Jon's Cooking Corner

Thought I'd share a recipe I saw on the news about a week ago. It's really simple, cost effective and I just learned it was as delicious as expected. Here goes:

Chicken Burrito Bundles
6 flour tortillas

2 cups of cooked chicken, chopped

1 pkg taco seasoning

1 can of refried beans

shredded cheese

diced tomato and onion

optional ingredients: jalapenos, salsa, green pepper

Combine chicken and taco seasoning in a plastic bag and shake well. Spread beans in the center of the tortillas. Top with seasoned chicken and cheese. Sprinkle tomato and onions on top and any optional ingredients you wish. Fold tortillas burrito style and wrap in foil. Place in a 350 degree oven for 15mins.

The recipe showed the burritos topped with extra cheese and salsa. I didn't do either this time. I just added my jalapenos afterwards in case my taste testers couldn't handle the heat. Next time I think they'll go right in so they don't fall off. Besides taste, the best thing about this recipe is that there is almost no clean up. I grilled the chicken and shook it ahead of time so the total prep time today was only about 15 mins plus 15 for cooking. Let me know if you try it and if you like it.

In other news, I drove one of the vans down to Grinnell for the UD cross country team yesterday. It gave me the chance to cheer, take pictures, and see mom and dad for a couple hours. Plus, I got a free lunch. My former roommate Matt drove down from Waterloo, IA to see the guys run and take pictures also. I also ran into a former high school friend who now goes to Truman State in Kirksville, MO. She went home for the weekend to see her parents and they all came to the meet to see her roommate run for Truman. Everyone got a little wet near the end of the men's race, but it was a good meet overall. The UD men's team beat Buena Vista University and Indian Hills Community College and the women beat BVU as well. Next weeks meet will be at nearby Memorial Park in Platteville, WI. I should be able to sneak up there to catch both races before work.

The men's football team was at #24 ranked University of Redlands in Redlands, CA this week. Dubuque received a beating similar to the one they put on Rockford College last week with a final score of 46-9.

I've got the Bears game on pause right now so as soon as that's done, I've got a lesson plan to do for tomorrow. Hope all is well with everyone else!

Shot of the week:

Rest of the pictures

UD Kicks Off 2008 Football Season

It was a gorgeous night for football in Dubuque on Saturday. The Spartans played host to the Rockford Regents under the lights for the first game on the brand new artificial surface of Chalmers Field and the first night game in UD history. The stands were full and there was a lot of excitement for the beginning of this season. Dubuque skunked Rockford last year by a score of 38-0. This year the Spartans kept the tradition alive by whooping up on Rockford 49-7.
I could only stay for the first half of the game before heading back to work the late shift, but I was impressed with what I saw. Very few mistakes from either team and a lot of action and thrills for those on the Dubuque side. The facilities were impressive as well. The scoreboard was my favorite component of the stadium. The graphics on it were amazing. They even played a clip from the movie 300 when the Spartans came onto the field before the game. (300, if you aren't aware, is a recent film about the Battle of Thermopylae, where 300 Spartans (plus volunteers) held their ground despite being far outnumbered by the Persian enemy.) I couldn't believe how fast everything came together for the stadium and wellness center. There is still more work to be done on the indoor facility however.

After the game there was a fireworks display, which I heard was quite a show. UD sure knows how to wow the crowd! I wouldn't count on this for every home game though. We had fireworks for last year's homecoming and I'm hoping we can keep that tradition. One of the fraternities on campus owns a cannon, which was not in attendance last night because it was being restored. But once completed, it is my understanding that this will be fired after every UD touchdown.

Read the Press Release

See the rest of the Photos

Photos taken by Kevin Bradford

UD Aviation Accident

Hey everyone,

I'm not sure how far the news traveled, but I wanted to let everyone know that there was an aircraft accident yesterday afternoon involving two University of Dubuque flight students. Fortunately, I was not involved, but my friend and former cross country teammate was one of the pilots. Right now the two gentlemen are still in critical condition at the University of Wisconsin Hospitals in Madison, WI. I first learned about the accident from my former roommate who got a call from his former student who was at the flight center. From then on, all details were provided by the local news. I don't have any insight into the cause of the crash, but a full NTSB investigation will be taking place. If you want to read the news and press releases here are a list of sites with coverage. Just wanted to let everyone know that I'm ok.

http://www.dbq.edu/

http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/27828634.html

http://www.thonline.com/article.cfm?id=214675