Guacamole Spice Mix

I love guacamole. I've been making it for a while now. A couple years ago when I started this blog I wanted to start making fresh guacamole and didn't quite know where to begin. After enlisting some help, I decided I didn't want to just use a regular mix packet from the grocery store like I did with my first attempts. So after some trial & error and extra help from my mom I think I've perfected my guacamole, for now.

Here's the recipe we use to make dry guacamole spice mix at home (it should make 10+ batches or 20 haas avocados worth of guacamole)


Ingredients For Mix:
3 tbsp of kosher salt or sea salt
2 tbsp of onion powder
2 tbsp of garlic powder
4 tbsp of ground cumin
2 tsp of cayenne pepper (or more if you want it more spicy)


Ingredients For Guacamole:
2 haas avocados
1 tbsp of above mix
1 tbsp of fresh minced garlic (if you love garlic like I do!)
1 tsp of lemon juice (optional)
1 tsp of lime juice (you can use more if you like, I don't like it so mushy)
1/2 cup of thinly diced red onion (use a food processor)

What do you think? Comments? Suggestions? I would love to know that you visited my blog. Please leave me a message letting me know you were here! Did you try out a recipe? Let me know! I would love to hear from you :-)

Chicken Taquitos

I've always had a strong liking for taquitos from the freezer isle. I don't know what it is, but they are addicting. I found a neat recipe so that I could make my own taquitos. It's very simple and they are easy to make ahead and freeze. 

Ingredients:
3/4 pounds of cooked, shredded chicken (I boil it, then use two forks to shred it)
10 small tortillas
3 oz. fat free cream cheese, softened
1 cup reduced fat shredded cheese mexican blend
1/2 cup red onion, diced

1/4 cup salsa verde
1/4 cup cilantro paste (or fresh cilantro)
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder 
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tbsp chili seasoning
1 tbsp lime juice
Olive oil cooking spray.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
In a medium bowl mix cream cheese, onions, salsa, cilantro, lime juice, & seasonings.
Add shredded chicken & shredded cheese.
Mix well.
Place about 2 spoonfuls of mixture on the side of tortilla.
Roll up tortilla tightly and place on greased cookie sheet.

Be careful to place it in such a way so that it can't unravel.
Continue with rest of tortillas and mixture.
Spray all over with olive oil cooking spray.
Bake in oven for 20 minutes. 

Watch carefully that they don't burn.
Serve with ranch dressing, guacamole, sour cream, or another yummy dip.


You can make these ahead of time and freeze them. After wrapping the chicken/cheese mixture inside of the tortillas place in gallon-sized freezer bag. When you are ready to eat them you don't have to defrost or thaw. Just place directly in preheated oven and cook for 20 to 30 minutes. Watch carefully. 

I paired the taquitos with this yummy taco salad with spicy ranch dressing. (see below).

What do you think? Comments? Suggestions? I would love to know that you visited my blog. Please leave me a message letting me know you were here! Did you try out a recipe? Let me know! I would love to hear from you :-)

Layered Mexican Shrimp Salad

This is an amazing salad. I take back my BEST SALAD EVER POST...this is really the best salad ever! 


I found this on Gina's Skinny Taste, of course. I love Gina's website. She is one of my favorite bloggers. I haven't met a recipe on her site that isn't amazing. I steal a lot of recipes from her. Yum Yum Yum. I also had to steal the recipe for the dressing as well. I made creamy tomatillo salad dressing to compliment this layered shrimp salad. I was so proud of myself because I've never made salad dressing from scratch before and it turned out to be addicting. 

Ingredients:

16 oz. cooked shrimp, tail shells removed

2 tbsp chipotle seasoning
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp cilantro paste or fresh cilantro

15 oz can of black beans, drained & rinsed

15 oz can of whole kernel corn, drained & rinsed

1 head of lettuce, shredded

1 small red onion, diced

2 tomatoes, diced
2 avocados, diced

2 cucumbers, diced

1 cup reduced fat, shredded cheddar cheese 

Directions:

Thaw & rinse shrimp.

Mix shrimp in a small bowl with chipotle seasoning, lime juice, & some salt to taste.

In a separate bowl combine corn, beans, cilantro, & red onion.

Place lettuce in the bottom of large clear bowl or trifle dish.

Layer bean/corn mixture on top. 

Then top with cucumber, then tomato.

Top with avocado. (I ran out of avocados so I just spread out the fresh guacamole I had in the fridge)

Then top with the layer of cheese. 

Finish off with the shrimp on the top.

Serve with dressing! 

Burrito Bar

I know that the super bowl was over a month ago, but we had a great night (my brother-in-law is a devoted Packers fan) and a delicious spread of food. My husband had the brilliant idea of doing a Qdoba-Style Burrito Bar (complete with queso sauce) for dinner. It makes life easier for me because I don't have to cook everything. Plus it keeps the cost down because everyone brings an ingredient that they would put in their burrito/taco and we share. Because there are so many options you can make your burrito as healthy or unhealthy as you want. The secret is to use tinfoil to wrap up your burrito and not make such a mess.


Here are some of the things we had:
chicken/steak/beef (cooked in taco seasoning)
grilled peppers
shredded lettuce
diced tomatoes
diced onions
green chiles
refried beans
black beans
pinto beans
rice
shredded cheese
guacamole
salsa
sour cream
queso sauce (!!!)


