No I don’t mean we MOCK qudoba… there is nothing funny about their yummy burrito goodness! I mean we started a mock qudoba night as in we make our own qudoba inspired dinner.

So this was the first time I tried to imitate their yummy goodness and boy oh boy was it good, it was a huuuuge hit with the kids and theirs were totally GFCF. It was a little work putting it all together as there are a lot of facets to the meal but it made enough to feed our family of 5 for 2 meals EASY, and then some. My boys can pack it away so that’s saying ALOT!!!!

So how did I do it? I didn’t have a recipe really so I will just tell you what I did and used.

I made cilantro lime rice, black beans, seasoned ground beef, cheese (or cheese sub), corn, lettuce, tomatoes, black olives, guacamole, and sour cream (or sour cream sub). I made fresh GFCF tortillas for the boys, and also whipped up some fresh salsa.

So I started with making my salsa.

I add ingredients all to the blender and puree :

• Large Can of whole peeled tomatoes
• 1 Serrano pepper seeded and chopped
• 1 heaping tbls of garlic salt
• Cilantro – just eyeball it. I use fresh, and end up using about 1/4 to 1/3 of the leafy part in a bunch.
• 3 or 4 green onion sprigs chopped

Just add it all and blend blend blend. Wear gloves when handling the serrano pepper. TRUST ME. The capsacin (the hot oil in it) will cling to your hands and under your fingernails then you will get a nose itch or watery eye from the cilantro and garlic salt and touch your face unknowlingly and then will feel like you were maced in the face. ITS NOT PRETTY. If by chance you ignore me and end up with mind searing pain or a swelling face then place a very generous amount of dawn dish soap water and dunk you head in it over and over. The dawn will really cut the oil and help you feel better. Mostly nothing else will. If you still are irritated after the dawn, you can use a compress with milk in it to soothe the burn. TRUST ME THIS IS NOT FUN SAVE YOURSELF THE MIND SEARING HELL FIRE PAIN AND WEAR GLOVES.

So now your salsa is made and chillin in fridge if you like it that way.

Next prep all your other veggies.

Make your tortillas if you want. I use the recipe on the Living Without website to make GFCF tortillas. The recipe will make about 6.

Now your rice. I used just some minute rice, I made 3 cups, 2 would have been enough though. So 1-1 ratio of rice and water. I squeezed in 2 small limes, and added about a palm full of super diced up fresh cilantro. Stir, nuke, and that’s done.

While your rice is cooking then cook up your corn, and black beans. I added a liberal amount of garlic salt to my black beans. I had those cooking on the back burners while I browned and seasoned my ground beef with taco seasoning.

So now your rice is done. Warm your tortillas and load them up.

We layered on rice, black beans, beef, corn, cheese, veggies, sour cream, guac in that order, fold the ends in and roll over. You can add your salsa with the ingredients like I did, or layer it on top like Neil did in the photo.

For the boys I just sliced up their tortillas and handed them a bowl of the ingredients all mixed up with the tortillas added.

Simple enough dinner to make, just takes a little time due to all the ingredients. We all had a generous helping for 2 meals, and the boys still had enough for lunch another time. So I would say it feeds 10-12 people very generously.

Monday we went to Dallas. Neil’s mom – Mindy, and sister – Amy also went with us. It was a FAST trip but it was alot of fun. We left OKC around 11:30 and met up at Grapevine Mills Mall in Dallas. We did some shopping and then ate at the Rainforest Cafe.

Rainforest Cafe was a lot of fun for us and for the boys. They were AWESOME regarding Chase’s food limitations. They didn’t have a GFCF menu but the waiter was great and was able to ask them to grill Chase a chicken breast with nothing on it, and to cook him some fries in fresh oil & pan instead of the deep fryer with all the other items. We gave the other boys enzymes and let them order “regular food”. Anyway they did great. We got the boys flashing cups and at the end we all shared a VOLCANO!!! It’s a base of ice cream with wedge of brownie stood up to form a volcano around the ice cream. Then it’s topped with whipped cream and a sparkler! Chase not liking sweets again was a big benefit in this area. He thought the volcano was cool but was content eating his french fries. Oh and a man making balloon animals came by our table and made stuff for the boys!!!

After dinner we shopped some more. I got a cardigan and lip gloss at the gap, some clear yellow jellies at Saks off 5th, and some nightgown cheap at Penny’s. We hoped to find some good deals for Aiden but didn’t see much of anything for a good price.

After the mall we went to the hotel. We used hotwire to book it, Neil’s parents treated us all. The hotel was VERY NICE. The boys were SUPER EXCITED!!! They love going out of town and staying in hotels. This is their second time so it’s just a really cool treat for them. We got all checked in and settled. Amy bathed the boys while Neil and I went and had a drink at the bar. I had my first raspberry mojito and my oh my was it GOOD. Completely killed my headache I obtained at the Rainforrest Cafe. LOL!!!

Tuesday we all got up and got ready. We headed over to Ikea for breakfast and shopping. We shopped till we dropped literally. The boys did amazing considering we were there over 4 hours. Chase actually fell asleep in a cart. We got SOOOOOO MANY cool goodies for the house. Mindy gave us some spending money too and we were able to get this AWESOME storage unit, well not just one but 2, for the boys room. Its tall and holds all these containers. ITS SO COOL!!!! Their room is UBER organized now. We got lots and lots of other stuff. A few things for the kids, a rocking toy for Graysen, tons of stuff for the bathroom and bedroom redo.

After Ikea the boys wanted to eat Burger King and they deserved it. While they played Mindy, Amy, and I went to Sam Moon and shopped. Mindy got a really cool purple purse that Amy and I both loved. I got a killer deep red purse, and patent faux alligator hard wallet. It’s tan and yummy! I pet my purse all the way home.

On the way home we drove through snow most of the way. Thankfully the roads weren’t icy just wet.

So now we are home and Neil is still off. We went to a baskeball game New Years eve. It was Alex’s first sporting event and he totally dug it. He’s now saying he will be a basketball player when he grows up.

In the midst of everything we are doing a redo to our bedroom and bathroom, and doing a little work on Chase’s room. Our bedroom we are stripping wallpaper off the back wall, texturing it to look like the other walls and then painting everything. Our bathroom we stripped all the wallpaper off, are texturing and painting the walls and cabinets. We got all new hardware, a new mirror, towel bars, even a new toilet paper holder, the WHOLE 9!!!! In Chase’s room he has some built in shelves in the middle of one of his walls. They are really shallow for like knick nacks. We closed it up, and textured it to blend with the wall, and are painting his room a very very light creamy yellow color. It’s grass green right now.

Aaaaanyway it’s a biiiiiig set of projects but it’s all coming together finally. Tim Gunkel came over and showed us how to use the texture gun and hopper. He’s awesome! It was pretty easy! Intimidating looking but when you have someone experienced it makes it easier!!! YAY!!!

Well the kids are hungry so I better run… HOPE EVERYONE HAS A WONDERFUL YEAR!!!!!!