I am excited to be working with Smithfield to bring you this delicious recipe for Tex-Mex Breakfast Tacos featuring Smithfield Breakfast Sausage. Keep reading to find out more!

 I love breakfast, but sometimes I don’t love eating breakfast early in the morning!

Growing up in Mexico, breakfast is kind of a big deal – it is actually one of the biggest meals of the day. You will often find delicious Mexican style eggs, homemade salsa, and always lots of freshly made tortillas.

I remember always looking forward to having a tasty, large breakfast every day. Now fast forward 7 years and 3 kids to the present, and sometimes it is not easy to have a big breakfast every morning. More often then not I find myself having something small to eat while I am serving my kids, and then eating something bigger a few hours later. As a result, I am now a pretty big fan of brunch!

Now, just because I am eating brunch a few hours later, doesn’t mean that it can’t be just as good as when I was growing up, right?

That is why I am so glad that there are so many great breakfast products that I can use to recreate similar breakfast recipes to what I used to eat in Mexico. One of my favorites is Smithfield Breakfast Sausage. It comes in great flavors such as maple, bacon, and hometown original and  you can get it as a roll, in links, or patties. I only like to use high quality products, and Smithfield fits the bill – it is made with only premium quality pork and is gluten free.

In addition to the sausage, Smithfield has lots of other great products that are perfect for brunch like bacon, spiral sliced ham, and more!

Usually in Mexico we use chorizo (a spicy sausage) for breakfast to go along with the eggs and potatoes, but I decided to use Smithfield Breakfast Sausage for today’s recipe.

These breakfast tacos combine my favorite tastes from Mexico – Mexican style eggs, fresh salsa, and tortillas, with some of my new favorites from the USA – Smithfield Breakfast Sausage and roasted garlic potatoes.

The Mexican style eggs are basically scrambled eggs with tomatoes, onions, jalapenos, and cilantro. These are often just served with salsa and tortillas on the side, but I decided to combine them in these breakfast tacos to mix things up a bit.

For the potatoes, I used red potatoes and cut them up into small cubes before cooking them with a little bit of olive oil, garlic, fresh parsley, salt, and pepper until they were nice and crispy.

After the eggs and potatoes are done, all you need to do is brown the Smithfield Breakfast Sausage, and add it to the eggs together with the potatoes. I like to use homemade tortillas, but if you are in a hurry you can use store bought. If you do, make sure you heat them in a skillet for about 30 seconds on each side until they get nice and warm and a little bit crispy. Next you will add the cheese and the potato, egg, and sausage mixture.

Finally, serve the tacos with freshly made salsa and enjoy! I hope that you find these Tex-Mex Breakfast Tacos as yummy as I do – let me know in the comments below!

For more great recipes using Smithfield brand products, go to smithfield.com.

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Tex-Mex Breakfast Tacos Recipe

Tex-Mex Breakfast Tacos Recipe is a great fusion of Mexican Food and American Food. 

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American, Mexican

Keyword eggs, mexican breakfast, tex-mex

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 8 tacos

Calories 175kcal

Author Charbel Barker

Ingredients

• 1 Roll of Smithfield Breakfast Sausage
• 4 Large Eggs
• 1-2 Roma Tomatoes
• 1/2 onion
• 1-2 Jalapenos
• 1/4 bunch of fresh cilantro
• 2-3 medium red potatoes
• 1-2 cloves of garlic
• salt and pepper to taste for potatoes and eggs
• 1-2 tablespoons of freshly chopped parsley
• 8 homemade or store bought tortillas and salsa
• Shredded cheese

Instructions

• Chop up the tomatoes, jalapenos, onions, and cilantro and saute them with a small amount of olive oil.
• Add the beaten eggs and scramble, set aside.
• Cook the Smithfield Breakfast Sausage per package instructions.
• Chop the potatoes into small cubes and cook with a little bit of olive oil, chopped garlic, salt and pepper until they are slightly crispy - top with parsley.
• Combine the potatoes, eggs, and sausage and mix well.
• Heat the tortilla in a frying pan and add the shredded cheese.
• Add the above mixture and serve with fresh salsa.

