Celebrate Cinco de Mayo: Homemade Chips, Guacamole, and Pico de Gallo

Let's Celebrate Cinco de Mayo on May 5^th with some super easy to make homemade Pico de Gallo, Guacamole and chips! You've likely heard of Cinco de Mayo, but do you know what it's about?

Let's start with what Cinco de Mayo is Not!

• It's not Mexico's Independence Day - that's September 16^th
• It's not a major holiday in Mexico. In fact, it's not even a federal holiday there . . . which means offices, banks, and stores remain open on May 5^th, just like every other day.

So what is Cinco de Mayo then?

• Cinco de Mayo — celebrated on the fifth of May, of course —  celebrates the Mexican army’s unexpected 1862 victory over France at the Battle of Puebla during the Franco-Mexican War. That battle represented a great symbolic victory for Mexico and may well have changed the course of the war. You can read more about it here.
• While some Mexican-Americans might shake their heads at how Cinco de Mayo is celebrated in the United States (Tequila shots? Really?), there's certainly nothing wrong with using the day as a reason to recognize and honor the Mexican culture with some amazing traditional Mexican food.

This year we're going to keep it simple, but still wow our family's taste buds with these guacamole, Pico de Gallo, and homemade tortilla chip recipes. These items are pantry staples for most of us, but when you find out how delicious and simple they are to make yourself? 

Well, we're here to tell you that you might never buy store bought again. 

Guacamole

Guacamole Ingredients:

• 4 avocados, halved, seeded, and peeled. Check out a fun hack HERE on how to easily peel an avocado.
• 2 limes, juiced
• 1 cup onion, finely chopped
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
• 3 tomatoes, seeded and diced
• 3/4 cup cilantro, chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• Sea salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

• Add all ingredients to a bowl and use a fork to mash to the desired consistency. 
• Salt and pepper to your taste. 
• Serve right away or cover and refrigerate until ready to use.  

Pico de Gallo

Pico de Gallo Ingredients:

• 6 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced 
• ½ red onion, ½ white onion, minced
• ½ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• ½ jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
• 1 lime, juiced
• Sea salt to taste

Directions: 

• Add all ingredients to a bowl and mix. Add sea salt to taste and serve fresh!

Homemade tortilla chips

These are wonderful because you can spice them up to your liking or even make them sweet! They are thick and super crunchy - perfect for dipping!

Tortilla chip ingredients:

Instructions:

Macaroni Tip:  Add cinnamon and sugar for a sweet treat your kids will love for desert

These recipes originally appeared in Macaroni KID EATS