No, these aren’t the Taco Bell Chalupas. Although I must admit I have had a taco bell chalupa once or twice. It was college…yes, you can judge. Haha.

I had chalupas like this in Puebla when I went for the first time with my father last year. He had just enjoyed a meal at a nice restaurant, but I wanted to hold out for some street food. After he ate, we walked around the city in search of some elote when I saw a lady making these chalupas. At the time I didn’t know what it was, but it smelled amazing. She had a huge comal with chalupas and was selling them five at a time. They were amazing! I’ve been thinking about them ever since and I really wanted Michael to taste them, so I finally made them. They were so good, and I wanted to share the recipe with you. I’m also sharing my recipe for salsa verde (below), since I shared how I make salsa roja last year.

Gather Ingredients

Corn tortillas

Lard

Chopped onion

Shredded chicken

Red Salsa

Green Salsa (recipe below)

Queso Fresco

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Now what?

1. Heat your pan with a generous amount of Lard (about 3 teaspoons for a small pan).

2. Add tortillas to crisp. Flip tortilla after about 60 seconds.

3. Add a handful of chicken, onion, and two scoops of salsa or until covered.

4. Let cook for another minute or two. It will sizzle a lot so be careful of the Lard jumping. You have to be brave and let the grease hit your hand a little as you add the salsa.

5. Take out of the pan and transfer to your plate and top with queso fresco.

6. Enjoy!

I was so happy they turned out! They cook really quickly so make sure you have all your ingredients ready to go. And I used Lard to make these, but I’m sure you can also use vegetable oil.

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Salsa Verde

Gather Ingredients

Green Tomatoes (2 lbs)

1 onion

3 cloves of garlic

About 1/2 cup of chopped cilantro

Salt to taste

2 serrano peppers

Now what?

1. Peel and wash tomatoes. Peel onion and garlic.

2. Put tomatoes, onion, and garlic in a pan with medium heat.

3. Let it all brown. Turning every few minutes to make sure it browns until skin of tomato starts peeling. This part is about 30 minutes.

4. Put tomatoes, onion, and garlic in a blender. Add about 6 oz of water.

5. Blend.

6. Add cilantro & salt to taste. Add the 2 serrano peppers, more if you want to add heat.

7. Blend until ingredients are all incorporated.

8. Enjoy!

This is a nice fresh salsa great for the summer months. I usually alternate between making green and red salsa at home. If you make either of these recipes at home, I’d love to know! Leave a comment below, or share a picture of your meal with me on Instagram!

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Well, well, well, who do we have here. I think this is the first time my husband has any presence on my blog. He’s usually behind the scenes; helping me hang my art pieces when I display a gallery wall, keeping the kids under control during my Instagram Lives, or my assistant when I’m cooking or doing a photo shoot. He really is the “stage manager” or “head of logistics” as I often call him.

Most of the time my kids are either helping, or eating whatever I make. However, with this meal since I was using jalapeños, they weren’t involved in the process. They both know how to make scrambled eggs, and have their preferences on what they like or don’t like in them. I specifically made this lunch for Michael though. I have Huevos a la Mexicana or a variation of it almost every day for lunch. But today, I made some for him. AND I even made him some fresh tortillas. Legit. My friend let me borrow her tortilla press a few weeks ago, and I’ve been making tortillas since.

This is a really quick, simple, inexpensive, but flavorful meal that can be enjoyed any time of the day. I usually have this for lunch, since my breakfasts consist of protein shakes, and fruit. There’s a little restaurant in Mexico that we stop every time we drive from Guadalajara to Puerto Vallarta for brunch. This is my go-to meal to order there, and their fresh tortillas are the best tortillas I’ve ever had. It’s a tradition I look forward to every year, but until then, I try to recreate it at home.

GATHER INGREDIENTS

*serves two

3 eggs

small tomato

1/4 small onion

1/2 jalapeno

tortillas

*optional: ham

Huevos a la Mexicana technically don’t include ham, but I like to add ham. Even when I order in Mexico, I usually ask that they add some ham if I’m feeling a little extra. It’s actually a common thing to add ham, chorizo, or even hot dogs (cut up in little rounds) to give your eggs a little personality.

NOW WHAT?

This will probably all be common sense, and the easiest recipe ever.

1. Chop the tomato, onion, jalapeño, and ham

2. Sauté the vegetables for a few minutes.

3. Add in eggs. I don’t like to pre-scramble because I like to have the egg whites visible in my eggs. So I either add directly to the pan, or just break the yolk like I did here for pictures.

4. Cook until ready to eat.

5. Serve with some beans and tortillas***.

6. Enjoy!

***if you’re making tortillas, I would press them before you start cooking the eggs. Have all your ingredients ready, press out a few tortillas and put them on the comal (griddle) to heat up. Then cook the eggs while the tortillas are warming up.

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I’ll be honest, and say I’ve never celebrated Dia de la Candelaria. And this was the first year that we celebrated (in our own way) Dia de los Reyes which was on Jan 6th.  I even made Rosca de Reyes the traditional bread for this day. These two holidays are a follow up to Christmas. This is actually the first year I’ve done research on these two events. I get self conscious when it comes to traditions or holidays I’ve never celebrated or heard of because it’s part of my culture, and I feel like I SHOULD know about this. But rather than sit in that self conscious state, I know that I want to be able to teach my children as I dive deep into historical dates and the reasons behind them. 

