Dinner kits

grrmich

I have always used Old El Paso kits when I cook Mexican dinners which is quite often. While cooking enchildas last night, I looked at what the kit contained, and for nearly £3 you get tortillas, tomatoe purree and a spice mix. It finally dawned on me that £3 is a lot of money for such a small amount of ingredients!

I would like to know if anyone else makes their own dinner kits, and if so, could they provide recipies they use e.g. the mix of spices they use for enchildeas instead of the kit mix.

The only kits I can think of, off the top of my head are:

Enchildas
Fajitas
Tacos

If anyone can add to this list with their recepies and an estimation of the cost compared to the ready made kit I would be extrememly grateful

charliee_3

fajita is easy.. garlic, smoked paprika,tomato puree, salt and pepper to taste... chilli if you like it hot.. use the same blend for all of them, tacos is made with mince and same spices, then serve with wraps/ tortillas as required..

smoked paprika is the future...

enchillada kits if i remember right are a fajita mix in wraps, put them in a baking dish, put a basic tomato sauce over the top, add much cheese, put in oven...

grrmich

Thanks for that. I know I have paprika in my cupboard but have never heard of smoked paprika. Will have a look in the shops.

fresian_cow

I've no idea about the spice mix but I've found that if you buy the items separately they are cheaper. You can usually get some tortilla wraps for £1 ish and a sachet of the seasoning is usually 50/60p ish. The only other thing you usually get in the kit is a sachet of salsa which if you're like us isn't enough and you have to open a jar anyway so might as well just buy a jar.

charliee_3

seriously.. smoked paprika is all you need to make it taste right and it seems pricey, but it lasts a really long time...

[Deleted User]

My niece is married to a Mexican, and has lived there since 1974.She thinks its a hoot when she comes over here as in Mexico no one would dream of spending that sort of money for so little. Once you have the spices try mixing them up yourself and put them into a screw top jar, and just buy some wraps for around a quid in Sainsbobs or Tesco's.As another poster said a big jar of salsa should go a lot further than the stuff in the dinner kits.

THIRZAH

Tesco often have their own make wraps on BOGOF. They are usually on the bread counter rather than with the mexican stuff.They can be frozen.
You could make your own salsa from scratch but it's probably cheaper to buy a jar unless you can get very cheap tomatoes.

I freeze cooked pinto beans and use them in re-fried beans and quesidillas.

huston_kw

http://www.recipezaar.com/Fajita-Seasoning-Mix-28011

I use this recipe for fajitas & enchiladas. For enchiladas I use a tin of tomatoes with onions and peppers in with mixed herbs (which is also the sauce for pizza toppings also) cook it so the liquid reduces then once the enchiladas are on the oven tray I pour on the topping and grated cheese.

amanda40

I find Lidl cheapest for flour tortillas. I did try making them myself one night, but they were'nt the same!! I buy a large jar of schwart fajita seasoning from Costco for around £2.50 - it last me a couple of years!! I was buying packets of the Discovery Fajita but it was just under a pound, so for the price of 3 jars I get about 100 times as much.

Justamum

fresian_cow wrote: »

You can usually get some tortilla wraps for £1 ish

You can make your own very easily for much cheaper! I think the recipe was on Weezl's 50p a day till Christmas site. I've made them before and they are much, much nicer than any bought ones.

ikkleosu

I bought a carton of Texmex seasoning, Asda's own label i think. And I use that when doing fajitas.