Cinco de Mayo!

Cinco de Mayo is this Sunday so we thought we would share our favorite Mexican recipes to make planning your celebration a little easier. We love Mexican food, after all its our culture...Well Kim's culture, I just married into it.

We hope you enjoy our round up of some of our favorites! Oh, and don't forget the margaritas! 

Fish Tacos

Chicken Enchiladas

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa with Jalapeño & Serrano Chiles

Easy Weeknight Chicken Taco's

Sopes with Red Chili & Chicken

Green Chile Chicken

Mexican Style Potato Skins

Green Chile Albondigas Soup

Bunuelo Strawberry Dessert Nachos with Nutella

 

Blood Orange Salad with Mint and Pistachios

 

Blood Orange Salad with Mint and Pistachios

Don’t you just love it when everything falls into place?  Was having the most difficult time trying to decide on a salad to make for guests and then I happened to receive a bag full of blood oranges…problem solved! 

These oranges are by far the most beautiful oranges I have ever seen.  They have beautiful color, so juicy, and taste so sweet.

Start off by removing the segments from the oranges. 

Cut the ends off of each orange.

Using a sharp knife cut the peeling off from the top to the bottom of each orange working all the way around the orange.

Remove the segments by cutting between the white membranes.  If you are making this salad for a crowd be sure to do this ahead of time.  Remove segments, cover, and refrigerate until you are ready to assemble the salad. Cut some oranges crosswise to garnish the salad.

Place greens, mint, blood orange segments, hearts of palm, red onion, feta, and pistachios in large mixing bowl. Lightly drizzle desired amount of dressing and toss.
 

Serve salad on platter and add additional orange segments, and pistachios. Delicious and refreshing!  

The mint really adds a fresh taste to this salad but remember a little goes a long way. I really like the taste so I used about 6 to 8 leaves.

 Ingredients

Organic Spring Mix

Mint (torn)

Blood orange segments

Hearts of palm sliced

Red onion, finely sliced

Crumbled Feta

Pistachios

California Harvest, Orange~Muscat Champagne Vinegar (any champagne vinegar dressing would work)

Green Chile Chicken



Green Chile Chicken

 

So instead of making chicken parmesan tonight I dare you to try this instead!  This green chile chicken takes a few steps but very similar to the same steps you take to make the usual chicken parmesan. So surprise your family and give them something new to try.  Once you do I know it will be a recipe you will want to come back and make again.
 

Start off by making this simple sauce and set aside. 

Ingredients for the sauce

2 T butter

1 1/2 T flour

1 C chicken broth

1/2 C sour cream

1 T chopped cilantro

Salt and pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a small saucepan on medium/low heat. Whisk in the flour. 

Slowly whisk in the chicken broth. Bring it to a slow simmer. Once it thickens a little gently whisk in the sour cream, and toss in the cilantro. Season with salt and pepper. Turn heat off and set aside.
 

Season chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. 

Dredge the chicken in flour, egg, and panko. 

Heat the oil over med/high heat and place the dredged chicken in the skillet and brown on both sides.  About three minutes on each side. Transfer to a cooling rack placed over a cookie sheet. 

Place a few spoonfuls of sauce on the chicken, then add the green chile, and top with the cheese.  Place in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes to finish cooking or until your chicken reaches the internal temperature of 165. I used THINLY SLICED chicken breasts which work great because it takes the step of pounding your chicken out and the thickness of the chicken cooks so evenly and quickly.

Garnish with cilantro and Enjoy!

Ingredients

 

5 thinly sliced chicken breasts
1 C Flour  

2 eggs

2 C Panko bread crumbs

2 T Canola oil (may need to add a little more when needed)

5 Hatch roasted whole green chiles (skin, seeds and stems removed), roasted poblano chile, or canned green chile.

Jack cheese slices

**This August don’t forget to find a market roasting up the Hatch green chiles from New Mexico and purchase a bag. Separate them in Zip Loc freezer bags and keep them in your freezer to use throughout the year. You won’t regret it!

 

Green Chile Albondigas Soup

 

Green Chile Albondigas Soup

 

I know it’s starting to warm up and summer is right around the corner and as I’m biting my tongue trying to say this there is a huge possibility that there is still a chance of April showers, there I said it! With that being said, this is where this soup comes in.  This soup is perfect on a cold day, rainy day, under the weather day, or just a day you feel like having a soothing bowl of soup.

 

In this soup I use ground turkey and the meatballs are so light, lean and tender and go so well with the green chile.

In a bowl combine the ground turkey, egg, rice, bread crumbs, salt, and pepper.

Roll into meatballs.