To give you a context for the progression of the holidays:

First, on Christmas Eve, the Niño Dios, or baby Jesus is placed in the nativity scene, on January 6th, King's Day, the baby Jesus is brought presents from the Magi, and on February 2nd, the baby Jesus is dressed in fine clothes and presented in the church.

Dia de la Candelaria is based on the passage in scripture Luke 2:22-39 when Jesus was presented at the temple and was referred to as “a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people of Israel”; giving significance to the candles. It’s also 40 days from Christmas which according to Jewish law is how long a women is considered unclean after giving birth. 

Dia de los Reyes is the family celebration on Jan 6th, where Pan de Reyes is eaten. Pan de Reyes is a bread with a little baby Jesus figurine hidden inside. And if you are the one who found it in your piece of bread, the torch is passed and it’s customary for you to host the Dia de Candelaria celebration with lots of tamales and atole for your family. This Mexican tradition is the acknowledgement of both the European and pre-Hispanic traditions since tamales were used as offerings to the god of water in hopes that the rain is abundant for a good harvest in the coming year.

Lastly, Dia de la Candelaria is also a sign of transition from the holiday and winter season to the Spring, in the same way Groundhog Day is that for the United States. 

This year I made it a priority to start learning how to make tamales. I have a long way to go, but I’m excited to say I’ve made 3 batches, each one a little better than the last. I also shared my atole & champurrado recipe that had the perfect sweetness and thickness for my liking. Tell me, I’d love to hear if or how your family enjoys these holidays. Do you have a favorite memory from childhood that you’ve continued with your family? 

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I’ve been confused about the difference between atole and champurrado since forever. And would you believe that it’s been this week, yep…just this week, that I’ve actually taken time to learn about the difference?

And apparently they’re pretty similar. The difference is that champurrado has chocolate. Simple.

This is a corn based drink, that is thick, creamy, and sweet. Atole dates back to Mesoamerican times, and today is common to have this drink during the colder months in the holiday season, but can also be a traditional breakfast drink. In Mexico you’ll see vendors selling tamales with atole/champurrado in the mornings as people head to the bus stops for work. The last time I was in Puebla, I stopped at one of these corners and bought atole and tamales for breakfast, and it was delicious.

I know that the winter season is halfway over, and most of the holidays have passed, but with Dia de la Calendaria come up in a few weeks, I still feel like we’re still in cozy drinks and dessert mode. So I’m sharing the basic recipe with you. There are so many variations that you can make by adding things like vanilla, fruit, and nuts.

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Gather Ingredients

1/2 cup Masa

1 cups Water

3 1/2 cups Milk

1 small piece of Piloncillo (or brown sugar) about 1.5 oz.

2 Cinnamon Sticks

For Champurrdo:

also include 1 disk of Mexican Chocolate

*serves 2-4.

Note: The measurements I used will give it the consistency and sweetness I prefer. I don’t like atole super thick, but slightly less thick than a smoothie or milkshake. I also like a noticable cinnamon flavor to add to the sweetness. Feel free to add a little more masa or another tablet of piloncillo to thicken or sweeten it up.

Now what?

1. Put milk, piloncillo, cinnamon sticks, over medium heat until piloncillo is dissolved. If you’re making champurrado, this is where you can add the disk of chocolate.

2. In a separate saucer, put water and masa. Whisk until dissolved.

3. Add the thickened masa to the milk mixture. (Be sure to take out the cinnamon sticks first.)

4. Whisk together for about 5 minutes.

5. Let cool. It will thicken as it cools.

6. Enjoy!

   *I personally like this consistency. I don’t like atole too thick. Add masa for a thicker drink, but please note that it thickens as it cools. You can also save leftovers for the next day, and add a little bit of milk as you warm it.

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This is the first time we will be celebrating Dia de los Reyes as a family. Honestly I hadn’t really known about this holiday until last year. Our friends brought over a Rosca de Reyes cake and explained this tradition to us.

Dia de Reyes is celebrated on January 6th and is the 12th day after Christmas, officially marking the end of the holiday festivities. Just like Santa Claus is the traditional character to bring gifts on Christmas, in Latin America, the three wise men are the ones to bring gifts for children, just like the three wise men brought gifts to baby Jesus.

Rosca de Reyes is a sweet bread that is supposed to resemble a crown, with fruit that resembles rubies or jewels. On this day it’s tradition to get together with family have a meal, and share a Rosca de Reyes. There’s a small plastic baby hidden inside. Just like the location of Jesus also needed to be kept hidden so his life would be spared, no one knows who will get the piece with the baby figurine.

Whoever ends up with the baby figurine has to host a big meal with tamales and atole on Feb 2nd, Dia de la Candelaria. Yes, it does seem like there’s always a party going on…but I’m not complaining.

The tradition is for kids to leave out a shoe with carrots or grass for the camels, and it will be replaced with some candy. Usually the day before the kids create little baskets, which they leave next to their bed. A gift brought by the wise men is then left inside or next to the basket.

This year since my kids got plenty of gifts for Christmas, we’re going to be talking about how they can use their gifts or talents or skills to share with others to bring glory to God. They did end up leaving a shoe out with carrots, (we don’t have that much grass) that was filled with some goodies. I made tamales again, as well as my own Rosca de Reyes. I followed a recipe from Muy Bueno and just modified it a little. My son, doesn’t really like a lot of sweets, and really hates when things are sticky, so I skipped the fruit, and the glazed topping, and both the kids LOVED this bread. I definitely recommend it. It’s been fun sharing all of these new traditions and recipes with my family.

I’d love to know what you do for this holiday. Leave a comment below!

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