Easy Cinco De Mayo Celebrations

Are you celebrating Cinco De Mayo this year? The fifth of May is not a celebration of Mexican Independence Day, as many think, but rather a day to celebrate the Mexican army's unlikely victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. Living in the southwest, we are surrounded by the Mexican culture and it has been an amazing experience for us and for Luke! 

I thought it would be fun to tell you how we celebrate Cinco De Mayo! Typically, we celebrate with our friends, all of us bringing something different to the party. We are responsible for the the enchiladas and margaritas. Ryan has perfected an easy enchilada recipe, that even my Granny requests when we go back to Ohio. There are so many ways to make enchiladas and yes, we have had better but Ryan makes a pretty good (and easy) enchilada bake! 

Ryan's Enchilada Recipe 

Ingredients:

Yields 6-8 large enchiladas

Use my chicken recipe, here ! It is perfect for this recipe!

1 can of red enchilada sauce

1 can of diced green peppers 

Packet of 6-8 tortillas 

Mexican Blend Cheese

Directions:

Grease a 13X9 baking dish. Pour in the enchilada sauce until it covers the bottom of the pan. 

In a large mixing bowl, add in the green peppers to the chicken mix. If you use my chicken crockpot recipe, it will already have black beans and tomatoes in the chicken. If you are using a rotisserie chicken or other chicken you will want to add in a can of black beans, a can of diced tomatoes and seasoning.

Put 3-4 heaping spoonfuls of the chicken mixture in the middle of the tortilla and roll up tortilla. As you assemble, place in the pan. When they are all assembled, cover with enchilada sauce and as much cheese as you like. They can be as thick or as thin as you want them to be! Use as much of the chicken mixture as you would like. 

Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes, uncovered. 

This is also a great freezer meal, so double the recipe and make one for the future! 

No Cinco De Mayo party is complete without a big pitcher of Margaritas! A few months back I shared my Margarita recipe, and it was a huge hit. I will say it is ten times better than the store bought Margarita mix and not quite as sugary.  I have made it for numerous parties and people always comment on how good it is and they are always so surprised by the "secret" ingredient, beer! 

The Perfect Margarita

 Ingredients:

1 can of frozen limeade 

(use the empty can as a measuring cup for the remaining ingredients)

1 can of 7-Up

1 can of Tequila 

1 full Dos Equis Lager or Corona beer 

Two full sliced limes

Directions:

Combine all ingredients, place sliced limes in the pitcher and serve well chilled. You can always dilute with a can of water, as well, or add more 7-Up. The non-alcoholic version is to add Lemonade instead of the beer and tequila!

Enjoy! 

Lastly, the salsa. Our good friend makes the BEST salsa, like award winning salsa, and she has been kind enough to share her recipe with me! Consider yourself lucky, because this recipe should go in your recipe book and never leave!

Lisa's Salsa



Ingredients:
1 large can of S&W Tomatoes (they sell them at Costco)
3 Whole Embasa Jalepenos (canned brand)
½ white onion, chopped
Cilantro - which is sold in bunches, use roughly half
The juice of ½ a large lime
Garlic salt to taste 

Directions:
Chop all veggies, onion and jalepenos. Combine all ingredients, using only half a can of the tomatoes per batch, in a food processor and blend well. If you double the batch, use the full can. You can store extra in mason jars to keep fresh. 

Trust me, this salsa is AMAZING! 


 How are you planning on celebrating Cinco De Mayo? Celebrating holidays can be so fun for kids, and adults, so hopefully you live it up and enjoy a fun night with the family!

Happy celebrating,