Bring the chicken broth to a soft boil and drop meatballs into broth. Add diced onion, tomatoes, green chile, and garlic. Lower heat to medium/low and simmer meatballs until rice is tender. Once the rice is tender add the shredded cabbage, cilantro, and salt to taste. 



The cabbage is so good in this soup.

Gently simmer for about ten minutes or until the cabbage is tender.  Be sure to cook the meatballs slowly, if they cook too fast they will not be tender.

 Delicious, quick, and easy! 

   

Ingredients:
 

1.25 lb. ground turkey

1 egg whisked

1/4 C white rice

1/4 C plain bread crumbs

Salt and pepper

48 oz chicken broth (I use low sodium)

2 garlic cloves minced

1 medium onion chopped

1-14 oz can diced tomatoes

4 oz of diced green chile (I used fresh roasted Hatch green chile which is quite spicy so I only added two tablespoons but if you are using the can add to taste)

8 oz shredded cabbage or about a 1/4 of a whole cabbage

1/2 bunch of roughly chopped cilantro

Strawberries with Marshmallow Crème

   

Strawberries with Marshmallow Crème

Strawberries are in season just in time for Valentine’s Day, is that a coincidence?  Either way they just seem to be the perfect match.

Here is a sweet treat to share with your loved ones on any special day.

Ingredients

1 Jar Kraft jet puffed marshmallow creme

1/4 C Sour cream

1/4 C Peach preserves

1/4 C Heath English toffee bits

Strawberries

Whisk together the marshmallow crème, peach preserves, and sour cream.  It’s not easy to whisk at first but it will loosen up, just have to put a little muscle into it.  Cover and chill overnight.

Mix in the toffee chips and serve with strawberries. XOXO

We love our strawberry fields! 

   

Mexican Style Potato Skins

Made Melba’s delicious Easy Weeknight Tacos, here's the link and had some chicken left over so I decided to make my kids an afterschool snack. My kids come home from school so hungry and they were so happy to come home to one of their favorite snacks.


Toss red and gold potatoes lightly with olive oil.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes or until tender. 

Remove from oven and slice each potato in half.  Scoop a little of the potato out but not all of it. 

Finely dice the chicken. Fill each potato half with a little chicken, sprinkle with diced green chile, cheese, and diced olives.

Fill each half with chicken, green chile, cheese, and olives

Place potatoes back in the oven and bake for about 10 minutes until cheese is melted and heated through.  Remove from oven and top with diced tomato, green onion, and cilantro serve with a side of sour cream.  All of these toppings were so good together but if you do not have something, just use what you have use your favorites. 

Yummy after school snack = Happy Kids

Options, yes I have another option ~ the chicken from Easy Weeknight Tacos would also be good to use for taquitos. Save yourself some time and throw in a few extra pieces of chicken and use in the taquitos another night during the week. (See "Kids Favorites" for Taquito recipe).

  

Ingredients

12 Red and gold potatoes

Finely diced cooked chicken

Diced black olives

Diced green chile

Shredded Mexican cheese blend

Optional Toppings

Diced tomato

Green onion

Cilantro

Sour cream

Easy Weeknight Chicken Taco's

It’s the start of a new week; everyone is back to the hustle and bustle of their work/school week. With homework, sports, work ect. things get crazy busy and we all run OutAThyme!

So, I thought I would share an easy, and I mean EASY weeknight dinner. A lot of my friends ask how do you manage to get a homemade meal on the table every night?  The answer is, because meals like this really save me. 

So check it out, your families will love these tacos. The best part about my Easy Weeknight Chicken Taco's is hearing my boys say throughout the whole meal, "These tacos are so good!"

EASY WEEKNIGHT CHICKEN TACOS

servings: 5           

Ingredients:

8 large boneless/skinless chicken thighs

1 14.5 oz. can Del Monte Petite Cut Tomatoes with Zesty Jalapenos 

Salt/Pepper to taste

My all time favorite staple in my pantry.

The toppings include:

Thinly sliced iceberg lettuce

Diced tomatoes

Avocado sliced

Cilantro
Sour cream

Hot sauce

Corn or flour tortillas

Directions:

In the morning place chicken thighs in the bowl of a crock pot, salt and pepper, pour one can of Del Monte Petite Cut tomatoes with Zesty Jalapenos right on top. Cover, set temp to low and get on with your day.

When you return in the evening remove chicken from the Crock pot letting juices run off, chop the chicken a little with a sharp knife ~ it won’t take much the chicken with be juicy and tender. Place in a serving dish.

Prepare all of the toppings. Heat up tortillas on the stove top (gas stove) or in the microwave, and dinner is served!