gatheringspot

Once you've made a few Mexican or Tex-Mex dishes from scratch, you'll just keep coming back for more.

I'm CindyK and love, love, love Mexican food. (I also specialize in Thai, Caribbean and Indian dishes). My husband and I love to experiment in the kitchen and have taste-testings with different ingredients before sharing them with gullible friends and family.

Because we traveled so much internationally for several years, we've gotten to taste a lot of different foods and been able to snag a few family recipes along the way. Very fun.

If you have questions about preparing any type of Mex food or want to share a few with us here, just jump right in!

This isn't real Mexican, but we love to make soft tacos or fajitas on the George Foreman grill.

I cut boneless, skinless chicken breasts in strips.

Spray grill with Pam.

Toss on chicken with green peppers and onions.

Sprinkle with taco seasoning.

If it seems a bit dry, I'll add just a little Zesty Italian dressing.

Cook for around 4 min or until chicken is cooked through.

We wrap the meat and veggies in soft taco shells. Zap them (just the tortilla shells) in the microwave a few seconds between paper towels.

Fast, easy and tasty - if not exactly authentic (-:

That sounds really tasty! The thing about "authentic" is that each cook from each region has a way of doing things, so in a casual sense, it's hard to define, anyway (that's my opinion and I'm sticking to it - for now).

If you're interested in cutting back on salt, here's a salt-free taco seasoning mix - it tastes just like the packaged (which is loaded).

1 TBS flour
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp paprika
pinch of "lite" salt (if any)
pinch of sweet-n-low
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder (optional)
pinch onion powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp oregano (crushed)
black pepper is optional (we add it to everything)

Combine all dry ingredients. Cook and drain ground beef, stir in dry mix and add 3/4 cup water. Boil, then simmer for about 10 minutes.

I love Mexican food also.

Of late, a friend and I have been going out every week or two for Mexican food and drinks. This place gives you a freebie after dinner drink and a banana dessert made with a soft warmed tortilla(sp), sliced bananas and a vanilla/banana flavored sauce. Not sure if this is real Mexican or made for American palate Mexican, but it is delicious.

Hi, Vannie. Isn't that just delicious? I see many restaurants list them as "changas" (a derivative of chimichangas?) and sometimes just wraps, as in tortillas y bananas or bananas con crema (with cream). Sometimes they use plaintains and often they're fried first.

If you decide to make them at home, you could drizzle chocolate, add some ice cream or give them a little "foster's" twist with rum. I would personally add some Kahlua - yum!

Yes, I believe the changas name is true with this place. I never look at the menu, since they just appear in front of me.

Cindy, it's funny, I immediately think bananas foster also. O.K. you are not going to believe that I had Kahlua this past Thursday after many years. It's still really good!

Let me throw my 2 cents in here. I love Mexican food, too. One of my favs are quesadillas. I could probably eat 10 of them.

CindyK, I'd like to try your recipe for flour tortillas( saw on your website) when I have the time and aren't lazy. I'm sure the homemade are so much tastier.

I like Sangria. I once made my own recipe in college, ha ha. Actually, it was delicious! No kidding. I was searching for that original recipe recently, and I can't find the darn thing.

Oh, Joan - who doesn't remember those sangria parties?

It's so easy -
1 bottle white wine (your choice - nothing fancy, of course)
1/2 cup orange juice
1/3 cup simple syrup (1 cup sugar/1 cup water, blended on low heat)

Blend those and refrigerate. Just before you're ready to serve, add 8 oz. club soda and sliced lemon, lime and orange.

I, too, could live on quesadillas - we make them a lot here.

Hey Cindy:

Thanks for your sangria recipe. I might try it out on some friends and relatives during Greek Easter. This year, Greek Easter falls on April 27th. But that's okay, I can wait until then.

CindyK wrote:Hi, Vannie. Isn't that just delicious? I see many restaurants list them as "changas" (a derivative of chimichangas?) and sometimes just wraps, as in tortillas y bananas or bananas con crema (with cream). Sometimes they use plaintains and often they're fried first.

If you decide to make them at home, you could drizzle chocolate, add some ice cream or give them a little "foster's" twist with rum. I would personally add some Kahlua - yum!

I went to my fav Mexican place last week and this delicious dessert. This I made it my biz to check the menu, this is listed as Sweet Chimichangas and all they use to sweeten the tortillas is a bit of honey. Who would have guessed.

I guess we just always go for the sopapillas and never really look at the dessert part of the menu. From now on, we certainly will.

Just wanted to say - Happy Cinco de Mayo.

Now, let's party!