The Bachelorette and her two little fellas.

Yet another Jasper free day (only that's a sad thing :() but we tried to keep ourselves busy without Dad around.

So to have to adult time I invited a couple of new friends over with their kiddos to play. Except for Kai bopping one of the boys on the head with his sword once, the kids had a great time, and pretty much kept to themselves. YAY! We Mom's enjoyed a Cafe Rio experience in the comforts of my humble Washington State home.

Oh, Holly, do they have a Cafe Rio out there in Washington, you ask? Oh no, but there are copy cat recipes online that are pretty doggone close to the real thing. Two nights ago I finally made my own Cafe Rio Pork Salad with their Creamy cilantro lime dressing! SO GOOD! I just HAD to share it with my friends! They were in heaven too! Mission accomplished. And per their very adamant requests here are the recipes I used to create my comfort food:

One gal even bought little disposable cake tins to get the full experience from home. Log that away...

CAFE RIO CILANTRO DRESSING

1 1/3 cups sour cream
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 bunch of cilantro
1 package ranch dressing mix
4 tbsp. salsa verde (green salsa)
2 cloves of garlic
1/8 tsp. Tabasco sauce
juice of one lime

Mix together in the blender... and that's it!

*Holly: I combined the first five ingredients from the 1st recipe and added the ingredients from the 2nd one once the roast was pull apart ready. Use the Dr. Pepper. I read on one of the comments that they saw them pouring it into the pork at Café Rio. It really kicks it up a notch.

SWEET PORK LIKE CAFE RIO

2 1/2 pounds pork
1/3 cup water
1/8 tsp garlic salt
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 cup green chili sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar

1. Put pork, 1/3 cup water, garlic salt, salt, and pepper, in the crock pot.
2. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours.
3. Drain (Holly: I didn’t drain mine and it was fine), shred pork, stir in 1/2 cup green chili sauce and 1/2 cup brown sugar.


CAFE RIO PORK (copycat recipe)

Slow cook your pork roast in a crock pot with garlic and a little water until you can pull it apart. At that point add the following

1 can diced green chilis
1 to 2 cans of medium or hot enchilada sauce (the red stuff), 1 can of either Dr. Pepper or Coke (I use Dr. Pepper)
At least 1 cup of brown sugar; salt to taste.

*Holly: One review on the rice said to cut back on the lime and add more later. She said it was too overpowering. I followed the recipe and thought it was fine.

CILANTRO-LIME RICE

1 cup uncooked rice
1 teaspoon butter or margarine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon lime zest
1 can (15 oz) chicken broth
1 1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
3 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro

In a saucepan combine rice, butter, garlic, lime peel, chicken broth and water. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook 15-20 minutes, until rice is tender. Remove from heat. In a small bowl combine lime juice, sugar and cilantro. Pour over hot cooked rice.

BLACK BEANS

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/3 cup tomato juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro

In a nonstick skillet, cook garlic and cumin in olive oil over medium heat until you can smell it. Add beans, tomato juice, and salt. Continually stir until heated through. Just before serving stir in the cilantro.

*Holly: If you don’t have tomato juice, but use tomato sauce, I would use a little less salt or at least me careful. Ours turned out a little too salty that way. It was fine in the salad though.