Independence Mango Pineapple Cream Pie

Happy 4th of July, fellow food lovers! This year, our family decided to do a Hawaiian theme for the menu and since my sister in law was bringing Haupia and my mom the Guava cake, I decided to go a different route. Mr. Foodie and I decided on this Mango Pineapple Cream Pie.

I was a little leery about the fresh mango in this because I’ve been less than impressed with all the mangoes I’ve gotten this year. Luckily, I ended up with a decent one and chopped it really fine so it ended up working quite well.

The family really enjoyed this pie, Mr. Foodie was a big fan. It’s a very light, refreshing dessert which was a nice top off to a very heavy meal. It took no time to put together as most of the ingredients are store bought and used as-is. A great thing to bring to a last minute get together or potluck. I would also note that making your own crust and whipped cream would be awesome and I will go that route next time!

Have a very happy and safe Independence Day! I’m off to set off some fireworks!

Mango Pineapple Cream Pie

Ingredients:

-1 Pre-made Shortbread Pie Crust
-1 8 oz. Can of Crushed Pineapple
-1 Mango, seeded, peeled and finely chopped
-1 3 oz. Package of Instant Vanilla Pudding
-8 oz. of Sour Cream
-1 Container of Cool Whip
-Fresh Mango and Pineapple for garnish (optional)

Directions

1. In a medium mixing bowl, mix mango, sour cream, crushed pineapple (do not drain) and dry pudding mix until well combined.

2. Spread mixture into pie crust and chill at least a half hour before serving.

3. Spread top of pie with Cool Whip and garnish with fresh fruit (optional) before serving.

Baked Taquitos With Avocado Sauce

We are all about finger food around here and if any sort of dip is included, it’s a double whammy. This recipe fit that bill, 100%.

These particular taquitos I made using some leftover grilled pork that I had chopped up. I’m sure beef or chicken would work great in these as well if you are not a fan of the pig (gasp!) I baked these in flour tortillas to keep it a little healthier (rather than frying the corn tortillas in oil.)

We really enjoyed this avocado dipping sauce, it was creamy deliciousness. We have had variations of this at restaurants all over and always enjoyed it so I thought it would be a great dip to go with the taquitos. It’s not the sort of dip that can sit around so I would make it when you want to eat it. If you are so inclined, a nice salsa would also make a great dip for these taquitos.

This was very kid-friendly as well. Both my boys ate the taquitos. Foodie Jr. opted to dip his in ranch dressing as he does most other finger foods. Baby Foodie is not much of a dipper so he just ate the taquitos. And, as suspected, the biggest kid of them all, Mr. Foodie had no complaints.

INGREDIENTS

Taquitos:
1 package fajita sized flour tortillas (16)
2 Cups leftover meat (pork, chicken or beef)
~1/4 Cup Mexican Crema
~1/3 Cup Finely grated Cojita Cheese
Olive oil

Dipping Sauce:
1 avocado, pitted and mashed
1/4 Cup Mexican Crema
1/4 Mayonaise (I prefer the one with olive oil)
Splash of milk
2 Tsp white wine vinegar
1/4 Tsp Salt
1/4 Tsp Onion powder
1/4 Tsp Garlic powder
To taste: black pepper and chopped cilantro

DIRECTIONS

For Taquitos:

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees and spray cookie sheet with cooking spray.

1. I a mixing bowl, add chopped meat, Crema and Cojita cheese and mix well. Add more Crema and cheese if necessary – meat mixture should come together and be sort of ‘sticky’.

2. Place a heaping tablespoon or two on each tortilla and spread into a line for rolling.

3. Roll up each tortilla and place seam
side down on cookie sheet.

4. Brush each taquito with olive oil and bake for 15-20 minutes. Ovens will vary so check and take out when tortillas are browned and crispy.

For Dipping Sauce:

1. Put all ingredients in bowl and mix until they all come together smoothly. There will be a light green tint to the sauce. Play with the spices to suit your family’s taste.