Nutrition

Serving: 1Tacos | Calories: 175kcal | Carbohydrates: 25g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 84mg | Sodium: 269mg | Potassium: 355mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 245IU | Vitamin C: 9mg | Calcium: 51mg | Iron: 1.8mg

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Smithfield.

The post Tex-Mex Breakfast Tacos Recipe appeared first on My Latina Table.

Inside

Whenever I am having a bad day, I know that there is one thing that can cheer me up, and that is chocolate! The smooth delicious taste of milk or dark chocolate can take a bad mood and turn it into a good mood, so that is why I always try to have some great chocolate recipes on hand!

Why Use Homemade Cake Mix?

This particular recipe has plenty of chocolate to go around, but it is not all chocolate. I have seen lots of recipes for chocolate bundt cake, but most of them use a pre-made cake mix.

While that can be good in a hurry, I like to make my recipes as much from scratch as possible. When I have to consciously think about and see each ingredient that I put into my recipes, I know that they will be high quality. That is why I start with All Purpose Flour to make my own cake mix, followed by a variety of other ingredients. 

This triple chocolate bundt cake also includes chocolate pudding, vanilla, and other tasty ingredients. It is pretty easy to make and everyone that tries it loves it!

This cake takes a little while to bake, so make sure that you plan on at least a couple of hours from start to finish. I promise that it will be well worth the wait!

After the chocolate bundt cake has cooled and you have removed it from the bundt pan, you can decorate it however you want. In order to justify the “triple chocolate” name, I drizzled melted chocolate over the entire thing. If you want – you can just stop there, but I also added some chopped pecans for a little extra crunch.

However you decide to decorate it, there is one thing that you can be sure of – this homemade triple chocolate bundt cake is not going to last for long!

This is quickly becoming a family favorite and one that we surely will be taking to many events with family and friends in the months and years to come.

I would love to hear how it turns out for you in the comments below!

Check Out These Other Great Desserts

• Lemon Carlota
• The Best (and easiest) Flan Napolitano Recipe
• Delicious Mexican Mosaic Gelatin Recipe (Gelatina de Mosaico)
• The Best Tres Leches Cake Recipe
• The Best Churros Recipe with Sweet Piloncillo Dipping Sauce
• Gelatina de Leche (Mexican Milk Jello)

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The Best Homemade Triple Chocolate Bundt Cake Recipe (No Cake Mix)

This Triple Chocolate Bundt Cake is easier to make than you would think and is from scratch (no cake mix version)

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword bundt cake, cake

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 5 minutes minutes

Servings 8 Slices

Calories 472kcal

Author Charbel Barker

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons of All Purpose Flour
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 3/4 teaspoon of baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1/3 cup of baking cocoa
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 package of instant chocolate pudding 5.9 ounce
• 3/4 cup of sour cream
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup of warm water
• 1 cup of vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 2 cups of semisweet or milk chocolate chips.
• Melting chocolate
• Chopped Pecans optional

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Combine the first seven ingredients in a stand mixer and mix well.
• Add the sour cream, eggs, water, oil, and vanilla extract and mix very well (this is not a thick batter)
• Stir in the chocolate chips.
• Spread the batter evenly in a heavily greased bundt pan.
• Bake for 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
• Let cool in pan for at least one hour before removing.
• Melt the melting chocolate and then drizzle over the cooled cake.
• Top with chopped pecans if desired.

Nutrition

Serving: 1Slice | Calories: 472kcal | Carbohydrates: 67g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Cholesterol: 99mg | Sodium: 331mg | Potassium: 165mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 54g | Vitamin A: 355IU | Vitamin C: 0.5mg | Calcium: 111mg | Iron: 2.1mg

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Bob’s Red Mill.

The post The Best Homemade Triple Chocolate Bundt Cake Recipe (No Cake Mix) appeared first on My Latina Table.

We rung in the new year this year by welcoming our third baby boy to the family early in January. It has been so fun getting to know our new little guy, but as anyone with little kids can attest, it can be quite an adjustment as well!

