Old El Paso Stand 'n' Stuff Tacos

Old El Paso Stand 'n' Stuff Soft Taco Kit range is great for quick 'n' easy midweek meals that the kids will love. Easy to fill, hold and eat, they bring the vibrant flavours and fun of Mexican cuisine to hungry families looking for something a bit different to eat. I was sent some to try out.

They are so easy to make in three simple steps:

Cook the mince using the seasoning in the kit - I use Quorn mince to make them vegetarian.

Prepare the fillings - we use salad, grated cheese, nacho cheese sauce, refried beans and salsa ( a sachet of salsa is included in the kits.)

Fill your taco and enjoy!

It's such a fun meal, sitting together and filling the soft tacos with the fillings of your choice. They are so much easier to make and eat than the crunchy tacos, making them easier for the kids to manage.

There are three taco kits in the range:

Smoky BBQ includes a smoky seasoning and taco salsa sachet with eight Stand 'n' Stuff soft tortillas.

Extra Mild Super Tasty includes a cool herb topping mix and a tomato stir in sauce with eight Stand 'n' Stuff soft tortillas.

Garlic and Paprika includes a mild, garlicky seasoning and a sachet of taco salsa with eight Stand 'n' Stuff soft tortillas.

You can also get a pack of eight Stand 'n' Stuff soft tortillas on their own, which are perfect for getting creative in the kitchen. You can stuff them with spicy flash fried onions and peppers or with Quorn pieces cooked in a chilli sauce. Or you could even use them for lunchboxes filled with grated cheese and salad.

The Stand 'n' Stuff Smoky BBQ and Extra Mild Kits are £3.79 RRP and the flour tortilla packs are £1.89 RRP. They are available to buy at major supermarkets. The Garlic and Paprika kits are limited to Tesco and Morissons.

Chilli - My Flavour of Together Story #FlavourStories

Food is such an evocative thing.  A smell or a flavour has the power to transport you back in your mind to the time and the place where you tried something for the first time.  It can conjure up memories of school days, Sundays spent at your grandparents' house, romantic meals for two or holidays abroad.

This year McCormick, the parent company of the herb and spice brand Schwartz is celebrating its 125th anniversary.  To celebrate, they are asking people to share their flavour stories in their Flavour of Together programme.  For everyone who shares their food story on the site or on their Facebook page, McCormick will donate $1 to charity (up to $1.25 million).  Why not add your story and join in with the campaign to help raise those valuable funds?

For me, the flavour that holds the most wonderful memories is that of Mexican Cuisine.  The potent heat of the chillies, the smoky taste of paprika and the freshness of coriander leaves work effortlessly together to create the taste of Mexico.

Fajitas, enchiladas, five bean chilli and burritos are regulars in my kitchen repertoire and enjoyed by all the family.  The food is fun, lively and delicious.

My favourite and most memorable flavour story involving the taste of Mexico took place back in 1992 when Ian are I first began officially dating.  We were still at the stage where we were trying to impress each other and not wanting to let our guard slip too much.  We were in a bit of a hurry going out one evening, so we picked up a takeaway Mexican Chilli pizza which we planned on eating in the car park before going into the pub to meet friends. Our impromptu picnic was quite romantic as we sat close together in Ian's Morris Oxford's bench seats with the cardboard pizza box balanced on our touching knees.  We picked up the triangles of pizza oozing with cheese and topped with peppers and chillies with a spicy sauce.  Now, I love spicy food, but one taste of that pizza and my mouth was on fire.  Was someone at the pizza parlour playing a prank?  Did the pizza inadvertently get an extra handful of chillies?  Did someone spill the whole pot on our pizza?  Or were these bad boys just right off the Scoville scale with their potency?  I'll never know.  But then in the back of my mind, I thought maybe I was being over sensitive.  I didn't want to look lame in front of my new, cool boyfriend or seem ungrateful that the pizza he bought me was causing my eyelids to sweat, so I ploughed on, trying to look like the slices of pizza were not tasting as hot as the pits of Hell.

After a few more bites, my tongue began to go alarmingly numb. It started to spread into my face and I seriously started to think that paralysis was setting in.  By this point, I had to say something.  Glancing sideways I could see Ian with a similar facial expression to the one that was clearly etched on my face.  Our bulging, red rimmed eyes met and we both broke out into a knowing smirk.  Simultaneously we lolled out our numbed, chilli paralysed tongues out and licked at the condensation that had formed on the car windows in a desperate attempt to quench the burning fire in our mouths. We then ran into the pub and downed two pints of ice cold beer!  We still laugh when we remember the chilli pizza incident and it definitely was a defining moment in our relationship.  I just wish that Smartphones existed then, because that footage would have gone viral!! I wonder if that is why chilli and Mexican food has such a fond place in our hearts and has become our go-to celebration dinner on anniversaries.  Chilli is definitely our Flavour of Together!

