 20 calories, 0g fat, 510mg sodium (21% daily value)*, 1g carbohydrates, 3.9g protein.

*I don't add any salt to my recipe so I know that will be significantly less (like under 100mg).