The Best Queso Ever

Happy Cinco De Mayo!
When we lived in Oklahoma I was introduced to queso - real queso. Before that all I knew of queso was from a jar in the chip aisle, which was always a hard pass from me. In OKC all the best Mexican restaurants started the meal with house made chips & tortillas, fresh salsa, and white queso. This my friends was one of the worst food discoveries ever. You know why? Because I learned that queso is good! When we moved to Texas it was even worse, because the queso was even better.

When we moved back to the Northwest good queso was hard to find. So I did what I do. I tinkered in the kitchen, tried this recipe, and that recipe, mixed it this way, and that way, and boom. Perfection. First things first, here's what you need to whip up the perfect queso.

16 Oz of Velveeta (I know, I know, but trust me)
12 Oz Roasted Salsa
1 4 oz can of Diced Green Chilies
1/2 Cup milk
1/2 Cup Greek Yogurt (again - trust me on this)
1/2 Cup roughly copped cilantro
1/4 Cup Queso Fresco (optional but next level)
1 tsp of garlic salt
1 tsp of chili lime seasoning

This is a super easy one pot recipe!
In a sauce pan over Medium heat add Velveeta, milk, greek yogurt, and seasonings. Once smooth add in salsa, and green chilies. Once well combined add cilantro and queso fresco.

Top with an extra sprinkle of queso fresco and boom, perfect queso!

Lucky Little Leprechauns

 Are you team "Irish I was Irish" or team "what's with all the green"? I grew up in a town with a very heavy Irish Catholic populations, so we celebrated St. Patrick's Day big time. We got out of school early for the St. Patrick's day parade, and main street was decorated in green for weeks. St. Patrick's Day Mass was the second largest Mass of the year, that's how important it was to my home town. So I was shocked when I graduated, went away to college and learned that it isn't huge everywhere! So obviously I'm team celebrate big! Wether you're Irish or not, it's still fun to get into the celebration.

And as previously discussed, celebrating things with kids is my jam, and it's way more fun than grown up celebrations! Our tradition is pretty simple. When the kids go to be the night before St. Pat's (St. Patrick's day is always March 17th) the leprechaun runs wild. He dyes the milk green (2 drops of food coloring), leaves rainbow candies, gold coins, and lucky charms cereal as their surprise. 

The leprechaun also "tattoos" the kids while they sleep. This is the hardest thing about our tradition! I get the temporary tattoos really wet and place them on their little arms while they sleep. I do my best to pat them on, but I have one light sleeper who makes it more of a challenge. The surprise on their faces when they notice them is the best! Even my non-believer still thinks it's cool.

For breakfast they get to have Lucky Charms, a fresh fruit rainbow, and green eggs. To make the green eggs I put a handful of spinach and 1/4 cup of milk in my Vitamix, blended until smooth and then added 6 eggs. Blend until smooth and make as normal scrambled eggs, I added some thick sliced ham and white cheddar.  The kids love having special breakfast, it really makes the day more fun.

And of course you've got to have Corned Beef for dinner! I make mine in the slow cooker, which is pretty fool-proof.  But my favorite thing to do with corned beef is to make corned beef hash breakfast for dinner the next day! Fine chop some potatoes, 1/2 an onion, and some corned beef, fry it in a cast iron pan until crispy.

 Top it with an over easy egg and it's pure perfection.

However you choose to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, I hope the luck of the Irish is on your side. 

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