These days, we tend to enjoy a slighter milder form of Mexican cookery.  But our fajitas pay homage to that day in the car and to the start of our more open, more honest and less guarded relationship!  It's a quick and easy recipe resulting in the perfect food for a fun family meal. (Plus it won't result in you having to lick condensation from a car window in order to quench the fire burning on your tongue.)

Quorn Beef Fajita Recipe

3 onions sliced

4 oz mushrooms sliced

2 cloves of garlic chopped

1 teaspoon chilli powder

1 teaspoon coriander

1 teaspoon smoked papriki

1/2 teaspoon cumin

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 packet of Quorn beef pieces

Heat the oil in a pan and fry the onions on a highish heat.

Add the mushrooms.

Add the garlic and continue to fry.

Add the spices and stir well.

Add the Quorn pieces and continue to cook until the mixture is sizzling hot.

Serve hot wrapped in a warmed tortilla wrap with grated cheese, salsa, salad and sour cream.

 “This post is an entry into the Foodies100/Schwartz Flavour of Together challenge.” 

Discovery Foods Instagram Competition!

To celebrate the launch of the brand new Discovery Foods Instagram page @Discoveryfoods, they are encouraging us to get creative in the kitchen with a great competition starting today.

To enter all you need to do is simply create a mouthwatering Mexican meal using Discovery Food products and share your photo on the Instagram page to be in with a chance of winning one of 10 exciting prizes to the value of £25 every week for 4 weeks!  

Discovery sent me some of their products so I could make some tasty Quorn and Mushroom Fajitas using their packet Fajita seasoning mix and Sour Cream Topping...

...and some Cheese Topped Enchiladas using a Discovery Season and Sauce jar!

Making Mexican food is fun, easy and is a firm favourite with my family.  If you make any Mexican food using something from the Discovery range, be sure to take a photo and post it to Instagram using this as your caption  'My #deliciousdiscovery entry for a chance to win with @Discoveryfoods'  Good luck!!

Making Perfect Fajitas

We are big fans of Mexican food here Inside the Wendy House, so we were pleased to try out the Perfect Fajita Kit from Discovery.  Each kit contains wraps, a topping and the cook in spice sachet.  

The kits are tailored for different tastes.  The Mild Mexican Fajita Kit includes a smoky BBQ flavoured spice mix and comes with a sour cream topping.  The Medium Fajita Kit is spicier and comes with a salsa sauce.

They make it so quick and easy to conjure up authentic Mexican fajitas that all the family will love.  My kids love making up their own fajitas. They are fun and messy!

I made mild Quorn Steak and Mushroom Fajitas by flash frying onions, mushrooms and Quorn beef strips with the spice mix.  We added salad, grated cheese, some salsa and the sour cream topping to make perfect fajitas.  

Discovery have some great recipe ideas for other things that you can do with their Tortilla wraps.  The Tortizza is a pizza using a wrap as a base.  Top it with salsa or tomato sauce and grated cheese and cook for 5-10 minutes in an oven at 220 degrees.

You can also make a Tortilla Quiche by lining a loose base sandwich tin with a wrap.  You can add your favourite quiche filling and top with a mixture of 200 ml creme fraiche, 142 ml single cream and two eggs beaten together and seasoned.  Cook for 25 minutes at 200 degrees.

I will definitely be trying these recipes and when I do I'll feature them in more detail on the blog.

For more details on Discovery's range of Mexican food plus other recipe ideas take a look at the website:

www.discoveryfoods.co.uk

A Romantic Meal for Six

Chiquito Restaurant Review

The whole date night thing...I just can't do it!  The idea of sloping off with Ian to a restaurant, leaving our children at home just does not appeal to me.  If it's a special occasion I can just about be persuaded to have a date night, but otherwise, I am just as happy being with Ian along with our children.  In fact, the pleasure that the kids get spending quality time with us and eating quality food makes for a perfect evening.  One day when the kids are all grown-up we will have our time together, but for now, romantic meals out are for two + the kids!  I know it's not everyone's idea of fun, but it's how we roll and we love it!

When the opportunity to review Chiquito's new menu came up, we tied it in with a visit to see Megan in Manchester.  The Chiquito restaurant in Salford Quays is ideally placed with its own car park, near the waterfront.  It was warm and welcoming which was exactly what we needed on a cold winter's evening in Manchester!

I love the Mexican themed decor of the restaurant with its authentic artworks and cosy, wooden booths.  The atmosphere is very relaxed and informal, and the soundtrack gives a very cool vibe to the place.  Chiquito is definitely one of my favourite restaurant chains!

We were able to book our table online in advance to guarantee a table which is a really useful feature on their website.  The new menu features many old favourites alongside some brand new dishes. I was glad to see some good vegetarian options on offer for both adults and children.  We were given bowls of complementary seasoned popcorn to munch on while we perused the menu.