Having a new baby means that there isn’t as much time to make whole meals from scratch all the time. That is why I am glad that there are so many high quality, frozen products like this family size Bertolli® Italian Sausage & Rigatoni. We love Bertolli frozen meals – they are so delicious and they allow us to make memories around the dinner table without spending all day in the kitchen. Fortunately for all of us, you can find them easily at all Kroger banner stores and the “meals for two” variety will be at their lowest price of the year throughout the month of February!

I also love the Bertolli motto of “Don’t just eat, Mangia.” Mangia means to eat in Italian, and it brings excitement to everyday meals!

We decided to pair the Bertolli Italian Sausage & Rigatoni with a homemade roasted red pepper bisque. It is super easy to make and includes fresh red peppers and tomatoes that you can find at your local Kroger banner store as well in the produce section.

You start by roasting a couple of red bell peppers and tomatoes. You can do this by baking them in the oven at a high temperature or by placing them directly on the hot stove top. After the skin is blackened, remove it and set aside.

The next step is to saute the sliced roasted red peppers with garlic and onions before adding to a blender with the tomatoes and blending well.

After it is blended, strain the liquid back into a frying pan and add the chicken broth and cream and season with salt, pepper and a pinch of ground ginger. Boil and let simmer for about 15 minutes. You can also add a small amount of corn starch if you want a thicker consistency.

This bisque, along with the Bertolli Italian Sausage & Rigatoni made for an amazing family meal that we were able to enjoy despite all of the craziness going on around us. I hope that you will try this as well and that you are able to make some amazing memories!

Bertolli® is a registered trademark of R&B Foods, Inc., used under license.

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Pasta Bertolli and Red Pepper Bisque for dinner

Author Charbel Barker

Ingredients

• 1 Packahge of Bertolli family size pasta

For the Red Pepper bisque

• 1 Red pepper roasted and peeled cut in cubes
• 1/4 onion finely chopped
• 2 garlics finely chopped
• 2 roasted tomatoes
• 1 cup of heavi whipping cream
• 1 cup of chicken stock
• 1 pinch of ground ginger
• Red pepper flakes to desire.

to garnish

• cilantro chpped
• feta cheese and red peper falkes
• sal and peper

Instructions

• pon la pasta en una sarten onda y cocunala por solo 15 minutos!

Para ek red ppeper biswue

• acitrona el ajo y la cebolla junto a los pimientos cortados. agrega los tomates junto con lo anterios y licua todo hasta que este completamente suave. Cuela. y sofrie la salsa. agrega el caldo d epollo y la crema. sazona cob la pimienta, sal y el ginger. deja hervir 15 minutos, si deas mas cnsitencia agrega en un cuarto de taza de agua dos cucharadas de corns satrch y disuelve, agrega a la sopa y continua moviendo hasta obtener la cosnistencia ddeseaada. acompana con la pasta y el garnish.
• licua todo has

The post Homemade Roasted Red Pepper Bisque Recipe appeared first on My Latina Table.

One of the best parts about Christmas is sharing delicious recipes with friends and family. Keep reading to see how you can plan an amazing Christmas “fiesta” with three great Mexican recipes. Also, enter using the form below this image for a chance to win great prizes including a KitchenAid Stand Mixer, an Instant Pressurized Pot, and more.

#AddFlavor Sweepstakes

When I moved to the United States 6 years ago, I knew that there were going to be a lot of cultural differences. One of the biggest was when Christmas rolled around. In Mexico Christmas Eve is celebrated more prominently than Christmas day, and the traditions are quite a bit different. I always loved sharing delicious food with my family in Mexico including “Pollo Horneado” (Oven roasted chicken), “Ponche de Frutas” (fruit punch), and “Ensalada de Manzana” (apple salad). These three recipes are some of my favorites and I definitely missed them the first year I was here!