I have this awesome Football Taco Bowl that I used to use back in college and I was able to break it out after 7+ years of retirement (we had a lot of taco parties back in college) and my mother just bought me a triple chafing dish set that we used to keep the meat warm.

Be sure to bring plenty of dips & chips for side dishes. Don't forget the tortillas!

What do you think? Comments? Suggestions? I would love to know that you visited my blog. Please leave me a message letting me know you were here! Did you try out a recipe? Let me know! I would love to hear from you :-)

Not-So-Sloppy Turkey Joe's

I would HIGHLY recommend Pillsbury Best Of The Bake-Off Contest Winners Cookbook to anyone. Years ago, when I fell in love with the Taco Ring, i came to the simple conclusion that Pillsbury Dough biscuits or crescent rolls are amazing in themselves. So you can pretty much take any type of meat, filling, or vegetable, place it inside, bake with love, and the result will be equally amazing. This cookbook proves my theory.
[Side Note: Apparently there is also a Best of Betty -- Betty Crocker Cook Book that I would like to try out. My mom sent me a pdf insert that looks amazing.] 


So, my mom recently checked the Pillsbury Book out of the library and while I was visiting over the Holiday I picked out some recipes that I wanted to try. The first was Neat To Eat Sloppy Joe's. I made some adjustments to the recipe and made them down in Myrtle Beach. So pleased with the results! I used lean ground skinless turkey meat instead of ground beef. Also, we didn't have worcestershire sauce or sesame seeds so I couldn't use those. I did have these awesome sea salt & peppercorn pepper grinders that I got to use. Plus there was leftover guacamole from earlier in the day that we put to good use. (see picture)




Ingredients:
3/4 pound lean ground turkey (i used turkey instead of ground beef)
1/2 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon mustard
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 teaspoons worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 cup reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese
1 8 oz can of Pillsbury refrigerated crescent dinner rolls (I know this is cheating but I bought the Walmart generic brand, don't judge me)
sesame seeds, optional (i didn't have any)



Directions:
Heat oven to 375 degrees.


Cook ground turkey over medium high heat until cooked through.


Stir in ketchup, onion, mustard, worcestershire sauce, and pepper.


Then add cheese and remove from heat.


Next, take the dough and separate it into 4 rectangles (it will be two triangles put together)


Seal together the two triangle perforations to make one cohesive rectangle. (see pictures)


Then mold the dough so it becomes more of a square then a rectangle.


Spoon about 1/4 cup of the meat mixture into center of each square. 


Fold dough over to make triangles. Seal edges, use a fork if needed. (see pictures)


Place triangles on ungreased cookie sheet. Spring with sesame seed.


Bake 14 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.


Top with homemade guacamole to make it extra awesome!

I would love to know that you visited my blog or tried out a recipe. Leave me some love & encouragement!

Another post about Guacamole

As some of you know I'm on a quest to make the perfect guacamole. I got lots of great feedback from my friends & family and have continued to grow in my knowledge of avocados and guacamole-making. 


My mom has helped me further on this quest by presenting me with her own guacamole mix. It was just one of my many awesome cooking-theme Christmas presents.


I got to test it out a couple times over my Christmas break. First, i made it at our extended Fisher Family Christmas get together. 


I paired it with these awesome new Tostitos that I found. They are roasted garlic and black bean flavored. They also go very nicely with my Fiesta Bean Dip. These Artisan Recipe Tostitos also come in Chipotle Flavor which is also pretty awesome. I highly recommend them.





My mom's mix comes with instructions. For every mashed avocado that you use you should add 2 tsp of the guacamole mix and 1/2 tsp of fresh lime juice. I also threw in some onions and just a touch of red pepper flakes to give it a kick. Once again, it came out amazing.

So I decided to try my luck down in Myrtle Beach. My husband & I got away after all the Christmas parties and spent a few days down south. I stumbled across the large green avocados which i had never used before. They don't sell those kind at Darrenkamp's so it peaked my curiosity. I wanted to try both kind of avocados and compare the difference. But I couldn't tell if one kind was better than the other. Once again, it came out delicious. I just love love love guacamole. Here are some pictures of my masterpiece. Enjoy!

I would love to know that you visited my blog or tried out a recipe. Leave me some love & encouragement!

The Perfect Day

The Taco Bake of Golden-Brown Awesomeness for dinner

+

 Sour cream, cornbread, homemade guacamole & homemade salsa

+

 My adorable niece Halle Grace

+

My wonderful husband Gerald Stoltzfoos!!!!!

+

Crepes made by Aunt Naomi! 

(Note the sprinkles, she knows me so well -- nice touch!)

= The Perfect Day!

I would love to know that you visited my blog or tried out a recipe. Leave me some love & encouragement!

More Guacamole

Love Love Love guacamole. Does anyone know any good places in PA that make fresh guacamole right in front of you? I really want to go to a restaurant that does that sometime.

Anyway, I made guacamole again and it was awesome. Which is good to know, because I've had some not-so-great guacamole experiences in the past. 

I used 4 avocados, fresh lime juice, chopped onions, chopped tomatoes, cilantro, a little bit of spice and a guacamole mix packet. Any other suggestions? What do you use to make your guac!?!?!

Check out these fabulous pictures. My sister-in-law let me use her camera, which is obviously a lot nicer than mine. :-)

Showed those avocados whose boss!

Added a little paprika to give it some kick

 Deliciousness.

I would love to know that you visited my blog or tried out a recipe. Leave me some love & encouragement!