Last night was full of all my favorites:
Good friends, good food, good booze. Mmmmhmmm.
Once the clock struck 5:00, we fired up the margarita machine and toasted to the Cinco de Mayo festivities.
To make the margaritas, I used some good ‘ol tequila, along with this Sinless Margarita mix. The company sent it to me a couple months ago to try out, and I’d been saving it for a special occasion.
We were all pleasantly surprised with the flavor of this mix. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it wasn’t as “oh-my-god-this-is-sweet” as some other mixes are. For only 5 calories a serving, we were all sold…and a couple of us celebrated with more than one.
Ohhh, don’t worry, nobody got crazy. 
While we were waiting for a couple more of the girls to arrive, a few of us snacked on some tortilla chips, salsa, and Healthier Guacamole.
I seriously could eat this stuff by the spoonful…well, actually, I did while I was making it soooo……
Once we were all here, I got to work on cooking up the meat and prepping our taco station. Thankfully, I had done some of the work ahead of time, so dinner was ready in a flash.
Make Your Own Taco Bar!
I had hard taco shells and soft tortillas, ground beef and ground chicken,
refried beans, lettuce, tomatoes, Mexican blend cheese, sour cream,
and my girl Eileen brought a rice and bean dish that had a serious kick to it.
I dug right in for my share: 2 whole wheat tortillas filled with beans, chicken, lettuce, tomatoes, a little sour cream, and extra guac.
Like I said, I can’t get enough of the stuff.
Everything was delicious, but I had to make sure to save room for dessert. I’d been waiting all day for this thing!
Margarita Cake!
*edited to include recipe*
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Margarita Cake
(inspired by this Betty Crocker recipe)
- 1 ½ cups coarsely crushed pretzels
- ½ cup sugar
- 1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted
- 1 box white cake mix
- 1 ¼ cups bottled nonalcoholic margarita mix
- 1/3 cup applesauce
- 1 tablespoon grated lime peel (about 1 lime)
- 3 egg whites
- 1 container (8 oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed
- Additional grated lime peel, if desired
Directions:
- Heat oven to 350°F (or 325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Grease bottom only of 13×9-inch pan with shortening and lightly flour (or spray bottom with baking spray with flour).
- In medium bowl, mix pretzels, sugar and butter. Sprinkle evenly on bottom of pan; press gently.In large bowl, beat cake mix, margarita mix, applesauce, 1 tablespoon lime peel and the egg whites with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour batter over pretzel mixture.
- Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until light golden brown and top springs back when touched lightly in center. Cool completely, about 2 hours. Frost with whipped topping; sprinkle with additional lime peel. Store covered in refrigerator. ENJOY!
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I enjoyed every last bite of my piece…
…but my favorite part is definitely the salty and sweet crust.
I made sure to send a bunch of it home with the girls…my waistline is already thanking me.
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This morning, I ran a nice three miles on the treadmill, but realized halfway through that I probably should have gone outside. Apparently, it’s just second nature to head down there, so I guess I’m going to have to work on that.
Breakfast was nothing you haven’t seen already this week…iced coffee
And this awesome stuff.
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Question for the Day:
How would you tackle a Taco Bar? What are your favorite mix-ins?
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