Food | Travel | Family | Life
We make these cheesy chicken enchiladas with leftover rotisserie chicken. Makes an easy and tasty dinner that everyone loves.
Around here, rotisserie chicken goes a long way. We eat it for one meal but leftovers are used the next day for a different meal and then the bones are used to make stock. Nothing gets wasted. We use the leftovers in sandwiches, pasta, salads and these enchiladas.
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The best part of summer is the gatherings with friends. Barbecues and potlucks and beach picnics, the great weather is always a great excuse to get together.
Here’s an easy dish for your next potluck. Pasta salad seems to be a staple at most parties but kick it up a notch with a Mexican flair. Use your favourite pasta and toss it with whatever veggies you have on hand. The salad is tied together with a dressing made with sour cream and taco seasoning. Easy peasy and super tasty!
Mexican Pasta Salad
1 lb pasta, cooked
1 can black beans, rinsed
2 cans corn
1 pint cherry tomatoes, quartered
3 green onions, chopped
1/2 cup sour cream
1 TB taco seasoning
Combine the the pasta with the vegetables. In a bowl, combine the sour cream with the taco seasoning. Toss with the pasta mixture. Serve cold.
Happy Cinco de Mayo! What better way to celebrate than with some guacamole and chips. Guacamole is one of the easiest things to make and is a staple around here. It’s perfect for Taco Tuesday but also a great appetizer when people come over.
There are so many ways to make guacamole but this is how we like it. I avoid the mayo and sour cream and I prefer a chunkier guacamole. I use a fork to mash up the avocados; no processor required!
Guacamole
3 avocados
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
cilantro
1 lime
salt
hot sauce, optional
Mash the avocados with a fork. Add in the onions, tomato and cilantro until mixed. Depending on how juicy your lime is, you may just need 1/2. Add salt and hot sauce to taste.
Around here, we are huge fans of tacos. Soft wraps or hard shells, we love them all. With tacos being so easy to prepare and everyone loving them, they are likely to be seen on the menu once a week.
Our new favourite way to eat tacos is in a casserole! While boiling a pound of pasta, we cook off some ground beef with taco seasoning. When both are done, we combine the two, put them in a casserole dish and cover the mixture with cheddar cheese. The dish is baked until the cheese is ooey and gooey.
When we are ready to eat, we top the pasta with salsa, sour cream, onions, tomatoes and avocados. It’s like eating a taco with a fork! Perfect for taco Tuesday!
It’s Cinco de Mayo, a great excuse to celebrate with some Mexican food. We started celebrations yesterday with beef tostados. We toasted soft tortillas in the toaster oven and then topped them with seasoned ground beef, peppers, onions, salsa, avocados and sour cream. Anything with taco meat is a hit around here.
Looking for some ways to celebrate at home. Try out these recipes!
One of the highlights of staying at the Generations Resort by Karisma in the Mayan Riviera was the food. With the resort boasting Gourmet Inclusive, the food and the experience was amazing. We were happy to not eat from a buffet for every meal and were able to try some outstanding dishes. Here is a glimpse of some the food we enjoyed.
The only buffet at the resort was the Chef Market which was open for breakfast and lunch. Breakfast featured an omelet station and lots of continental fare to make everyone happy. The bread was amazing and the crepes were a treat. Lunch featured some great items like seafood and pasta. Salsa, guacamole and ceviche were a constant. It was delicious!
Jade was one of our favourites featuring pan-asian cuisine. We enjoyed sushi, tempura, gyozas and lots of seafood. One evening, we had the Shabu Shabu hot pot with chicken, fish, beef and shrimp and vegetables. It was a fun interactive meal!
Habb was a beautiful Mediterranean restaurant. We started with hummus, tzatziki and pita followed by tuna carpaccio, beef kebabs, braised beef and salmon stuffed ravioli.
Wine Kitchen was another beauty with glass bottles adding to the decor. The thai mussels and the duck with lentils were my favourites while hubby and Q’s faves were the scallops and beef tenderloin.
Palms Gourmet Terrace was the restaurant by the pool open for lunch. Shrimp tacos and calamari filled our bellies while we took a break from the beach. Of course salsa and guacamole was a must at every meal!