That said, I have really grown to love all of the fun Christmas traditions that we share here in the United States. It is so fun to see the joy in our kids’ faces when they open their presents, when we go to look at Christmas lights, when they sit on Santa’s lap, and when they get together with their cousins. I have also grown to like the food that is so common around here this time of year. Even still, I always try to teach my kids about their Mexican heritage and that includes showing them how we celebrate Christmas in Mexico. I also like showing my extended family some of the recipes we make. That is why I planned a dinner at our house to invite everyone to show them how we do a Christmas feast in Mexico!

The key to having a delicious Mexican-style Christmas celebration is to have amazing food, and festive decorations. You will almost always find a pinata at these “fiestas” as well as other decorations like colorful banners, place-mats, and more! Check out the images below for some “tablescape” ideas that you can use if you want to try out something different this year.

Pollo Al Horno (Mexican-Style Oven Roasted Chicken)

In order to ensure that the party is really a hit, you have to have real, authentic Mexican dishes. The first recipe that I want to share with all of you is one of my favorites – “Pollo al Horno.” Now this is not just any oven roasted chicken recipe. This recipe is different than anything you have probably ever tried! My abuelita always used to make this in Mexico with turkey, but sometimes for Christmas and other special occasions we made it with chicken instead because it was more affordable and just as delicious.

In order to make it, you are going to want to make sure that you have Knorr® Tomato with Chicken Granulated Bouillon – 2.2 lbs and La Morena® Chipotle Peppers in Adobo, because you will need to use both of them. Both the Knorr® and La Morena® brands bring back so many memories from growing up in Mexico, because they are used in so many classic Mexican recipes – like these. They are such great quality and I know that I can always count on them adding great flavor to all of my favorite meals. You can find both in the Hispanic aisle at Walmart.

To make this Mexican version of oven roasted chicken, you will first season the chicken with a spice mix before covering it in a sauce made with 1/2 stick of butter, 3 tablespoons of mayonnaise, and 2 tablespoons of mustard. You will then need to cover it in plastic and let it marinate overnight.

The next day, you will make a flavorful filling made with ground beef, potatoes, carrots, and raisins (optional).

Finally, you will add a delicious and spicy adobo sauce over the top that is made with guajillo chilies, ancho chilies, La Morena® Chipotle Peppers in Adobo, and Knorr® Tomato with Chicken Granulated Bouillon before baking for about an hour and a half at 400 degrees. See recipe at the end of this post for exact quantities.

This chicken is so tender and flavorful that you will have people begging for more! One of my favorite parts about this recipe is to make delicious quesadillas and sandwiches with the leftovers – you have to try it!

Ponche de Fruta (Mexican Fruit Punch)

The next recipe that I want to share is for a classic Mexican drink that is very common at Christmas – “Ponche de Fruta” or Fruit Punch. This is not like the fruit punch that you buy at the store with artificial flavors and colors – this is a made from scratch, flavorful drink that tastes kind of like apple cider.

To make this, you will start by boiling 2 liters of water together with 1 piloncillo (look for it in the Hispanic aisle), 2 cinnamon sticks, and 1/2 cup of fresh jamaica leaves for about 20 minutes.

Next, you will add the following fruit to the pot – 2 chopped apples, 10-15 prunes, 1/2 cup of raisins, 6 peeled and chopped guavas, tecojote (Hawthorne apples – I couldn’t find these :(, but if you have Mexican markets near you, you may be able to), and pure sugar cane (I couldn’t find this either). After adding these ingredients, let it all cook together on low for about 40 minutes before serving hot. Even if you can’t find all of the ingredients, this is still amazing!

Ensalada de Manzana (Mexican-Style Apple Salad)

The final recipe that I want to share today is for this delicious Mexican-Style Apple Salad. To make it, you will start by adding 4 green apples, chopped into small pieces, 1/2 cup of raisins, 1/2 cup of chopped pecans, and 1 can of peaches in syrup (chopped) in a large bowl.

Next, add 3/4 cups of heavy cream, and 3/4 can of sweetened condensed milk (or less if you want it to be less sweet), and stir everything together. Finally, refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before eating it.

After you have all of these recipes ready, it is time to prepare your table as shown above. You can find lots of these types of decorations at your local party store. The important thing is to make sure that you have great food and fun decorations. For my tablescape, I was sure to include some more American decorations like pine boughs and candles, and I think it turned out really good!

