Recipes to Spice Up Your Taco Tuesday

I mentioned a few weeks ago that my family did a Mexican cuisine themed Christmas this year. The food was amazing and it was nice to change it up and do something different. I made Churro Cheesecake Bars and Guacamole. I wanted to share the recipes with you all for your next Taco Tuesday. 

Churro Cheesecake Bars – 45 minutes including bake time

These Churro Cheesecake Bars are very simple to make and delicious. I found the original recipe on food.com and made them the day before our gathering. I just stored them in the refrigerator until we were ready to eat. 

Ingredients
Cheesecake
3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tubes crescent rolls

Topping
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13 pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Beat the cream cheese and sugar with a hand mixer until fluffy. 
3. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until all ingredients are blended together.
4. Place one tube of crescent rolls on the bottom of the 9 X 13 pan. Pinch the seams together. 
5. Spread the mixture on top of the crescent rolls evenly.
6. Add the second tube of crescent rolls on top of the mixture. Pinch the seams together. 
7. Sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar topping on top of the crescent rolls. 
8. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool before serving. 

Guacamole – 20 minutes

I also made guacamole and served with tortilla chips. This is my favorite way to make guacamole. The olive oil is a game changer and not usually incorporated into guacamole recipes. It prevents the avocado from turning brown quickly and blends well with the other ingredients. I easily quadrupled this recipe for a larger group, but the ingredients below serve about four people.

Ingredients 
1 tomato diced
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
1 jalapeño pepper, finely chopped
2 tablespoons cilantro, Finley chopped
1 avocado
1-2 tablespoons olive oil (you can always add more)
Juice from 1 lime
Sea salt

1. Deseed and mash the avocado. I usually use a fork so that the avocado is a little chunky and not too smooth. 
2. Stir in diced tomato, chopped red onion, chopped jalapeño, and cilantro. If you don’t want your guacamole spicy, just leave a few seeds in it. If you want it to be spicy, add in more. I save the seeds and gradually add them in, tasting as I go. 
3. Stir in the olive oil and lime juice. 
4. Salt to taste. 

I hope you all enjoy these recipes as much as we did! Fiesta!!