Salsa

I would love to say I didn't get this on pinterest...but  I can't...because I did...and I love it.  I REALLY like this salsa because it tastes like the salsa you would get in a little hole in the wall Mexican restaurant.  My jalapeno should have been stronger, but I will absolutely not change anything next time...okay, who am I kidding?  I might play around with it...  The great news is I will absolutely make this again.  It honestly took me 5 minutes.  Nothing is cooked.  Everything is just thrown in and chopped up.  AMAZING!

Ingredients:
1 (14oz) Can diced tomatoes (with the juice...do not drain)
1 (10 oz) Can Rotel (original or hot)
1/2 Small yellow onion (I did on the small side of a half...)
1 Big garlic clove (must be fresh, not powder)
1 Jalapeno (I will do 2 next time)
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cumin
Small handful cilantro (fresh!!!)
1 lime's juice

Directions:
*Get a food processor or blender out.  Food processor is better, but a blender will work okay too.

*Pour your tomatoes into the processor and mix.  Pour the sauce into a bigger bowl.

*Blend up your rotel next, then place into the bigger bowl with the blended up tomatoes.

*Cut your onion into smaller pieces.  Put it into the food processor and blend.  Pour into big bowl.

*Put your jalapeno, cilanto, and garlic into the food processor and mix it up.  Put into bowl.

*Pour the honey, salt, cumin, and lime juice into the big bowl.  Mix it all up.

*Eat.  SO SO SO Good!

NOTE:  Next time I will either add a second jalapeno (taste test it first.  The one I used today had NO spice to it at all.  SO mild.  I needed a bit more spice.).  If I don't add another jalapeno I will add 1/2 a can of green chili's to it to spice it up.  YUM!

Flour Tortillas

I LOVE it when you go to a Mexican restaurant and they bring you butter and tortillas.  They are delicious.  The problem is when you crave them at home.  Store bought tortillas don't taste very good, especially when you simply role them up with a bit of melted butter.  Gross.  I informed Nick that it bothered me how simple of a snack it is, yet it is impossible to have the fresh taste like the restaurant one's.  An hour later we had fresh, homemade tortillas.  It didn't take Nick but a minute or two to look up a chewy type version online.  They were really easy to make and took about 45 minutes.  We have made them 3 times since our first time now and they get easier to make each time.  We served them to family who are in town last weekend with white trash dip and boy was it a hit!  Hope you love them as much as we do!!!

Ingredients:
2 Cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
3/4 Cup lukewarm milk

Directions:
*In a large bowl, mix the flour and baking powder together.

*Add the oil and salt to the warm milk and mix well.

*Slowly mix the milk mixture into the flour mixture.

*Work it into a dough, it will be sticky...

*Pour some flour onto your counter.  Spread it out.

*Put your dough onto the counter and knead it.  (Kneading dough is where you take your hands and put them into fists.  Now push your fists from the center of the dough out.  Rotate where you are and continue to push out the dough.  Then grab the dough and fold it over onto itself...if you don't understand this, google how to knead...  ;)  Its a fold and press sort of motion...

*The stickyness will be gone mostly now (after kneading).  Put the dough back in the bowl after you have kneaded it for about 2 minutes.

*Cover the dough with a damp cloth.

*Let sit for 15 minutes covered.  It will not rise, but it needs to sit for 15 minutes covered.

*Divide your dough into 8 equal sized balls.  Set them apart from one another so they are not touching.  Cover them with a kitchen towel.

*Let them sit covered for 20 minutes.

*After 20 minutes, place a bit more flour onto your counter.

*Take a rolling pin and roll each dough ball into a 7 inch square.

*Turn a pan on the stove onto medium heat.

*Do not spray it with baking spray, it won't stick...

*Cook the tortilla in the pan for about 30 seconds on each side.  They blister on each side when the side is cooked.

*After cooking each side for 30 seconds, place it onto a plate.  Cook the rest of the tortillas the same way.  Enjoy!

Mexican Meatloaf

While browsing facebook yesterday I saw a post on my friend Shanda's wall.  "Mexican meatloaf....dinner...."  Wait, what?  I LOVE meatloaf...and I LOVE anything Mexican!  I had never heard of this thing before and I was super curious to find out what it was!  I instantly asked her about it and for the recipe!  She gave it to me and I made it for dinner tonight...and I will probably make it again next week...and the week after... okay, okay maybe not every single week...but you get the point!  SO GOOD!

