Holy Guacamole!

Every year in August for as long as I can remember, the Greer clan as reunited in Sandbridge, Virginia for a week long family reunion filled with beach, booze and bocce. In honor of our Aussie cousins (who don't have many Mexican food establishments in Australia) we hold our annual Mexican night. This year had nearly 35 people, including cousins, significant others, cousins cousins, newly weds, a cat and a dog.  We have a taco dip, taco bar, beef and chicken tamales straight from Texas, salad, chipotle roll ups, empinadas, and the list goes on! My contribution this year was the guac.

What you need:

4 large ripe avocados

1 large tomato

garlic, minced

Juice from 2 limes

Salt and pepper for taste

Cut the avocados and put into a large bowl. Mix and mash until you get the consistency you like. I like to have chucks of avocado in mine, while Joe likes it more mashed up. Dice the tomato and add to the avocado. Add a table spoon of garlic, lime, salt and pepper. Stir and serve with your favorite chips!

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EASY Chicken and Black Bean Enchiladas

Previously, I made Turkey and Bean Enchilada Casserole, but this time I decided to make the real deal. I bought some red enchilada sauce at Trader Joe's and wanted to put it to use. These were SO easy and somewhat healthy.

You will need:

One bottle of Trader Joe's Enchilada Sauce

8 whole wheat tortillas

1 small can of diced green chili peppers

1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed

Mexican Cheese

One rotisserie chicken, shredded 

Combine chicken, beans, chilies, half the enchilada sauce and a handful of cheese in a large bowl. Mix until consistent. Fill each tortilla with the mixture and roll it up like a burrito. Place seam side down in the large, greased baking pan. Continue with the remaining tortillas. Top with the rest of the sauce and cheese. Bake covered for 30 minutes on 350. Then uncover and bake for an addition 10 minutes.

**Serve with Spanish rice and enjoy!


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Summer Bucket List: Margaritas!

My best friend Lauren came to visit this weekend for the Fourth of July and suggested we make Margaritas! How am I suppose to turn that down?!  We found Organic Agave Margarita Mix which was amazing. And we finally put our margarita glasses to use! CHEERS!

Turkey and Bean Enchilada Casserole

Ground turkey is the best substitute for lean ground beef. We have been using it for everything! You can get the health equivalent by simply purchasing extremely lean ground beef, but I think the turkey is a little bit cheaper, and tastes just the same!  For a delicious dinner a we made Enchilada Casserole. It's protein packed and super easy to make.

You will need:
1 lb ground beef
1 can pinto beans, drained
Shredded Mexican Cheese
about 6 corn tortillas
2 tablespoons of flour
Garlic powder
1 small tub of Sour cream
1 can enchilada sauce
1 can green chilies
Taco seasoning

Preheat oven to 350. Brown the turkey and drain. Mix in your desired amount of taco seasoning, beans, and green chili peppers. In a separate bowl, mix sour cream, flour and garlic powder. Place a few corn tortillas in one layer on the bottom of a greased casserole dish. Top with the meat and bean mixture, and then spread sour cream. Repeat layers again starting with the corn tortillas. Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Remove foil and top with cheese, bake for an additional 10 minutes of until cheese is melted.

**Serve with Saffron rice. Tastes just as soon left over!!

Mexican Casserole

My roommate and I have a slight Costco addiction. The issue here is that the produce must be consumed ASAP before everything spoils.  Trudy purchased about a dozen avocados the other day and we needed to eat them, so I decided to try out this mexican casserole. With a few minor substations I was able to make this a slight bit healthier than the average mexican casserole. 

You will need:

1 lb ground turkey

1 jar of salsa

1 can of refried black beans

1 packet of reduced sodium taco seasoning

1 avocado, sliced

1/2 green pepper, chopped

multigrain tortilla chips, smashed up

1 can of diced tomatoes

spinach leaves, chopped

1 small can of sliced black olives

mexican cheese, shredded

Preheat the oven to 350. In a large frying pan, cook the ground turkey and drain whatever little fat remains. Mix in refried beans, taco seasoning, and salsa.  In an ungreased casserole dish, layer tortilla chips and top with meat mixture. Layer on top of this the green pepper, black olives and half of the tomatoes. Then top with cheese.  Bake for 25 minutes or until cheese is melted. Take out of the oven and top with spinach leaves, more tomatoes, and avocado. Enjoy!!

**We used the left overs the next day to make nachos! Joe said they were the best he's ever had. The secret definitely is mixing the beans, salsa, and taco seasoning. mmmm mmm!!

Quinoa and Chicken Mexican Style

After a great work out at Meyer Fitness, I decided to cook something healthy tonight! My mom inspired me, and I purchased some quinoa. Not knowing how to cook this, or what goes well with it, I decided to wing it. For those of you who don't know how to cook quinoa it's very similar to cooking rice. Two parts liquid to one part quinoa.

You will need:

Grilled chicken strips

Quinoa (cooked)

black beans

tomato, diced

splash of lime juice

sprinkle of mexican cheese

diced green chili peppers

avocado

Mix first seven ingredients together, top with avocado, and enjoy!!!!!!

**THE INSPIRATION:  Last night for Mother's day, my mom made the best dinner ever!! I realize that I should have been cooking, but she is the bomb dot com when it comes to the kitchen. She made grilled chicken tenderloins (we love to marinate in caesar dressing), cucumber greek salad, and sautéed quinoa with some yummy veggies. It was AMAZING!  

Here is our yummy Mother's Day Dinner!

I think she incorporated chopped green peppers, chopped carrots, chopped shallots, and baked almond slices in the quinoa.  

The cucumber salad was diced cucumber, chopped black olives, halved cherry tomatoes, diced onion, feta, garlic salt, oregano, red wine vinegar, and olive oil. SOO GOOD! (But I didn't eat the onions)

Chicken Nachos

What kind of cheese is not yours?? NACHO CHEESE!

We had so much fun making our own nachos last night! I set it up as a "nacho buffet" where we could both pick our own toppings. We both built our nacho structures in two 9x9in casserole pans lined with tinfoil. Once the cheese melted, we transferred the nachos via tinfoil onto a plate for easier consumption. Plus, NO clean up, except for the crockpot. Here's how it goes...

Mexican Crockpot Chicken

4-6 chicken breasts

1 package taco seasoning

1 16oz jar of salsa

Combine all ingredients in the Crockpot and cook on Hi for 4-6 hours or Low for 6-8 hours. This was so yummy and the chicken can be used for tacos, nachos, quesadillas, or whatever other Mexican food your tummy desires.

Nachos

Tortilla Chips

Mexican Cheese

Jalapeños, sliced

Black Olives, sliced

Avocado, peeled and chopped

Salsa

Mexican Cheese

Black Beans

Crockpot Mexican Chicken

I don't think I really need to explain how to make nachos. Use whatever toppings you prefer, we just used what I already had in the refrigerator and pantry. EASY! Bake in the oven for a few minutes until the cheese is melted. I topped with salsa and avocado after we baked the nachos. 

My nachos are pictured above. Here is Joe's lovely concoction: Broiled, with extra cheese.