Before you write us off as totally bonkers here at surreyKitchen, let me first explain why my husband decided that it would be a good idea to purchase a pet locator for our beloved cat Miles.

To say 2014 has been a trying year for us would be an understatement.  So you’ll have to forgive my husband for becoming a little bit paranoid about something bad happening to Miles.

The pet locator will be known as cat nav for the remainder of this post.  Miles is far too busy sleeping and sitting in his collection of cardboard boxes to deal with any kind of lawsuit against him.

Cat nav claims to help you keep track of and locate your cat, within a range of up to 400ft. Cat nav supposedly gives owners peace of mind and even saves the lives of cats.  The gadget consists of a small tag that can be attached to your pets collar.

I was initially dubious about my husband’s purchase as we have never managed to keep a collar on Miles for more than a day.  Both of us grew up with dogs rather than cats and therefore know how easy it is to outsmart a dog.  Since rescuing Miles from Battersea Cats and Dogs home two and a half years ago we have learnt the hard way that in the battle between owner and cat, the cat always wins.

So for the rest of the story I will hand over to Miles for his very first guest blog.

Miles: 22:00:  Cat Nav installed by the white idiots I am forced to live with who continue to exploit me as the face of their pointless blog surreyKitchen.  The only positive is that you get to view my handsome face and graceful form.

22:00-01:00:  Toy with the white idiots by continuing with my hectic schedule of sleeping.

01:00:  Proceed with uninstalling cat nav.  Thank God they are too stupid to ever work out how to lock the cat flap!

03:00:  I can not tell you how I uninstalled the cat nav or where I disposed of the new collar for fear the white idiots might find it and repeat this whole futile saga again.  They may have five degrees between them, but I will not fall for this trickery of revealing the location of my crime scene by being given this chance to guest blog.

05:30:  The male of the two white idiots fires up the global satellite/high frequency radio tracking network. And……………………………………………………………………………………………

NOTHING!

05:45:  Enjoy watching the white idiot wander round my garden in his dressing gown with the stupid beepy – flashy controller.  I know it was his idea anyway.

06:00:  Beat tale and wait for breakfast with smug grin plastered across my face.  She will still love me even if he doesn’t anymore!

Miles: 7009

The White Idiots : 0

After two and a half years you would think they would have learnt by now wouldn’t you?

 

 

Emma: While dogs have parks cats have safely conquered the internet, with a new cat star being born every day.  My personal favourite being Henri, Le Chat Noir who never fails to make me smile when I am having a bad day.  This is probably because I share Henri’s interminable sense of ennui and also because he is a dead ringer for our Miles.  I’m sure a lot of you out there have already discovered Henri, but if not then check out Henri 4, L’Haunting.  Enjoy!

 

So in order to placate my irate husband I made his favourite chicken burritos.

Emma’s Burrito’s

The street food revolution here in the U.K has grown out of the farmers market movement and the recent recession.  At a time when people are cutting back on their restaurant spending, a van serving inexpensive lunches and dinners is an easy win with the public.

Street food is very now with Mexivan’s popping up on every corner of London.  There is even a Burrito stand now in Epsom town centre every week day, which I would highly recommend.  If you want to recreate this fresh, tasty and value for money Burrito trend at home then follow my quick and simple recipe below.

Ingredients:

2 cloves garlic finely chopped

1 chili finely chopped

1 red onion

1 red pepper

Olive oil

2 chicken breasts

1 sachet mexican seasoning

1 tin of black beans

Uncle Ben’s Special Spicy Mexican Rice

4 tortillas

Guacamole, Sour Cream, Grated Cheese to serve.

 

Method:

1) Finely chop garlic, chill and red onion.

2) Add a glug of oil to a deep frying pan.  Fry onion, garlic and chili until they soften.

3) Slice chicken and red pepper into strips and add to the frying pan.

4) Add the sachet of Mexican seasoning and use a spatula to keep turning the chicken.

5) Boil 30 ml water, add the Uncle Ben’s rice and simmer for three minutes.  Stir through for a perfect finish.

6) When the chicken is cooked, add the rice and black beans to the pan and stir together.  Cook for 2-3 minutes.

7) Warm tortillas in oven then serve.

8) Fill with chicken rice and beans, fold tortilla and serve with guacamole, sour cream and grated cheese.  Delicious!