The kids ate from the children's menus which consisted of a main meal, a drink and a dessert.  Freddy had the £4.95 meal and chose the flatbread pizza.  Kizzy had the £7.95 Young Adult meal and chose roasted veggie fajitas that you make up yourself.

One of the new meals on the menu is the warm Goat's Cheese and Roasted Veg Wrap which I ordered.  It was absolutely delicious, packed with tasty veg and creamy goat's cheese.  It came with house fries, salad and coleslaw and cost £9.45.

Ella opted for the Veggie Burger topped with veggie chilli. again it came with fries and coleslaw and cost £9.95.

Ian picked his old favourite Baked Veggie Chilli Enchiladas for £10.95.  Megan went for a winter special of chimichangas with sweet potato fries.  The chimichangas were meant to be filled with veggie chilli but Megan requested a roasted vegetable filling instead.  They were happy to oblige. 

We had a delicious feast, all sampling each other's dishes.  

The food was plentiful and very delicious.  we couldn't leave without sampling the desserts so we ordered a selection to share between us.  We ordered the Banana Taquito which was a banana wrapped in a tortilla, deep fried and flavoured with cinnamon sugar.  It was amazing!

We also got the Churros which came with chocolate dipping sauce.

The ice cream that Ian ordered came in a cinnamon, tortilla bowl which was such a lovely touch.  Desserts start at £3.25 and round off the meal perfectly.  

Freddy and Kizzy had ice cream sundaes as part of their meal deal.  I was so impressed with the size and quality of their desserts.  Freddy's strawberry sauce was absolutely fab, made with real fruit and not like the synthetic sauces you normally get on a kids' pudding.  Freddy actually said to our waitress, completely unprompted "It's the best food I've ever eaten!"  For my fussy boy to say this, it must have been good!

The staff were very friendly and accommodating.  The food was great and we really enjoyed everything we ordered.  The atmosphere of the restaurant is very relaxed making Chiquito a great venue for family dining, eating out with friends or for a romantic meal for two (Valentine's Day is coming up!)  They also have a lunch time menu available until 5pm weekdays where you can eat a main for £5.95 and add on a dessert or starter for £2.50 each, which is excellent value.

We were there for over two hours as service wasn't very swift,  but as it was late afternoon the restaurant and kitchen wasn't fully staffed.  But as we were enjoying each other's company and making full use of the free wi-fi we were perfectly happy relaxing, chatting and having fun.

To find out more about Chiquito, to view the menus and to book a table, take a look at the website at www.chiquito.co.uk

We received a £50 voucher to put towards our meal for the purpose of doing this review.

Celebrate Cinco de Mayo Mexican Cookery with Discovery

Making Fajitas for Cinco de Mayo 

Cinco de Mayo is a celebration held on May 5th, that commemorates the Mexican Army's victory over the French forces at the Battle of Peubla in 1862, under the leadership of General Ignacio Zaragova Seguin.  The celebration recognises Mexican heritage and pride.

What better way to celebrate Cinco de Mayo than by having a delicious Mexican meal courtesy of Discovery's range of authentic Mexican ingredients.

I was sent a box full of Discovery goodies including their brand new Preservative Free Tortillas to try out in honour of Cinco de Mayo.  It contained everything needed to make Fajitas:

Tortillas
Salsa (mild, medium and hot)
Guacamole
Sour Cream
Jalapenos
Fajita Table Sauce
Fajita Seasoning (medium)
Fajita Paste (mild and hot)

All I needed to add were the peppers, onions, mushrooms and Quorn pieces to create fabulous veggie fajitas.

I used the Mild Fajita Paste to season the veggie mix that I flash fried.  The Preservative Free Tortilla were the softest most pliable wraps I've ever used.  Discovery definitely has the recipe perfected.  They can be heated in just 8 seconds in a microwave.

The seasoning was deliciously mild but very tasty with a smoky flavour.  The paste bound the veggie mix together.

Ella tucked in, adding the hot Salsa and Table Sauce to add a spicy kick to her Fajitas.  She said they were "super nommy!"  (Teen speak for delicious!!)

Kizzy liked her Fajita smothered in the creamy Sour Cream topping which was lovely.  She loves putting her own wraps together and said "It is fun and easy to do.  They are really yummy!"

We thoroughly enjoyed our Cinco de Mayo feast thanks to Discovery.  Mexican food is one of our favourite choices and we were all very impressed by Discovery's products.  Ian called the range of sauces, toppings and salsas "condiment heaven!"  The Preservative Free Tortilla were the best I've ever used.  They didn't stick together, were very pliable and tasted good...perfect for wrapping up a delicious Fajita.  It is such a fun menu choice.

The Discovery website includes a great Vegetarian recipe section and a fun kids' Make and Play section so you can have your own Mexican Family Fiesta!  You can buy the full range online.  Stockists include most major supermarkets including Asda, Sainsbury's, Tesco and Morisson's.

The preservative free wraps are available in Sainsbury's for £1.59.