I love Chipotle. Like, I really love Chipotle. I could eat there every day and be happy. My wallet would not, however. I have been on a mission to recreate their burrito bowl at home. Ive tried it quite a few times but think I finally got it with the most recent try.
This is what I ALWAYS order:
Chicken
Brown Cilantro-Lime Rice
Black Beans
Mild AND medium salsa
Sour Cream

I am going to break down each piece here!

Chicken

The marinade is comprised of the following:

1 Chipotle Chile (from a can–super hot), chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 onion chopped
1 teaspon cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon chili powder

I put it all in the food processor and then spread it over the chicken. Left to marinate in the fridge for 1-24 hours. If less than 4 hours I suggest poking your chicken with a fork first to get maximum flavor!

I then threw it on the George Foreman grill and chopped:

Salsa

While the chicken was “happening”, I made another batch of my Sister In Laws Salsa…the only edit is that I added a Chipotle Chili Pepper to enhance the spiciness!

Cilantro-Lime Rice

1 tablespoon butter
1/2 lime
teaspoon clantro, chopped (to taste)
1 cup brown rice
1 1/3 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt

Melt butter in saucepan. Once melted, add dry rice and the juice of 1/2 lime. Mix, then add water and salt. Bring to boil then turn down heat and cover. Let cook for about 25 minutes (or 10 if you used quick rice like me ) and turn off heat. Let sit to “steam” for 30 minutes. Then, fluff with fork and add cilantro.

Black Beans

I was pretty nervous about the black beans. The only time I cook beans is when I dump the drained can into chili!!!! This was painless though.

-1 can black beans
-1 clove garlic
-1/4 onion chopped
-salt

Saute onion and garlic (minced) for a few minute in a teaspoon or so of olive oil til transluscent. Add contents of can of beans–DONT DRAIN!! Let come to a boil on the stove and add salt to taste. THATS IT!

Pico De Gallo

I whipped a quick Pico too–just a mix of diced onion, tomato, jalapeno, and a splash of salt and some cilantro!

For PW…I also sauteed some fajita vegetables (thats his Chipotle thing)

Put it all together with a dollop of sour cream!

This was the PERFECT dinner! It was enough for about 3 bowls…if you want more leftovers, more than 1 cup of rice and 1 can of beans is necessary. If you try this–let me know!!

First—considering Ive been MIA for a full MONTH, I sincerely appreciate if youre still reading this ol’ blog!!!! I have missed blogging but was overwhelmed with lifestuff, and unfortunately ThatRunnerChick was what had to give. However!!! The race I was training for–the Hyannis Half Marathon–has come and gone as of yesterday, so my running schedule isnt as pressing! Expect more regular updates from my corner of MA.

Now on to the good stuff!

So, the race I have been training for, for months. I had never raced a half-marathon, but figured it was a more manageable time commitment than a full. Plus–all my friends were doing it! (Seriously–over 20 QT2Systems people, plus at least 50 other people I know!). I trained hard, tapered harder, and came into race weekend ready to hurry up and get it over with.

Did a typical day before race fueling of pancake breakfast and carbo load. Race morning was the SureFire QT2 breakfast which has yet to let me down (I have no expectations it will EVER do so–its all part of the science!), and a quick drive to the Sheraton in Hyannis, MA.

Got there and immediately got in the bathroom line. The amount of people racing was DOUBLED this year (over 4200 participants), and since the bathroom situation was harsh last year I knew it would leave much to be desired this year. Got my race packet and proceeded to greet a bunch of friends (the best part of racing) and sit on the floor for 1.5 hours. Only getting up every 30 minutes to systematically stand in the 15 minute long bathroom line.

I wasnt NERVOUS for the race, more like anxious–I wanted to hurry up and get it over with already! I took my pre-race gel and then went outside with PW for a quick warm up jaunt. Props to Jim and Tapply for joining our parade! Back to the start line and right up front. Last year for the 10k I lined up in the right corral pace-wise, only to be trapped by people walking the half. Learned my lesson and stood my ground 3 rows back this year! I had a pace to go out at–7:20, and that was the plan come hell or high water (both apparently happened!).

Began the race and the usual 400 meter dash occurred. I hung back and kept to my pace. The first 4 miles went by pretty uneventful–hit between 7:18 and 7:21 for all of them. A minor hill came next, but wasnt a big deal. What WAS a big deal was the wind. PW said it is the worst wind he has ever seen at this race–and hes done it the last 9 years!! When we ran along the beach at mile 8 it felt like I was standing still! I started to slow down and lost my focus. This was my slowest mile at 7:50. It is also such a downer to be at mile 8 and know you still have over 5 miles left! I trucked along in the 7:30 range until about mile 10. I got a second wind and started to pick up the pace–having only a 5k left will do that to you! By mile 11.5 I was running right around 7:20-7:25′s. I was also singing “Stronger” by Kanye, but thats a race report for a different day! I hit mile 13 and started picking it up to 6:45′s…only to be let down when I hit 13.1 miles and the finish was not in sight. I held on, somewhere in between passing out and throwing up (I had serious issues at this point!), seeing Cait and PW cooling down. I ended up finishing the 13.26 miles (that extra .15 miles felt like 15 miles) in 1:39, with a 7:30 pace.

I was shooting for a 7:20 pace, but am pretty darn happy with 7:30′s. The course was long AND it was windy–no need to get stuck on the time! Effort is all that matters.

Everyone else did awesome too! QT2 took the top 2 womens spots (Cait and Amanda), PW rocked it at the end of a 31 hour training week (hes a masochist), my SIL Dawn had a 12 minute PR (rockstar I know), as did Meg. And PW’s BFF/coachee (and my fave twitter friend) Chuckwagon PRed by 10 minutes. All around great day!

I am now limping around and basking in my free time with cooking!

The best part??? I ran the half-marathon yesterday at the EXACT SAME PACE I ran the 10k last year there. And I felt way worse during the 10k. PW is the best coach around! Something to be said for QT2
Systems and consistency!

Here are PW, Rick, and I post-race:

Looking for more Hyannis race reports?

PW’s, husband and coach extraordinaire, can be found here
Meg’s (should be up soon!) can be found here
Cait’s (should also be up soon) can be found here

Be back tomorrow with a a knock-off Chipotle meal. Down to the chicken marinade and the cilantro-lime rice!!! Not one to miss, I promise!