In the last few weeks, Q has decided that Tuesdays are for tacos. Since they are quick and easy and loved by us all, we are happy to indulge his desire for Taco Tuesdays. A couple of weeks ago, I decided to put a spin on things – Mexican Pasta Shells. Inspired by K, my former co-worker, large pasta shells are filled with seasoned taco meat, covered in salsa and cheese. The baked dish is then topped with everything you would put in a taco.
I wasn’t sure what Q’s response would be. He is sometimes finicky with pasta, usually choosing other things over it. This dish, however, was a hit! I’m always thrilled anytime he goes back for seconds of anything.
There’s not really a recipe for this per se. I use taco seasoning when browning my meat. I stuffed the cooked shells with meat and layed them in a dish on top of salsa. I put more salsa on top and then covered it with cheese. Bake in a 350 degree oven until the cheese is melted. In K’s recipe, the taco meat is mixed with cream cheese. Hubby is lactose intolerant though, so I held off on the cream cheese. His portion of shells were also not covered in cheese.
Once out of the oven, top with onions, tomatoes and avocado and serve with sour cream. An easy and filling dish that’s everyone’s favourite.
We had a great time this weekend at Sun and Salsa. It’s one of my favourite festivals of the year, and it’s fun going from vendor to vendor and sampling salsa. Apparently, I didn’t get my fill and when I saw the pineapple sitting on the counter, I knew I wanted to turn it into salsa.
I used a pineapple corer that I had borrowed from my dad and it worked perfectly! I was surprised at how easily it cut the pineapple into perfect rings.
I added some red onion, garlic, a squeeze of lime and a squirt of hot sauce topped off with some salt and cilantro. The sweet pineapple with the savoury onions and some heat was tasty and went perfect with the leftover salmon that we made tacos with. The remainder was scooped up with some salty taco chips. So much for leftovers!
Pineapple Salsa
Pineapple
Red Onion
Garlic
Lime Juice
Salt
Cilantro
Hot sauce or a jalapeno
Just toss the ingredients together and adjust the lime and salt to your liking.
There’s no better way to celebrate Cinco de Mayo than with great Mexican food. The possibilities are endless from fried fish tacos, delicious desserts like tres leches cake (or coconut, even better) or eating at your favourite Mexican restaurant. We found a new mexican fave at our house – Tequila Lime Chicken.
Since finding this recipe, we have had this chicken a few times. It is full of flavour and the resulting chicken is tender and juicy. It’s delicious served with some creamy guacamole or some grilled corn. Perfect for a crowd!
Tequila Lima Chicken
Adapted from Once Upon A Chef
3 TB olive oil
3 TB tequila
3 tsp lime zest (zest of 2 limes)
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp honey
salt
pepper
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs
Combine all ingredients except chicken breasts in a 1 gallon freezer bag. Close the bag and squish marinade around to mix. Add chicken breasts and massage marinade into meat until evenly coated. Seal the bag and place it in a bowl in the refrigerator (the bowl protects against leakage); marinate for at least 6 hours or overnight.
Grill on the bbq until chicken is cooked.
We’ve been wanting to go to Mucho Burrito for a while and this busy Monday was the perfect chance to grab some quick takeout. It was a long drive home having to smell all that Mexican yumminess.
The favourite of the night was definitely the nachos. We chose beef to top the nachos and the shredded marinated meat was packed with flavour. Q couldn’t get enough of the chips that were topped with the queso cheese, shredded cheese, the beef and salsa.
We also tried the chicken quesadillas. Stuffed inside a tortilla were sauteed peppers and onions and cheese. I was surprised by the bold flavours of the grilled chicken. Sometimes, the chicken can get lost in a quesadilla but this one really stood out.
We also had the soft fish tacos. We were given the option of a flour tortilla or a corn tortilla. I was really impressed with the fish which was a pan seared tilapia with a herb crust. The fish tasted fresh and the guacamole that we added to the taco was nice and creamy.
It’s always a good thing when Q just gobbles up his food. We were thrilled at how he devoured the nachos and the meat and veggies that were topping it. I can’t wait to go back for more!