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1 Egg
1/2 Onion
1/2 Green pepper
1 Pkg taco seasoning
1 Handful of crushed tortilla chips (about 1/3 of a cup of crushed pieces)
1/2 Cup or so of Salsa
1/2 Cup or so of shredded cheese

Directions:
*Cut your green pepper and onion into tiny pieces.

*Add your onions and pepper pieces into the beef mixture in a large bowl.

*Add the taco seasoning and the egg to the meat.  Mix well.

*Add your crushed tortilla chips and mix well.

*Spray a meatloaf pan down with baking spray.

*Add your meat mixture to the pan and push it down a bit to form your "meatloaf."

*Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350*F for 45 minutes.

*Once it is cooked, add  the cheese and salsa to the top.  So yummy!!!!!!!!!

Taco Cornbread Bake

My friend Misty made this recipe and said how yummy it was on her facebook wall.  Of course, I had to google it and look it up.  HOLY yum!  We had it for dinner tonight and really liked it!  The cornbread topping was awesome because it was a sweet flavor on top of the spicy mexican under layers.  Loved this one!

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1 Packet of taco seasoning
1/3 Cup water
1 Can of Rotel, drained
1 Can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 Can corn, drained
1 Box Jiffy cornbread (plus the ingredients called for on the package)
1 - 1 1/2 Cups shredded cheese
Salsa and sour cream to top it off

Directions:
*In a pan, cook your ground beef on top of the stove.  Then drain the juices/fat out.

*Put your taco seasoning and water into the cooked and drained beef.  Stir well.  Simmer/cook for 2-3 minutes.

*Pour your beans, Rotel, and corn into the ground beef mixture.  Stir it up well.

*Add half of your cheese to the meat mixture.  Stir it up.

*Spray a square baking dish down with cooking spray.

*Turn your oven on to 400*F.

*Make your Jiffy according to the package.  (Mine called for one egg and 1/3 a cup of water.  I let it sit a couple of minutes, then stirred it up again.)

*Pour your meat mixture into the baking dish.  Pour the cornbread on top of the meat mixture.

*Place dish into your oven and bake for 20 minutes.

*After the 20 minutes, pull it out and top it with the remaining cheese.

*Put back in the oven for 2-4 minutes until the cheese has melted.

Be careful, it is really really hot to the touch when it comes out of the oven!  Top it with sour cream and salsa. Enjoy!

Burrito Bowl

The other night I was dying for some Chipotle Mexican food... This was easy and I'm sure any of you would have come up with it on your own.  BUT, I feel guilty for not posting in so long so I will just go ahead and post this so you don't all feel left out!  Oh, and 1500 views on the blog isn't too shabby!  Thanks guys!

Ingredients:
2 Cups fast cooking white rice
1 Cup frozen rice
1 Can black beans
2 Chicken breasts
1/2 Cup shredded cheese
1/4 Cup sour cream
1/4 Cup salsa
Dash of lime juice (if you have it)
Dash of salt

Directions:
*In a pot, cook your instant cook white rice.  You can make more or less than the 2 cups if you want...

*Cut your chicken in halves.  Put into a skillet with a drop or two of oil.  Turn onto medium heat.

*Open your can of black beans and rinse them all off.  Put into a bowl and microwave them, or put them into a pot and cook with a drop of water (so they don't burn).  Just heat them up however you want.

*Cook the corn however you want too, pot or dish...

*Cook your chicken through.  Once it is fully cooked pull it out.  Take two forks and shred it by pulling it apart.  Put back into the skillet onto low heat to keep it warm.

*If you want to add some lime juice and salt to your rice you can (chipotle and Qdoba use this in their rice...along with cilantro, but I didn't have any of that!)

*Put your rice on a plate.  Put the chicken on top of the rice, then the corn, then black beans, salsa, cheese, and finally sour cream.  YUMMY!

Taco Soup

This "soup" is more like mexican chili  :)    My husbands family made it growing up and then we started making it once we moved in together in college (and have been making it ever since!).  There are TONS of different ways to make this, and if you leave out one of the ingredients it is still super tasty.  That's why I love this, you can change it every single time you make it and it still sort of tastes the same!  I have left out a can of beans or two before, and once we went to a cabin for the weekend and I forgot to bring the taco seasoning and ranch mix and it STILL TASTED DELICIOUS!  Oh, and if your a terrible cook, you can make this and seem like a genius!

