Beef Fajita Taquitos

I thought I'd share one of my all-time favorite meals to make.  And considering that I'm a "most days" vegetarian and the fact that this has a lot of beef in it hopefully tells truth to just how delicious it is! Whenever I'm asked to make dinner for someone else, this is my go-to recipe.  And the best part is, it's so easy to make (there's just a lot of clean up afterwards - but isn't that the case with most good meals?)

Total time: 35-40 minutes
1/2 lb of carne asada makes about 5-6 taquitos

What you'll need:

• approx 1/2 lb unseasoned carne asada
• fajita seasoning mix (I use the Simply Organic mix, available at Ralph's)
• 5-6 mini corn tortillas
• 1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil
• 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 bundle green onions (optional)
• Toothpicks (optional)

Recipe:

1. Thaw meat overnight. Dice softened meat into small sections no larger than a dime.
2. Follow instructions on fajita mix to obtain saucy texture.
3. Add mix to a medium-sized frying pan on medium heat. When mix begins to bubble, add diced meat. Cook meat uncovered for about 10 minutes, or until fully browned. 
4. Once the meat is done, you can start on the taquitos. In (yet another) medium sized frying pan, add about 1/2 cup oil and turn on to low heat. 
5. Heat up 1 corn tortilla in microwave for approximately 15 seconds. 
6. Take tortilla out of microwave. Add meat down the center of the tortilla, in a line. Then add cheese and green onions on top.
7. Roll into taquitos. I like to stick a toothpick through the center of the taquito to hold it together.
8. Carefully place taquito on frying pan.
9. Repeat steps 5-8. When added each new taquito to the pan, rotate the existing ones about 120°, or 1/3 of a full rotation (you may need to remove the toothpick). By the time the fourth taquito is added, the first one will be done. There should be no more than 3 taquitos in the pan at a time. 
10. When removing taquitos from pan, use a spatula or tongs (not your fingers!) Place them onto a paper towel to absorb any excess oil. 

Tips

• After rolling up each taquito and putting the toothpick through the center, stick your fingers in each side and gently push the inside food towards the center (doing this always reminds me of the Chinese finger traps I played with as a kid!)
• Usually I make a double-batch of meat one night and use half for later in the week. The majority of time spent is dicing the meat and cooking it on the stove. If that's already done, you can do steps 4-10 in about 15 minutes.

The Importance of Choosing Safe Beauty Products

Image from safecosmetics.org

Have you ever checked the ingredients in those beauty products you use daily?  It's ok if you haven't.  And if you have, you'll know just how difficult it is to make sense of the jargon on the back.  Who's ever heard of retinyl acetate anyway?  Turns out it's a deadly chemical found in moisturizers that use a synthetic to replicate vitamin A, causing extreme reproductive harm.  Large production companies use words unfamiliar to us to mask the words that we do know, like formaldehyde, carcinogen, etc. Even if we don't know the exact harm in these chemicals, we know that they should be avoided at all costs.  The problem, as described below in the video, is that there's very little regulation on cosmetics.  It's becoming more and more difficult to detect harmful chemicals as more products are using them.

Below is a video by Annie Leonard, a well-known environmentalist now heading Greenpeace USA, titled the Story of Cosmetics based off her series, the Story of Stuff.  With the use of animation, she describes how we are exposed to high levels of toxic chemicals and why nothing has been done about this.

For further information you can visit the site she mentioned in her video, safecosmetics.org, that has printables of hazardous chemicals to avoid in products like shampoo and sunscreen.  If you'd like to see if the current products you use are safe, EWG has a fantastic database of tens of thousands of health products reviewed.  The lower the rank, the safer the product.  I usually aim for products with an overall rating below 5, but each one has sub-categorical ranks that could be higher than the overall ranking.  For me, allergen-inducing ingredients are minor compared to those that have been linked to cancer.  And you'll likely have certain red-flag chemicals that take priority, too.  The next time you're at Target or Walgreens, you can shop smarter and choose safe hair and skincare products.

Listing Items on Whurl

Love vintage clothing at a discounted price? Ever heard of the app Whurl? No? Well, then hop on it!

Whurl is perhaps the best way to find affordable vintage items because there's a wide range of buyers and sellers that use the app. Unlike most marketplaces, the selection is catered to shoppers because they can post images of exactly what they're looking for, and sellers list items that match the description. Created  by Sam just a few years back, the app is already gaining popularity and used by instagram users elsielarson and ameliajetson.

Within the next few days, I'll be adding items from my closet for sale under the username 'darlingsarahd' (same as instagram). Please give them a look, you might see something you like :)

Update: Skirt Tutorial

I'm nearly done with the skirt for my friend! From here out, it should be about 5 more hours. I usually lean towards A-line skirts with a gathered or pleated waist, but this straight skirt was so simple and fast I'll definitely make a few for myself. But that's a project for another day.

I hope to finish the tutorial post by the end of the month, but there sure is a lot of detailing left to be done. 

Rice-Krispie Hearts

Today is officially the first day of February, the month of "I love you"s and red and pink everything. Whether you love Valentine's Day or absolutely despise it, we all love seeing aisles at the grocery stores stocked with heart-shaped chocolates and candies. Valentine's Day is a day of love, and part of that love definitely includes sweets! In this post, you'll find a recipe for making some goodies of your own - heart shaped rice krispie treats.

Total time: about 20 minutes

Makes approximately 10 hearts (palm-size) or 15 mini-hearts

What you'll need:

• approx 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 10oz bag mini marshmallows
• red food coloring (optional)
• 4 cups rice krispies cereal
• wax paper
• heart cookie cutter (optional)

Recipe:

1. In a large pot, melt butter on medium heat. Be sure to spread the butter around to line the entire inside, including the walls of the pan. 
2. Add marshmallows. Once added, continue to mix the marshmallows constantly. Do not let the marshmallows sit still for longer than 10 seconds, they will burn!
3. Once the marshmallows are almost entirely melted to a liquid, turn off the stove. If you're using an electric burner, take the pot off the burner.
4. Add in food coloring until getting the desired color. It will take a lot of drops to get red!
   Or, if you'd like various-colored hearts, split the batch into 3 separate bowls. Add food coloring to two of the three bowls, one red and one pink. Leave the last bowl white.
5. Add in the rice krispies cereal, one cup at a time. Stir until evenly mixed.
6. Line a plate or cookie sheet with wax paper to place the finished treats onto. 
7. To make heart shapes, you can either use a cookie-cutter to mold, or if you're like me and don't have one, you can use your hands. Before taking the marshmallow/rice krispies mixture out of the pot, wet your hands with water-- believe me, this will help greatly! This prevents the marshmallows from sticking to your fingers and makes it much easier to shape.
8. To harden the marshmallows, place them in the fridge. Take them out to "thaw" 10 minutes before enjoying.

Tips:

• You'll probably have to wet your hands after shaping every other one. I suggest working close to a sink or have a bowl of water nearby.