Tags
cat nav, Chicken burrito, Emma's Burritos, Henri le Chat Noir, Mexican, Miles, pet locator, Street food, SurreyKitchen
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!
I love Miles humorous writing style, he is one clever cat. On a more sombre note I am sad to hear how extremely tough a year 2013 was for you and your husband. That’s a huge amount to deal with. Take care. x
Thank you for your kind words. We are managing to muddle through in our own way. Hopefully 2015 will be a brighter year for all of us. Miles and his silly antics keep us smiling through the tough times. Emma x
Hopefully the next 12 months won’t be nearly as rough. Cats certainly to rule the house! Hubby is allergic so we won’t have anybody bossing us around, we have a dog. The burritos look great too. I love good street food!
We would love a dog, but we are both working all the time and I don’t think it is fair to leave a dog on its own all day at home. Hopefully one day when we have a family. Emma xx
We have pet locators for our cats as well! They seem to make it their life mission to destroy them though, I suspect they have secret cat business to attend to… Lovely looking burrito as well, I adore a bit of street food.
At least you’ve had some success keeping the pet locators on your cats. That’s an amazing success. My husband is very jealous. Miles is still very smug about the whole thing. Emma.
Go Miles, you clever kitty you! Us humans shudder in fear of the thought of you developing opposable thumbs for then you would take over the world!
Lovely burritos too Emma.
🙂 Mandy xo
I wouldn’t put world domination past Miles. He definitely rules our house. His antics have kept us smiling through all the difficult times this year. Emma xx
Miles – just stay at home! Great looking burritos Emma. Every time I visited my Emma, I’d have to pack sriracha and salsa for her. I hope Mexican food gains in popularity. It’s pretty darn good!
Mexican food is fantastic, so interesting to cook. I don’t see how it can not possibly gain in popularity here in the U.K. I have no idea what sriracha is? I would love to experience a Mexican in your house. I bet you are an expert Mimi! xx
I’m sorry to read you have had such a tough year – I had no idea how much had been going on and I only hope things are getting better for you. I know I can’t really say anything to help but just know that there are people thinking of you and sending you best wishes and hugs.
Miles is spectacular! What a clever cat, and I’m sure the intelligence displayed in removing and hiding the catnav will be put to equally good use in staying safely at home (why leave when he clearly has to make sure the white idiots behave and serve him properly?) 😉
Thank you for your kind words. Miles keeps us smiling through the tough times with all his cat antics. He’s made it very clear our soul purpose in life is serving him. Emma xx
It sounds like you’ve really been “put through the ringer.” I understand — i’ve been through that same ringer more than once. It’s hard. I’m glad you and Miles have each other, and are looking out for one another. Sending you sunshine-super-hugs!
Thank you for your kind words. Miles keeps us smiling through the difficult times. Take care.
My clever cat (Franklin!) would work hard to get a navigation device removed as well 🙂 Frustrating but so cute!! 🙂
Cats are just far too cunning for me. I am too used to dogs. I’m glad you enjoyed the post.
Those burritos provide a delicious end to a perfect day of ennui 🙂
They do indeed. Burritos never fail to cheer up my husband and myself. Take care.
Sorry to hear about all your trials! I love the cat nav. Hugs! xo
Thanks Kim. I hope things are going better for you guys in LA.