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1 pkg ranch mix (found by the salad dressings)
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 can corn (white corn if you have it) (juices drained)
1-2 cans light kidney beans (juices drained)
1-2 cans dark kidney beans (juices drained)
1 can rotel (original works best, do NOT drain juices)
1 can green chili's (undrained)
1 (25-29 oz) can crushed tomatoes (undrained)
1 medium sized can tomato sauce
2 cans Bush's chili beans (undrained)

Directions:
*Cook meat in a skillet on the stove until cooked through.

*Add all the ingredients into a big pot on the stove.

*Cook on medium heat about 7-10 minutes until heated through.

*Yup, its that easy and its SO good!  We serve ours with sour cream and shredded cheese on top!

NOTE:  Since its quite spicy for a baby, simply put the taco soup into a strainer, then run water over it to take the spice off.  The little chum's are left with all the yummy inside pieces without too much spice.  Wyatt loved it!

Skillet Tex-Mex

A few months ago I bought a bunch of old cookbook magazines.  In one of them was this recipe...well the basic recipe, before I got ahold of it.  I don't know what it is, but I always change them up.  Anyways, here is what we had...and it was delicious!

Ingredients:
3 Chicken breasts
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 Cups corn, frozen
1 Can Bush's chili beans, undrained
1 Can Rotel, undrained
2 Cups broken up tortilla chips
1/2 Cup water
1 1/2 Cheese
1 Can black beans, rinsed, if you want them

Directions:
*Cut up your chicken into bite sized pieces.

*Put chicken into a skillet with 2 tbsp's oil.  Put the garlic powder on top of it.

*Cook the chicken until it is done.

*Add the corn, water (if your chicken is watery, use less than 1/2 cup water), beans, and Rotel.

*Cover your skillet and cook on medium for 8-10 minutes.

*Put your cheese and tortilla chips into the skillet and mix until cheese is melted, and chips go soggy.

*Serve with salsa, chips, sour cream, and any other toppings you like!

Mandy's Mexican Macaroni

My cousin-in-law (hmmm...not sure if that's correct terminology, but I like it) gave me this recipe earlier this week.  I had everything in the pantry which made for a really easy, and delicious, meal.  I wasn't sure what to expect, and was pleasantly surprised that it had a creamy taco flavor!  SO good!!!  This is a definite make again!  Hope you guys like it!

Ingredients:

8 Ounce box of shell pasta (I only had mini bow tie's so I used them instead...about 1/2-3/4 a box)

2 8 ounce cans of tomato sauce (or 1 15 ounce can plus 2 Tbsp's water)

1 Pkg taco seasoning

1 lb ground beef

1 Block of cream cheese

1.5 Cups sour cream (one of the bigger tubs)

2 Cups sharp cheddar shredded cheese (one of the smaller bags of shredded cheese)

Directions:

*Cook your ground beef in a skillet.

*Drain oil once it is cooked.  Pour tomato sauce and taco seasoning onto the meat.  Stir well, then simmer for 20 minutes.

*While your meat and sauce is simmering, cook your pasta according to the directions on the package.

*Spray a 9x13 pan down with cooking spray.

*Drain your pasta once it is cooked, then pour it onto the bottom of the baking dish.

*In a small bowl, mix the sour cream and cream cheese with a whisk until smooth.

*Pour the cream cheese mixture by dollups onto the pasta.

*Spread the cream cheese mixture evenly over your pasta.

*Now pour your meat mixture over the top of the cream cheese.  Layer it evenly also.

*Pre-heat your oven to 375*F.

*Sprinkle your shredded cheese over the top of the meat layer.

*Bake for 30 minutes in the oven being careful the cheese doesn't burn during the last 5-10 minutes.  

*Let cool for a few minutes before serving!

*It passed the baby test too!

Ground Beef Burritos

These were made in about 5 minutes!  They were so easy I had to post the recipe.  Of course, its one of my husbands...he's so good at just making up recipes.  YUM!

Ingredients:
3/4 lb ground beef or 1 lb
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 Can refried beans
Taco or burrito tortillas
Toppings you like (sour cream, shredded cheese, queso, lettuce, tomatoes, salsa...)

Directions:
*Cook the ground beef in a skillet on top of stove until cooked.

*Pour the taco seasoning onto the meat and add about 2 tablespoons of water.  Stir well.

*Add the can of refried beans to the meat mixture and mix well.  Heat until the mixture is hot.

*Put you meat mixture onto a tortilla and serve with your favorite toppings.

(We asked Cooper, who is 3 1/2 if he liked it and he said it was DE-licious.  Haha!)