Guacamole Dip

This is the best guacamole ever! Just try it. You'll love it.

3 avacados- peeled and mashed

1 lime, juiced (or just lime juice)

1 tsp salt (I use kosher or sea salt)

1/2 cup diced onion

3 tbsp chopped FRESH cilantro

2 roma tomatoes, diced

1 tsp minced garlic

1 pinch ground cayenne pepper (optional)

In a medium bowl, mash together avacados. Add lime juice and salt. Mix in onion, cilantro, tomatoes and garlic. Stir in cayenne pepper. Refrigerate 1 hour for best flavor or serve immediately.

Chile Rellenos

These turned out pretty good. You can deep fry with batter but I like this version of baking them with enchilada sauce.

Get the desired amount of roasted chilies and slice down one side about 3/4 of the way.
Remove seeds and membrane.
Slice cheese to fit inside the chile, making sure that the chile will still close.
Get your favorite enchilada sauce and poor a small amount to the bottom of a baking dish.
Then place you chilies into the baking dish and poor more sauce on top followed by cheese.
Bake this at 375* for about 15 minutes. Beware of the heat but it is soooo yummy!

Roasting Chiles

You can do this with pretty much any kind of chile. Just make sure you have the fan going and a window open. The fumes are pretty good :)

Turn your broiler on and get it heated.
Clean and dry your desired amount of chilies.
Place on cookie sheet.
Put in oven under the broiler.
Turn them every couple minutes to get all the sides cooked.
You want them mostly charred (about 60%) this should take 5-10 minutes
Remove from oven and put them in a plastic bag, a plate with plastic wrap over, anything to get them steaming inside. Keep in bag for 15 minutes.
After fifteen minutes remove one at a time and rub the skin with your fingers and peel of the skin. It should come off really easy. If not you can take a small knife and peel it off.
These can be kept in the fridge for a few days or the freezer for a few months.

Mexican Dinner

Okay so this meal has a lot of dishes but none of them are too hard. I made it for mom and dad the other night and it was a hit. They were my guinea pigs :) I will give you all the recipe's and then tell you which order I did them in. Don't be scared!

Re fried Beans
These really are a cinch to make. I don't have the exact measurements so it is a little bit of a tasting game but I will try my best.

Rinse 2 cups of pinto beans and pick out the bad looking ones. Soak them overnight in your crock pot bowl (mine is about a 4 quart crock pot). You will use 8 cups cold water for this. I normally start soaking mine around 8ish. You could do it sooner or later if you want but they need about eight hours to soak.

Between 8 and 10 in the morning boil 12 cups of water (I tend to lean more towards the 8:00). Drain your soaked beans and rinse them again (the more you rinse the less gas they will produce in your tummy :)). Put rinsed beans back into your crock pot and add boiling water till just about to the top of the pot. Turn on high and forget about it until 4:00 (you can adjust the times depending on when you want to eat). At 4:00 turn off the crock pot and drain and rinse the beans again. I put them back into the crock pot bowl to keep them warm. Now mash them up and add water until it is the consistency that you want.

For the spices I add: (these are all approximate guesses sorry)
1-2 tsp. garlic salt (they can be over salted so less is better at first)
2 tsp. cumin
1-2 tsp. onion powder
2 tsp. chili powder
a small bunch of cilantro chopped
2 tsp. oregano
1 small can green chilies
1 tsp. lime juice
You may need to add more spices than this. I found I added more of the cumin and chili powder and lime juice. Now the beans are done! Simple right?

Enchilada Sauce

2 Tbs. butter
1/4 c flour
4 c boiling water
2 tsp. chicken bouillon
1/4 c tomato sauce
1 garlic clove
1 tsp. onion salt
1 tsp. cumin
3 Tbs. chili powder

Melt butter in skillet (I use a ten inch skillet). Add flour, whisking constantly, and stir until mixture turns brown (this will take a few minutes be patient). Dissolve bouillon in water and bring to a boil. Gradually stir the water mixture into browned butter-flour mixture, whisking constantly until smooth. Cook until mixture boils and thickens. Stir in tomato sauce and spices. Reduce heat to low and continue to cook for an additional 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Homemade Flour Tortillas

These are so yummy!

Boil water 2 cups to be safe

In a bowl mix
1 tsp. salt
2 c flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 c shortening (cut this in until crumbly)
Now add your boiling water a little at a time until it is the consistency of a pie crust. Rest covered for 2 hours. Grab a tablespoon silverware and scoop out some dough. Roll into a ball (about the size of a golf ball) and flatten with your hand on a floured surface. Continue to roll it out with a rolling pin until desired thickness. The thinner the better. Cook on a griddle or pan for 30 seconds or so (until it starts to brown) flip and cook again. You are done!

Green Chili Rice

This is the Cafe Rio version I got from Mel a while back.

3 c minute rice
3 c water
3 Tbs chicken bouillon
1 Tbs butter
4 tsp minced garlic
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 tsp cumin
1 can green chilies
1/2 c chopped onion

In a saucepan, saute butter, garlic and onions. In a pan, bring water and chicken bouillon to boil and add rice. Boil until tender (about 5 min) and add the rest of the ingredients. You may need to add a little more water. Cover and simmer if necessary.

Okay that is everything beside chips and salsa.

To assemble. I make the re fried beans first. Then the tortillas. Before I roll them out I cook the enchilada sauce. When the sauce is simmering for 10 minutes I roll and cook the tortillas. Then I assemble it all into a 9x13 greased pan. Spread some sauce onto the bottom of the pan. Then start rolling your tortillas with the re fried beans. Squish as many as you can. The tortillas are delicate so be careful not to puncture a hole but it is okay if you do. I was able to squish 13 tortillas into my pan. Cover with more sauce. You will have extra sauce but be generous. Next I put equal amounts of cheddar cheese and mozzarella cheese on top. Whatever floats your boat though. You can make this ahead and keep it in the fridge until ready to put into the oven. Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Serve with lettuce, tomato, sour cream, chopped onion, and salsa. Have the rice as a side dish and corn if you want. You could put the rice in with the tortillas but I like it out. Break open the chips and enjoy! Sorry this is so long. I thought it was so yummy though.

Mexican Lasagna

I found this recipe on Emily's blog. It is so yummy! It has become one of our favorite dishes.

1 cup fresh cilantro
4 green onions roughly chopped
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
10 oz fresh baby spinach
nonstick cooking spray
8 6-inch corn tortillas
1 can 16 oz pinto beans drained and rinsed
1 cup salsa (I use this salsa but you could anything)
8 oz (2 cups) Pepper Jack cheese grated

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine cilantro, green onions, salt, pepper and as much of the spinach as you can into a food processor. Pulse, add remaining spinach and pulse until all combined.

Spray an eight inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Lay four tortillas on the bottom overlapping them. Layer half of the pinto beans, salsa, spinach mixture, and cheese. Next lay the remaining four tortillas followed by the remaining ingredients ending with the cheese.

Cover with foil. Cook for 25-30 minutes. Remove foil and cook another 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Let cool 5-10 minutes before eating. It is really yummy with crushed tortillas chips on top too.