Fresh and Fancy Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Dippers

I am in LOVE with this fruit salsa!  I love that I can throw this together with whatever fruit I have on hand and I love that I can make a large batch for a big group or I can make it as a snack for just my family (or myself).  

Ingredients:
Salsa

• 1 Fuji Apple
• 2 Bananas
• 1 Kiwi
• About 10 Strawberries
• 2 Handfulls of Grapes
• 2 Handfulls of Blueberries
• 1 Tablespoon Lime Juice
• 2 Tablespoons Sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg

Combine Lime Juice, cinnamon, sugar, and nutmeg in a small bowl- set aside.  Peel and dice apple (I dont always do this), bananas, and kiwi.  Cut grapes into halves or quarters. Leave blueberries whole.  Mix all fruits together. Gently stir in lime juice mixture until all fruit is covered.  Refrigerate for about 15 minutes to let the juices mix with the fruit.  Serve with Cinnamon Dippers. 

Ingredients:

Cinnamon Dippers

• 8 Flour Tortillas
• 1/2 cup melted Butter ( I usually skip this and just use Spray Butter.  It is easier and a lot less fat)
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 3 tablespoons sugar

I keep a shaker of cinnamon sugar on had so I just use it instead of mixing it separately

Preheat oven to 350.  Combine cinnamon and sugar in small bowl- set aside.  Cut your tortillas into dippable triangle shapes and place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Sprinkle each dipper with a generous amount of the cinn-sugar mix.  Bake for 7-9 minutes.

Cool and serve with Fresh & Fancy Fruit Salsa.  

Note:  If you don't have time to make the cinnamon dippers you can serve it on graham crackers too!

Salsa Chicken

If you haven't noticed, we tend to make quite a lot of Mexican inspired dishes! We really love all of the flavors that are in Mexican food and it helps to change up the standard chicken recipes in our house. This dish is inspired by the Tufano Salsa Dip. I love the dip so much, I just had to figure out a way to make it into a main course! This is super easy and yummy!

Ingredients:

• Chicken Breasts
• 1 cup salsa
• 1 packet taco seasoning
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1 block cream Cheese
• 1 can of black beans and 1 can corn

Mix salsa, taco seasoning and soup together in crock pot and place chicken breasts on top of the mixture. Try to submerge the chicken or scoop some of the mixture on top of the chicken. Cook on low 4-5 hours or until chicken is thoroughly cooked. Carefully remove the chicken breasts and add the cream cheese. Stir until melted and well blended. Add the corn and black beans. Return the chicken and cook another 20-30 minutes. 

We served with Brown Cilantro Rice from our Chipotle Barbacoa recipe, or you can serve in tortillas.


This recipe was featured on our Appetizing April Menu. Check out the entire April menu for a variety of dinner ideas!

Tufano Salsa Dip

 

 The Tufano family holds a very special place in our hearts. Lucy, Tracy and Sherrie all met the exact same day while working together at Bath and Body Works and we have been friends ever since. Lucy often had us over to her house for get togethers. She always made sure to have snacks for everyone. This salsa dip was something that we could always expect her to serve. It is something that you can throw together very quickly and it tastes SO good!

 

Ingredients:

• 1 Block of Cream Cheese
• 3/4 Cup Chi-Chi's Salsa (I am usually not a stickler about brands but with this it is a MUST!)
• 1 Cup Shredded Cheese (cheddar or Mexican blend)
• Tortilla Chips (my kids really like it with pretzels)

With mixer blend together cream cheese and salsa. Add in 1/4 cup shredded cheese. Blend. Pour dip into serving bowl and top with remaining cheese.

Cha Cha Chicken with Mango Tango Salsa-Nacho Average Chicken Taco! (And gluten free)

This is one of my favorite twists on taco night at our house. It's so full of flavor and super easy to make.

Chicken Ingredients:
1-2 lbs. boneless chicken breasts
1-2 cans Mexican diced or stewed tomatoes
1 can favorite beans (I used pinto this time but use black a lot of the time as well)
1 packet taco seasonings
Corn tortillas ( you can use flour tortillas but then it's not gluten free)
Your favorite toppings- sour cream, cheese, lettuce, avocados

This is pretty simple, you just put it all in crockpot and cook on low 5-6 hours until chicken is easily shred able with fork. The sauce will be pretty runny so I usually take the lid of and turn to warm and let it sit for 15 minutes to let the sauce thicken up. This chicken really has the best flavor!

Salsa Ingredients:
1/2 cup diced mango (fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup diced pineapple (fresh or frozen , I bet you could even use canned as long as it didn't have added sugar and you rinsed and drained very well)
1/4 cup diced red onions
2 jalapeños, seeded and diced (leave in some seeds if you want it spicier)
About a handful of chopped cilantro
Squeeze of lime juice
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients and chill for at least 30 minutes to let flavors combine. You can add many ingredients to this salsa such as chili peppers, oranges, etc but this was just what I had on hand. If you've never had mango salsa on tacos, this might sound a bit odd, but I promise you these flavors are so incredible together! My husband was so skeptical at first ("I do not want fruit on my tacos!") but this is now his favorite way to eat tacos. Think of how good kettle corn popcorn or salted caramel is... The sweet and salty go so well together. It gives boring old tacos the twist it needs (especially if you eat them often like we do).

I hope you'll take my word and try this wonderful recipe out. Enjoy!

This recipe was featured in Two Magical Moms March Menu Madness, Appetizing April Menu and our 30 Days of Dinners June Menu.  Make sure to check out all of the other great recipes on the menus!