Mexican dinner ideas

Today you're getting bunch of dinner ideas for the price of one! (Hopefully this helps to make up for the lack of posting lately.)

One night last week I made too much guacamole with dinner. I don't know what I was thinking, using four avocados when only about half of my family likes guacamole, but in an effort to be economical I decided to come up with additional dinner ideas that would use up the guacamole. So here's what we ate:

First night: frozen taquitos (purchased from the freezer section of the grocery store, baked in the oven) and cheese crisp (grated cheese sprinkled on a flour tortilla, put in the oven under the broiler until the cheese is melted, then folded in half). We had some iceberg lettuce on the side, some heated up refried beans, and sour cream, salsa, and guacamole. My personal preference is to tear off a piece of cheese crisp, wrap it around a taquito, and then dip it in the beans and all the lovely dippings (which look very nice on the plate, being the Mexican flag colors of red, white, and green).

Second night: Chicken burritos. I made them just as I posted before, with the addition of a drained can of black beans to the chicken & corn mixture. Actually, this time instead of regular chicken breasts I used two cans of canned chicken, and nobody could tell the difference! Shredded lettuce and chopped tomatoes also went inside each burrito... along with sour cream, salsa, and guacamole.

Third night: Chicken quesadillas. These were a big hit! I cooked two chicken breasts in a skillet with about 1/2 a white onion cut into strips. I cooked everything in a little oil, and onto the chicken I sprinkled salt & pepper, cumin, garlic powder, and a little cayenne pepper. Once the chicken was browned on both sides I covered the skillet, turned down the heat, and let it cook slowly until the onions were translucent. I removed the chicken and cut it into thin strips... it didn't have enough flavor for me, so I put all the pieces back into the skillet along with a couple spoonfuls of salsa, and mixed it all together with the onions. Then, I sprayed a large skillet with Pam cooking spray, put a large (burrito-sized) tortilla in, sprinkled half of it with cheese, covered the cheese with a layer of the chicken/onion mixture, sprinkled with a little more cheese, and folded the tortilla over. I cooked it on medium heat until the tortilla started to turn golden brown on the bottom, then I flipped it over & cooked the other side. This amount of chicken was perfect for six burrito-sized tortillas. I kept the cooked quesadillas warm in the oven while cooking the rest of them, and I sliced each half-circle into four wedges to serve. Everyone loved them! We had a small salad on the side and we dipped our quesadillas into (you guessed it) sour cream, salsa, and guacamole.


Unbelievably, I even still have a little bit of guacamole left but I am glad I succeeded in using most of it up, and all with meals my family loved! By the way, we did eat non-Mexican dinners in between, and had the above meals every other night :)


Other good ideas to use up your guacamole:

Make your own chips! Take corn tortillas and cut them into 6 triangles each with a pizza cutter. Spread out on a cookie sheet in one layer, spray with cooking spray and sprinkle with salt. Bake in the oven at 325 for 5-6 minutes, then take out & flip them all over... spraying & salting the other side. Return to oven and bake until the edges look golden brown and they are crispy!

Tostadas! You can find tostada shells next to the taco shells in most grocery stores. Brown 1/2 lb ground beef with 1/4 chopped onion. Drain. Add a can of refried beans and a couple of spoonfuls of salsa and heat through. Spread beans mixture on a tostada shell; top with cheese, shredded lettuce, chopped tomato, and of course sour cream, salsa, and guacamole.

Tacos! Everyone knows how to make tacos, but here's a different way from what you might be used to. When I was growing up my mom would make soft taco shells by frying corn tortillas in oil in a skillet until they start to turn color. Drain between layers of paper towels and they are a very tasty alternative to crunchy taco shells.

Taco salad! For taco salad, I brown a pound of ground beef with some chopped onion, then drain and add taco seasoning, kidney beans, black beans, sliced olives, and a little salsa. For the salad, I mix iceberg and romaine lettuce, along with tomatos, shredded cheese, and diced avocados. When serving myself a big plate of it, I first put the salad part, then the meat part, then yellow corn tortilla chips... and then sour cream & salsa. Then mix it all together. My sister mixes sour cream and salsa together as a salad dressing, and dresses the greens ahead of time so that everybody's is nice and moist. In my household, not everyone likes the same amounts of everything so we dish ours up separately. Delicious either way!


We have all of the above meals fairly regularly, probably since we live in Arizona and we love Mexican food here. I hope this gives you some fun new ideas.