I can’t wait to have my family over to try these amazing recipes and to share a little bit more about how Christmas is celebrated in Mexico.

What are your favorite Christmas traditions?

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Mexican Style Oven Roasted Chicken

Author Charbel Barker

Ingredients

• 1 Whole Chicken

For the Rub

• 4 cloves of garlic
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon of cumin
• 4 cloves
• 1/2 onion chopped
• salt
• pepper
• oregano

For the marinade

• 1/2 stick of butter
• 3 tablespoons of mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons of mustard

For the Stuffing

• 1/4 pound of ground beef
• 1 potato cleaned and diced
• 2 carrots cleaned, peeled, and cut into small pieces
• 1 handful of raisins optional

For the Adobo Sauce

• 5 guajillo chilies boiled, peeled, and deseeded
• 1 ancho chilie boiled, peeled, and deseeded
• 1 tablespoon of Knorr® Tomato with Chicken Granulated Bouillon - 2.2 lbs
• 1-3 peppers from a can of La Morena® Chipotle Peppers in Adobo
• 1/2 cup of cola

Instructions

• Start by combining the spice mixture and then use it to cover the whole chicken.
• Combine the stick of butter (cut into small pieces) with the mayonnaise and the mustard and then cover the entire chicken. Cover in plastic and let marinate all night.
• Make the filling by cooking the ground beef and then adding the rest of the ingredients. Put inside the chicken.
• Combine all of the ingredients for the Adobo sauce in a blender and blend until everything is combined and broken down. Pour over the chicken.
• Bake at 400 degrees for 1.5 hours.

The post Three Great Mexican Recipes For Celebrating Christmas appeared first on My Latina Table.

Around this time last year my family started getting hit by a series of illnesses that really took a toll on us. Of course it is impossible to avoid all illnesses, but there are some simple things that we have started doing to live more healthful lifestyles that have really made a difference!

For today’s post, I am going to share a few things that we have been doing to feel better and to live a more healthy life – both physically and emotionally.

Keeping Germs Away

My five year old just started first grade this year, which means that he will definitely be coming in contact with germs on a regular basis. While that is unavoidable, we have tried to do whatever we can to neutralize those germs. We have made an extra effort to teach our kids to wash their hands with antibacterial soap as much as they can. We have also sent our son to school with hand sanitizer and he has been making an effort to keep his hands nice and clean!

Taking Vitamins

Someone at my husband’s work suggested that he start taking a daily multivitamin. He had taken them in the past, but really didn’t like taking a big pill that was hard to get down and didn’t taste great. That said, he wanted to take better care of himself so he started taking them. A few weeks into this new routine, we discovered Sundown Naturals® Adult Gummy Vitamins at Walmart. These are so much easier to take and they taste great too! He now happily takes one of the Men’s Multivitamin Gummies every day. *Each delicious, fruit-flavored gummy delivers energy, immune system, and bone support, which is definitely important as we get older. Another great thing about them is that they are free of gluten, dairy, and artificial flavors◊.

I always purchase my vitamins and other supplements on www.evitamins.com. If you click on that link, you will get $5.00 off your first order.

Reading Books

I have found that when I take time to relax and enjoy a good book, I feel better during the day and it helps to relieve stress. I believe that being less stressed not only helps me emotionally, but physically as well. I now have a list of books that I want to read and I look forward to making my way through it.

Exercising on a Regular Basis

I can’t tell you how much this has helped both my husband and me. Admittedly, he has done a better job of exercising on a regular basis, which you can read more about here. That said, we both have made a big effort to get out and exercise as much as possible. There has definitely been a noticeable difference in the amount of energy that we have, and how we feel overall. Coming up with a good plan to exercise is so important and I would encourage everyone to do it!

I hope that these 4 tips will help you and your family to feel better and live healthier. Do you have any tips to add to the list? I would love to hear about them in the comments below.

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.  ◊Applies to all products manufactured after 5/1/15. Please check back of label as manufacture dates may vary.

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