Time for me to vent. But what else do I do on this blog? It’s my diary. With other people reading it. Ya creeps.
I’m kidding. Don’t go getting all emotional on me, I’m already a sh*t show.
It’s be a tough couple past days. On Saturday morning, we began landscaping on our property. We had a giant tree in the front yard that needed to come down before something like lightning struck and it came through our house. And we needed to have our entire back yard property line of bushes come out as well. All so we can put a fence up and begin to make our house look like we give a damn. I left for the gym as they began cutting down the tree in our front yard so when I came home to a flooded laundry room in our basement, I began the juggling game: dealing with the landscaping while trying to solve the plumbing issue myself. After nothing worked, since well I know absolutely nothing about plumbing, I called up a plumber and he came to roto rooter or whatever the hell it’s called.
He instantly knew something wasn’t right and called for a sewer scope. Boom, our sewer line had collapsed. Luckily it hadn’t collapsed completely that we had feces in our basement or some horror like that, but enough that the only way to solve the issue was to dig 8 feet deep and repair where the damage was done. You see, old Denver home sewer lines were built out of clay. Genius. And luckily the line went through a really convenient place: below our cement patio. So they began cutting and digging and after they fixed the small issue near the house, they scoped the rest of the line which went through the entire back yard and found what? More collapsed lines. Because, well, THEY’RE MADE OF F*CKING CLAY. So since they were already there, digging away, they asked us if we wanted them to do it all because this would all just happen again later on if it wasn’t replaced. We agreed and I went and sat on the toilet that I could not flush, to cry and cry.
We have our wedding coming up in less than a month, which we are paying for. And it’s tax season and since I own my own business, well you know how that goes. Perfect timing. We had been saving for the past year for the fence and some landscaping but no where in there were we prepared for a new sewer line. You know why? Because our contractor lied to us and even though he knew there were issues, he ignored them and told us nothing of the fact. What a terrible human being.
When sh*t like this happens, I have a real hard time turning on the positivity. Especially since I haven’t heard back from insurance yet and I am pmsing like a mother f*cker. Will insurance pay for it? I have absolutely no clue right now. I just know that we are freaking the f*ck out and I’m trying to not go off the deep end. Even though I remind myself how lucky we are to even own a home and have our health and get to marry each other in less than a month, IN JAMAICA, the money just has a much stronger voice and opinion in this situation. Especially since this could have been completely avoided before we moved in. Sorry for all the downer talk guys, it just sometimes hard to see the light when so many human beings are creating clouds.
But you know what doesn’t create clouds? TACOS! There is an amazing taco place in Denver that seriously has the best tacos I’ve ever had. And when we recently went there for date night a few weeks back, I decided to man up and try their lengua taco. I was scared and creeped out but it was totally amazing. This is where that taco was inspired from! Because when Yellowstone Beef sent me some slabs of meat, including a giant tongue, I was very intimidated…mostly creeped out. The taco place made me step up and own that beef tongue. Ew. Just try it, ok?
Lengua Loaded Tacos
- Yield: 3-4 1x
Ingredients
For the tomatillo salsa
- 1–2 tablespoons ghee
- 10 tomatillos
- 3 jalapeños
- 2 garlic cloves
- juice of 2 limes
- 1/3 cup packed cilantro
- salt, to taste
For the shredded beef
- 1 beef tongue
- 3 garlic cloves
- enough beef broth to cover
- 1/2 white onion, sliced
- salt, to taste
For the pineapple mayo*
- 1 cup mayo (homemade or store bought)
- 1/2 cup diced pineapple
- 2 tablespoons hot sauce
For the tacos
- Siete Foods Tortillas or homemade tortillas from Juli Bauer’s Paleo Cookbook
- avocado, sliced
- radishes, thinly sliced
- pineapple, cubed small
- cilantro, roughly chopped
- lime wedges
Instructions
- To help with time management on these, make your tomatillo salsa a day ahead so you don’t have to mess with it the day of. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil. Place tomatillos and jalapeños on the baking sheet. Use a brush to brush each pepper with a bit of ghee or coconut oil and then sprinkle with salt. Place in the oven to cook for 20-30 minutes, until charred on the outside. Let cool then run under cold water to help peel off and discard the skin and seeds of the jalapeños. Place all ingredients for the salsa in the food processor and blend until smooth. Place in the fridge to cool.
