mexican-inspired week

i love mexico.
it's a quick flight.
dh and i have been several times.
i love speaking in spanish in a real way (at home it is english and french and not many people speak spanish) i love the food and the weather and the taxistas.
the taxistas who tell it like it is - who groan about the economy and the traffic and wonder how the gringos in his cab can speak spanish
the gringos from the far north where it always is cold ;)
and i love all of that (especially la zona romantica in puerto vallarta - crowded, colonial and long walks along the malecon)

now...
my list of dishes with recipes and pics in the links...

breakfast
omelette- leftover fajita meat/veg and cheese
fried eggs and salsa on homemade corn tortillas
yoghurt and fruit
fruit salad
rotate

snacks/lunch
a lot of cantaloupe
pears
nectarines
bananas
coconut rice crackers
veggies and dip
leftovers - lots and lots of leftovers
salads
sorbet
caramel vanilla ice cream - made in the ice cream maker
chocolate peanut butter ice cream - made in the ice cream maker


suppers
slow cooker tostada lasagna 
slow cooker tamale pie
mexican rice with chorizo and shrimp
pico de gallo with mexican rice
slow cooker fajita mix made into mini mexican pizzas (yeah, not a very succinct title but this is what it was)
lot of leftovers! some of the fajita mix went into omelettes and quick nachos and as opened face sandwiches

and the non-food related recipe - deodorant recipe

shopping list (i had the staples - spices, rice)
this is what i had to buy for the week...
salmon
shrimp
chorizo
stir fry beef
tomato sauce
5.5 cups chicken broth
fajita seasoning mix
1 can peeled and diced tomatoes
1 can fire roasted tomatoes
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 can sliced olives - 1/2c
2 cans black beans
corn tortillas
tomatoes
spanish onion
cooking onions
3 bell peppers
cilantro
cup milk
shredded cheese
sour cream

see orgjunkie.com for hundreds of meal plans every week!

slow cooker fajita mix made into mini mexican pizzas

mmm fajitas
i wanted to of course keep it gluten free so i ended up taking 2c of masa harina (corn based)
and making little circle shapes like little corn pizzas

so the ingredients

1/2c chopped spanish onion
1/4c chopped cilantro
2 sliced green bell peppers
1 little hot pepper
1.25lb of sliced beef (this was ribeye bought in chinatown - what you'd use in a chinese fondue or stir fry
1 pack fajita mix
2c beef stock
...the above in the crockpot on low for 7hrs
below make the "pizzas"
1/3c pizza sauce
1c shredded cheese
2c masa harina prepped and made into 2 inch circles
...first pan fry the little corn pizzas until golden then top with sauce and cheese
...in a 350 oven until the cheese melts

yeah...these were good...really good and i topped with sour cream and pico de gallo.

buen provecho!

slow cooker tamale pie

i have lots and lots of cornmeal to use so this recipe for slow cooker tamale pie seemed appealing.
main thing i did a bit differently was add lots of garlic and using rice flour to blend with the corn meal
and i couldn't find fire roasted tomatoes so i used sweet onion tomatoes
and cayenne pepper instead of chili powder
and spanish onion instead of cooking onion
whew... a few pics

all the ingredients in before i add the cornmeal/flour top

this was good. not great but good - i ended up serving it with sour cream and pico de gallo which made it better than the initial good assessment.

slow cooker tostada lasagna

apparently i forgot to rotate before i loaded this pic - yikes!

i made a slightly different version of my tostada lasagna for the crockpot.

i omitted the beans (wasn't in the mood) - upped the tomato content - about 3.5c of crushed tomatoes, added 1.5c of stock
and a cup of leftover mexican rice
other than that it was very similar
it worked
but am glad i had some tostadas that hadn't been put in the crockpot as it came out very, very soft. tasty, but soft
i definitely didn't need that much stock, but also would do what i did which is keep a few nice, crispy tostadas on the side to dip with.

pico de gallo - fresh tomato/onion/cilantro

mmmm
this makes me think of puerto vallarta - lots of pico de gallo on everything
especially on bbq
and a corona or a more girly margarita
love mexico
and pico de gallo - simple and delicious

ingredients
2 tomatoes, diced
1/4c chopped spanish onion
1/2c chopped cilantro (more if you love cilantro like i do
1/2tsp chopped hot chili pepper (mine was from chinatown so am not sure but looked like an orange version of a scotch bonnet - not quite as spicy as one)
1/2 tsp agave nectar (optional)
1/2 lime squeezed juice

all together in a bowl (i like it to set for at least 30min before i eat it all up by myself

mexican rice morphed into something else

i used this recipe for mexican rice (except that i used long grain brown rice which i don't like plain so i try and make it into something else)
and even though it turned out well, i thought it would make an even BETTER meal if i mixed in chorizo and shrimp.
turns out, that turned out 100x better (hmmm exaggeration, but true) than the original.

so ADDED ingredients

1 tbsp minced garlic

1lb shrimp

1/2c (approx) chorizo
a few tbsp of chipotle bbq sauce (completely optional)

the original recipe - oil and plumping up the rice...

plumping rice

adding onion

lotsa liquid

original recipe - mexican rice

love watching the shrimp go from grey...

to plump and orange-y - pink

the boys all loved this - this will make it in a meal plan again! it reminded me a lot of rice dishes in mexico, and this is a good thing.

tostada lasagna - the non-colombian dish of the week

i deviated from the colombian menu for one easy meal on a rainy day. just felt like something a bit different. so still latin themed.

the ingredients
big can tomato sauce
1.5 c onion - chopped
can refried beans
1 tsp ground oregano
2 tsps ground cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
can black beans, rinsed and drained
small can sliced black olives, drained and chopped
1/2 c jalapenos sliced (i used herder)
10 - 12 chipotle tostadas or flavour of choice broken into big pieces (enough to line the baking dish - i think mine is 11x13 - dunno for sure
2c cubed mozzarella cheese
1/2c tex mex shredded cheese mix.

grease baking dish
then add just enough tomato sauce to line bottom
in a bowl blend all the ingredients except for the olives cheese and black beans (save a few jalapenos for the top)
after tomato sauce create a layer with the tostada pieces, then the mix in the bowl


tostada pieces, mix in the bowl, 1/2 the black beans and olives, cheese pieces


tostada pieces, rest of the mix in the bowl, rest of black beans, olives and jalapenos


add rest of cheese including shredded

bake at 375 for about 30 min or until cheese looks slightly browned.

easy, and tasty. you can serve guacamole or sour cream on side or have as is with a side salad.
i froze the leftovers for another week.