When Little Came to Play...[Homemade Guacamole & Salsa]

This weekend was a "girls weekend". I haven't had one of those in a while! My Little, Lisa, came down for a long-anticipated visit. We took a walk in Colonial Williamsburg, got dinner and Chai tea lattes at our favorite coffee shop (Aromas), ate blueberry pancake platters at Food Craft, ran in the pouring rain, deep conditioned our hair, made a delicious Mexican feast, went out to the "delis" (aka Williamsburg bars), made crockpot steel-cut oatmeal, and took a lovely morning-after walk to get coffee and my car.

When I spend the weekends in Richmond with Boyfriend, I don't really have the option to cook meals (not to mention that there are just so many different places to try in the city!). So, with a relaxing weekend at home and an open-minded guest, we took Saturday's dinner into our own hands...Our Mexican feast was slightly inspired by Chipotle, but we really just wanted to eat something easy and healthy to eat! Also, neither of us had made salsa or guacamole from scratch and we were excited for the challenge!

The menu included:

• Homemade Guacamole
• Homemade Salsa
• Homemade baked tortilla chips
• Cilantro lime quinoa
• Sweet corn
• Black beans

Miraculously, we didn't polish off the entire meal...which meant that I had lunch for work on Monday :) Isn't it beautiful?! The guacamole had browned a little by then, but was still ever-so-tasty. I CAN'T WAIT TO MAKE IT AGAIN! The salsa was also incredibly easy and delicious. Why had I never tried making these things before?!

There was so much to love about this past weekend...I was sad to see it and my Little go... Lucky me, I get to see her again NEXT weekend! Yes, another work trip is on the horizon :)

Guacamole

As Found on For the Love of Food

Servings: 3-4

2 avocados, scooped

juice of 1/2 to 1 lime

1/4 cup red or yellow onion, chopped 

2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro

1 small clove garlic, minced or grated

1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt 

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 tablespoon jalapeno, minced

• Using a fork, smoosh avocados in a medium bowl 

• Add remaining ingredients and combine with fork

Easy Salsa

 As Found on Mountain Mama Cooks

Servings: ~3-4 cups

1 14 ounce can diced tomatoes

1 10 ounce can Rotel

1/2 small red or yellow onion

1 clove garlic, minced or grated

1/2 to 1 jalapeno, with seeds removed

1 teaspoon honey

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1-2 teaspoons of cilantro (personal preference)

Juice of 1 lime

• Empty all ingredients into either a food processor or medium bowl. Pulse to combine for about 30 seconds, or if using a handheld mixer, blend briefly to combine.