Shrimp Burritos

A few years ago, Justin found a recipe on Allrecipes for shrimp burritos.  I love shrimp and I love burritos.  Honestly, I don't think we've ever made the recipe as it is written, but we've tailored it to our tastes.  It's close, but not exactly the same.

I start cooking by gathering all of my ingredients. I also like to measure out everything before I begin.  This makes the cooking/mixing process so much easier.

While chopping onions, I usually wear gloves.  I do not like for my hands to smell like food, and it's also just a good habit for cleanliness.

I didn't measure the oil this time, which was a mistake.  I had too much oil in the pan and had to remove some after I put the onions in there.  I essentially deep fried the onions because I had so much oil in the pan.

Once I got the onions sautéed, I added the rice, garlic salt, and cumin.

 

I then added the diced tomatoes and chicken broth. 

Annabelle is my little taste tester.

 

 Pete just hangs out on her bed near the fireplace, looking confused.

This is where I begin making changes to the recipe.  Instead of using refried beans, I use black beans.  They're a little lighter than refried beans and I actually prefer them.  I pour the can's contents into a pot and add the garlic salt and pepper.

After I stir everything together, I cover and let the beans simmer while I finish everything else.

Justin is way more artistic than me when it comes to photography.

I occasionally stir the rice mixture while it simmers.

I also love listening to music while I cook.  Yay 80s on Pandora!

We use frozen shrimp in this recipe, which I thaw in warm water.  I then remove the tails.

Once the shrimp are thawed and de-tailed, I begin heating them in the pan with garlic.

They're already cooked, so all I'm doing in this step is heating the shrimp.

My favorite part of the recipe is the sauce.  Whoever thought to combine these ingredients is a genius.  This is also another step where I don't exactly follow the recipe.  I use Greek yogurt instead of regular yogurt.  I also add more of the adobo sauce than the recipe calls for.

Cute Pete.

The recipe calls for flour tortillas.  The first few times we cooked this, we used tortillas.  To reduce the calories, we skip the tortillas and just mix everything in a bowl.

I start with the rice mixture.

I then add some beans.

Then the shrimp.

Next comes the shredded cheese.  The recipe doesn't say, but we use reduced fat cheese instead of full fat cheese.  We bought the Mexican blend this time.  We shared the cheese with the pups.  They love cheese!

I top everything with the adobo sauce mixture.

We enjoy this meal.  It's not terribly complicated, but it takes a few minutes to gather everything and prepare the meal.  It also requires several pots, pans, and bowls, so we have nearly a full dishwasher of dirty dishes afterward.  Still worth it, though!

Nailed It

When I was younger, I enjoyed having my nails painted.  I guess I was too rough because the polish was perfect for about an hour.  Because of this, I was never one to pay for manicures because I knew I was wasting my money.  I would occasionally paint my own nails, but as a right-handed person, my left hand looked decent.  My right hand looked pretty bad since I had to paint it with my left hand.  Pretty bad is being a little generous.  It was a hot mess!

 

Enter the gel polish manicure.

 

I discovered this miracle when I moved to Atlanta a few years ago.  One of my favorite stores is The Limited.  Three stores down from The Limited at Perimeter Mall is Nail Premier.  While they don't have great reviews online, I've always had good experiences.  For the last five or six months, I've gotten the same guy when I get my nails done.  He does a good job and seems very interested in how long my polish lasts.  He'll call over other employees so he can show off his work.

 

Back to The Limited...

 

One day after completing a shopping excursion, I decided to stop by Nail Premier and get a manicure.  They had a special for a gel manicure, so I told them to go for it!  I got a French manicure the first time because I figured that was pretty safe.  I don't remember exactly how long it lasted, but I think it was at least two weeks.  At that point, I was hooked.

 

I like for my fingers and toes to match, so I was introduced to Lechat's Perfect Match line of gel polish.

 

My favorite Perfect Match color is Fizzy Apple.  It's a classic red and looks nice on my hands.  I have very pale skin and this color works well with it.

 

 I like it so much that I ordered my own Fizzy Apple set from Amazon.com.

While ordering Fizzy Apple, I discovered Jack Rose.  It's a peachy, coral color.  It's a great color for spring and summer.  I always have either Fizzy Apple or Jack Rose on my nails.

Prior to Sunday, my last manicure was four weeks ago.  Gel polish is supposed to last two weeks.  I can get mine to last three, but that's because "the gap" doesn't bother me.  As your nails grow, a gap develops between the polish and your cuticle.  Depending on how fast your nails grow and the polish color, the gap can be very noticeable after a couple of weeks.

The four week gap was awful.  I don't have any photos of the gap, but it was big.  I even had to trim my nails because they were getting so long.  Oddly enough, there were no chips in the polish.  This stuff is awesome!

This is what my nails look like when they are freshly manicured:

 

 

This makes me smile.

 

Time wise, I don't have a lot of spare time these days, but my manicures are something I will work in.  Pretty nails make me happy, so it's worth it to me.  The cost is also something to consider.  I pay $66 including tip each time I get my nails done.  This includes a pedicure with regular polish and a manicure with gel polish.  This is about $15 to $20 more than a regular main/pedi combo.  It's still worth it in my opinion since my nails are flawless for two to three weeks.