- Cut three deep holes in the beef tongue and press the garlic cloves in the holes. Place the tongue in the crockpot then cover with beef broth, onion and a healthy amount of salt. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours. Once cooked, remove from broth to let cool for a couple minutes then peel back the skin of the tongue with the tastebuds. Shred or chop (I did both) then set back in the broth to soak up more flavor while you finish other ingredients.
- Place all ingredients for the pineapple mayo into a blender and blend until completely smooth.
- Lastly, place a medium pan over medium heat. Once hot, add 1-2 tablespoons of ghee or coconut oil. Use a slotted spoon to remove the chopped and shredded tongue from the liquid and let it drain a bit (this will make sure that the tongue gets crispy in the pan) then place it in the pan in one single layer. Let cook for 2-3 minutes until browned and crispy on one side, then use a spatula to flip the meat to the other side and let cook for 1-2 more minutes, until crispy.
- Then build the tacos: tortilla, crispy tongue, tomatillo salsa, avocado slices, radishes, diced pineapple, pineapple mayo, and cilantro and freshly squeezed lime juice on top! Serve immediately!
Notes
*Pineapple mayo does not keep for very long. Use this in 2-3 days before discarding.
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You Need To Make These Too:
Street Fish Tacos on page 148 in Juli Bauer’s Paleo Cookbook
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this looks AMAZING. I LOVE LOVE LOVE lengua. I’m married to a Mexican so I kind of have to, but this is another way of preparing it that I never thought of (sticking garlic into holes inside… who’d have thunk). isn’t it so delicious?
sorry that you’re super stressed right now… having stuff quite literally implode around your house isn’t fun, and spending money on it sucks even more. you’ll get through it. just let it be big to you right now, and regain your positivity later 🙂
OH MY GOD…I had forgotten to check back on your blog for the past two days to hear why you had been having such a crappy time! Want to know why I had forgotten?? Oh, because I was at the doctor for a follow up of my sinus cat scan and bloodwork after getting THREE colds since January and having asthma-like symptoms since the first cold. This Tuesday, the doctor told me to get our house tested for MOLD because my bloodwork showed antibodies to MOLD!!! So, today we had the mold inspection on the house we bought in August 2015 and they basically told us the entire master bathroom needs to be demolished, treated for mold, and redone. SO…we are waiting on lab results from MOLD samples to come back Monday, then we get to try to file a claim and have the insurance company actually help us-which according to the internet is hard to do. I FEEL YOUR PAIN!! I am so furious and want to cry and run away and I hate everyone right now…I hope your house gets fixed asap and I hope you can put it all out of your mind so that you can fully enjoy your wedding!!
Hey….have you put an insurance claim in yet? There is a way to increase the payout. I will have to ask my husband what it is called. I know out in Colorado you guys get a lot of hail and the roofers all augment the claims the same way. Completely legal. Insurance companies just try to get it over on you. You should be able to get a check big enough to restore you to the way it should be. My husband and i went through this about 6 yrs ago when we bought our dream house….right after we closed we had to replace the whole roof, lots of electrical, termites like crazy, and then the WHOLE plumbing…it was a 1923 bungalow that we thought had been remodeled with permits..lol… dont stress! again call your insurance. the plumber may even take proceeds to do the work. ask him.
you had “black water” and check your policy for “Ordinance and Law”
insurance won’t cover it since it’s “outside the dwelling” 🙁
I’m so sorry about the mishaps in your home! I know for a fact that if you just keep grinding away and try to solve the problem, then everything will work out in the end, I swear 🙂 these tacos look absolutely DELICIOUS–they’re probably loaded with flavor and spice!
Man, I grew up in Colorado Springs and I remember getting days off from school because of a water pipe breaking. It was the best, like having a snow day without the annoying snow! When it’s in your house… not as much fun. Hope things start looking up soon!