Break the Fast!

Another Fast Sunday has come and gone, and what does that mean for me? A day of frantic cooking to make a decent meal for Break the Fast...People don't realize how much work goes into cooking for 70 people! But i am actually really grateful for it and enjoy my calling! At first I was worried the Lord was preparing me to be a mission president's wife or something, but I'm still not sure... I've had the calling of Break the Fast co-chair since around June of last year and I've gone through 3 male counterpart co-chairs. They've all been great, but i never really had much of a committee to help. We always had a couple people thrown on there but when I would call they wouldn't answer, or pretend they didn't know who I was at church (i know awesome right?) but now I am so grateful to have a great committee! My co-chair Jordan is great, Alyssa and Thomas are awesome too. Then there's the informal committee that helps me every time, Brit, Courtney, Brandon. I have a lot of help now and I love it, I just have to be a little better about delegating. :/

Anyways so this Sunday we decided to go all out, partly because we came up with a really cool idea and partly because we didn't have one last Sunday (Superbowl) so we could go a little over budget. :) So we made, get this.... CAFE RIO SALADS! Complete with mint mojitos and cookies for dessert. We recreated them with all the ingredients they use and it was a big success. We tried to make our own dressing like theirs, but it didn't turn out at all, so we just messed with it and made it our own, and i actually thought it was pretty good and kind of similar. Everyone loved it (they kind of have to tell me that but this time i think they meant it). I got calls later that night asking me how we made things, and compliments all night! It was great. One guy even told me that if it doesn't work out with Brandon I know where to go (the way to a man's heart is INDEED through his stomach!) So I thought I would share what we used to make our version of Cafe Salads, because they were so popular. Also if anyone has any suggestions for cheap, yummy meals that can be made in mass quantities i am always on the lookout for recipes!

Cafe Rio Shredded Chicken
1 Bottle Kraft Zesty Italian Salad Dressing
1 T chili powder
1 T cumin
3 cloves minced garlic
5 Lbs. Chicken breast
Cook all together in a crock pot for 4 hours, then shred the chicken and put it back in for another hour.

Cafe Rice
3 c. Water
4 t. Chicken Bouillon
4 t. garlic minced
1/2 bunch cilantro (optional, I hate cilantro so I didn't use it)
1 can green chiles
3/4 t. salt
1 T. butter
1/2 onion
3 C. rice (minute rice works best)
Juice from one lime (I didn't use this but i think it would give the rice more flavor)
Blend cilantro (gross), green chiles, and onion together in food processor. Bring water to a boil, add all ingredients and rice, and cook according to minute rice directions.


Salad- Building directions:
For the perfect Cafe Rio salad, start with a large flour tortilla, then melt some shredded cheese on it. Then add the rice, pinto or black beans, chicken, then the lettuce on top of all that, then if wanted you can add guac, pico, or sour cream, maybe even some Parmesan. Then the dressing tops it all off, and enjoy!