We are so Excited to start our week of all thing Mexican in honor of Cinco de Mayo. All week we will be sharing recipes from our family and friends that know how to cook authentic Mexican dishes. Here are a few staples for most Mexican meals

1. Crema – found in the fridge with the cheese  in a white bottle. This is kind’ve like table cream but it’s what they use instead of sour cream.

2. Fresh cilantro – only lasts about 4 days before going bad or losing flavor. Cut off and discard as much of the stem as you can.

3. Queso Fresco – you can find in the Mexican isle fridge section by the flour tortillas-although it is for sure not my favorite brand. (best kinds are found at the Mexican stores)

4. Pinto Beans – ALWAYS COOK YOUR OWN. Canned pintos are gross!!! I always soak overnight, drain, then cook in crock pot all day with on low with salt and fresh minced garlic and sometimes a ham hock. For refried beans just blend in a blender-that’s it. Nothing fancy, you don’t have to “fry” them after blending, just blend, that’s it. Cooked pintos freeze very well so I always make a huge batch then freeze in freezer bags. So anywhere below that says refried beans really just means homemade beans that have been blended.

5. Cumin

6. Adobo seasoning. I had a hard time finding this in most stores. I found a ton of different kinds at the Mexican store.

7. Roma tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, fresh garlic, purple (red) onions

8. Limes!! LOTS of Limes.

9. Lime soaked onions- recipe here.

10. good quality corn tortillas. I am very picky about brands of these. We get these at-you guessed it-the Mexican store. We buy about 10 packages at a time and freeze them in our deep freezer.

Thanks to our blogging friends for letting us link up this post at: Crafty Soiree, michelles tasty creations