Melissa is back, working her way through fast food…one item at a time!

With Christmas staring me in the face, the last thing I want to do is cook dinner. But let’s be honest. It really doesn’t matter what time of year it is. Cooking is never high on my priority list. Because of this, my three year-old thinks that cereal is a breakfast, lunch and dinner meal.

When the mood hits me and I actually ask him what he wants for dinner he almost always replies, “Lucky Charms with milk in a bowl.” Unless he wants to eat in the living room and watch cartoons. Then he gets no milk because it eventually ends up on my carpet. Or he wanders away at some point and the dogs leap in to lap it up before he returns. Then I have to deal with a whole big crying mess. “Mooooooommmmmyyyyy, Boozer drank my milk!” (Yes, we have a dog named Boozer.) I have to discipline the dogs, go get more milk and sit there to make sure they don’t get to it again before he can finish. It gets annoying. There are so many other things I would rather do besides watch my kid eat a bowl of cereal. Like Facebook. Or read a magazine. Or stuff my face with Oreos while hiding out in the pantry so I don’t have to share with anyone. Mother of the Year I am not.

But back to the point. I don’t enjoy cooking. So, with Christmas right around the corner and visions of ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole and my Uncle Andy’s jalapeno cornbread stuffing dancing in my head, I am not about to go to the grocery store and waste precious “leftover storage space” in my fridge. So….we eat out. A lot.

Tonight we hit the drive-thru at Taco Bell, possibly the furthest thing from your typical holiday meal. By eating at places like Taco Bell, I am throwing caution to the wind and risking the possibility of things like food poisoning, tummy troubles and excruciating heart burn. But the risk is totally worth it. The combination of refried beans, gooey cheese, mountains of sour cream and flour tortillas gets my heart racing. I love me some Taco Bell! In fact, in college my roommate and I lived on Enchiritos one year. Not only were they were delicious, but they only cost 99 cents. And we could some serious damage with $3.

On tonight’s menu was the new Chicken Enchilada Grilled Stuft Burrito. Here’s the low-down:

Overall taste: 9

Taco Bell didn’t disappoint. This new burrito was packed full with beans, cheese, chicken, rice, sour cream and a really great sauce. Not a bite was taken where I didn’t get a little bit of everything. In fact, it was a bit too full. I made a real mess as I got deeper into it. I’m glad I didn’t try to eat this one in my car. I would have totally ended up in a wreck. And no burrito is worth a $5,000 deductible.

Visual Appeal: 7

Before taking a bite it looked pretty. All wrapped up in a neat little flour tortilla pouch. But after one bite, the inside came spilling out and it was a complete mess. Definitely not picture-worthy. I liken its appearance to an episode of True Blood. But instead of blood, there were refried beans. I finally gave up and ate the last part with a fork. Don’t eat this burrito if you’re trying to keep clean.

Health Rating: 3

After finishing I took a look at the Taco Bell website to check out its health rating. Yeesh! Wrapped up in all that deliciousness were a lot of calories, fat and sodium. I did learn that the sour cream was reduced-fat. So I guess it could have been worse.

After Effects:

None to speak of so far. But I’ve got my Tums and Pepcid A/C on stand-by.

Would you eat it again?

Yep. Although it doesn’t hold a candle to Uncle Andy’s jalapeno stuffing, I thoroughly enjoyed the Chicken Enchilada Grilled Stuft Burrito. I will definitely order this one again. It filled me up and didn’t cost a fortune. I got chips and a drink with it for less than $6. Not too shabby…especially since I busted my budget on my annual holiday alcohol supply.