Chicken Burrito Bowl

Hi friends! What are you thinking of recipe week so far? Today I have another scrumptious recipe to share with you. The best part is-you can make the whole thing in the same pan!

Here's what you need:

1 pound or about 4 cups of chicken breasts defrosted and cubed into 1" pieces

3 T. olive oil

1 cup uncooked brown rice

1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes, drained

1 15 oz. can of black beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 t. garlic powder

1/2 t. chili powder

1 t. cumin

2 1/2 c. chicken broth

2 cups of cheese (we used Colby and Monterey Jack)

Salt and pepper to taste

Optional: fresh toppings to add-tomatoes, green onions, sour cream, guacamole, cheese, salsa, etc.

Here's what you do:

Begin warming 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan

Season diced chicken with a little salt and pepper.

Add chicken to pan and cook over medium high heat until chicken has started to brown.

Move chicken to one side of the pan. On the other side of the pan add an additional tablespoon of olive oil and sauté uncooked rice for about 2 minutes or until some grains begin to turn golden brown.

Stir in black beans, canned tomatoes, chicken broth, garlic powder, chili powder and cumin.

Bring to a simmer, cover, and reduce heat to low.

Cook for about 20 minutes or until rice is tender.

Season with additional salt and pepper as needed.

Sprinkle with cheese, recover and let set for 2-3 minutes without heat to melt cheese.

If you have it, garnish with fresh toppings. I did not have any so we just ate it as is. We paired ours with some strawberries for a fresh summery meal. We had enough for leftovers, but only one meal because it was so tasty! I am sure it would have made a great lunch over tortilla chips or in a wrap as well. Let me know what you think. See you again tomorrow friends!

#HighFamilyVakay

Yay!!! My family came to visit!!! We were so excited to have our first guests come to see us since we've moved. Plus it had been a while since I had seen them! They got here early Thursday morning so I could pick them up from the airport before work. 

They look pretty excited!!

Thursday night we took them out to eat at The Chuckbox in Tempe. It was good. Friday after work we went out to South Mountain once again. Are you catching on that we like that place? Atlee read my old posts and saw I mentioned if anyone came to visit we would take them up there and make s'mores. We did precisely that. Here is our view of the city.

My Eagle Scout husband got our fire going.

The lighting was not great on all of these with my phone, but you get the idea!

Then we headed out for some Authentic Mexican in Mesa. Atlee ordered a lemonade, and she got it in a fancy margarita glass. 

Friday night we had our first overnight guests at our apartment! We do not have an air pump for our air mattress. Last time we blew it up we used my hair dryer which has since broken. We were about ready to give up and go buy a new air pump when we decided to try the vacuum. We decided it went much quicker, and one section of carpet got really clean!

Here she is. Got enough pillows??

Our first guests! Hope they enjoyed their stay!

On Saturday morning we took my family to our favorite thing-mountain hiking. They had been up Camelback with me a few years ago so I thought we would try this one this time. It is not quite as tall as Camelback, but the trail in longer-still pretty challenging!

A great track workout for Jadyo.

Look at these awesome parents who made it to the top!

The whole family on top of Piestewa Peak. We made it!!! Missed having you, Nolan.

Headed back down the mountain. We saw one guy with an oxygen mask on that climbed up and down 5 times in one morning. We thought once was enough, and I was very proud of everyone for making it the whole way up.

The afternoon we headed to Salt River Fields at Talking Stick for some Spring Training action.

Are you seeing how many people are in the stands? It was crazy!!!

Rockies vs. Angels, record attendance! It was so packed!!

It went into extra innings and then ended in a tie...But at least the Rockies didn't lose.

Saturday night we rode the light rail to downtown Tempe. It was Spring Break so luckily there weren't tons of people down there. 

Sunday morning we took my family out for brunch and to Mesa Riverview Park. We FINALLY got to climb this huge jungle gym! 

It was much higher than I expected!

I gave up, but Matt made it to the top!

His view of us and the rest of the park!

These two climbing the other jungle gym. It was so good to see them!

As we were dropping my family off at the airport, this thing pulled up behind us! Apparently he is a photographer and travels all around the country. He has all kinds of figurines attached to his Jeep. It was kinda cool, but very interesting.

It was so nice to see my family again, and I hope they had a great trip. Come see us again anytime! Can't wait for another great #HighFamilyVakay

Matching bikes and free food

Matt started work this past Monday, and he has decided he works for the best company in the valley! He has gotten lots of free food so I would be enjoying it too!! Needless to say, he is liking it! I put him in charge of meeting new friends for us since he works with so many people around our age. He has been working very hard and was able to find a couple friends. On Friday we even went out with some of them! They took us to a Mexican place then out for ice cream. We had a great time!! Hopefully, they will be a couple we continue to hang out with.
We piked up a bike for me this past week so we took our (matching) bikes out to Papago Park for some riding. I was pretty much terrified the whole time, but it was really beautiful! We will try it again soon.

Can you see our matching bikes?!?

Matt took over the camera at this point...I decided to only put up one picture he took..

Love the red rock!

After, we headed down to my grandparents house for some relaxation. It is so nice to have them around to have familiar faces to see and more free food! ;) We watched one of Jadyn's last basketball games for the year. It feels like we are right there, but we get to watch from the couch instead of the bleachers. Atlee also was awarded for doing so well on the state tests. She is so smart!! One proud big sister over here!

I'm so excited the Olympics have started, are you watching?!? We have been trying to catch as much as we can. It's been pretty exciting so far!! Hope it continues to go well!