Cinco De Mayo Dinner

Living in Arizona, people celebrate Cinco De Mayo big time. Also, in my family, we celebrate everything we can. So, this May 5 I will be preparing this meal for my family. It is Taco Salad with fresh homemade (and homegrown) salsa and guacamole. Even the taco bowls are homemade.
To make the taco bowls I used flour tortillas. I traced a medium size cup, and a large mug with a knife. Tortillas cut very easily.
The larger circles are used for the taco salad bowls. The smaller circles are for holding the sides. I am going to make up 2 smaller bowls for each person, one to hold guacamole and one to hold salsa.
To turn the tortillas into the bowls you take your circles and shove them into a muffin tin, for the smaller circles, and a larger oven safe bowl for the larger circles. Preheat the oven to 450. I fill the bottom of each tortilla "bowl" with dried beans to keep the tortilla from puffing up. Bake them for about 6 minutes. I then empty the beans out and turn the bowls upside down onto a baking sheet. The beans keep the bottom of the bowls from crisping up, so the bottoms need a bit more time in the oven. I also add a ball of tin foil underneath each "bowl" to help it keep it's shape. I bake them for another 3 minutes this way. You can bake them this way from the beginning. However, I find that I like more folds in my bowls and putting the tortillas into the muffin tins seems to achieve this look that I like.
I have a garden. I try to always have at least a salsa garden. I make salsa many times a month and it is devoured immediately. I don't usually have avocados on hand, but when I do I always also make guacamole.
Salsa:
1 Cup Fresh Diced up Tomatoes (I use whatever I have ripe in my garden)
1/4 C Onions
1-2 Teaspoons minced Fresh Cilantro
1 Large Garlic Clove, minced
2 tsp Lime Juice
A dash of salt and pepper
Anjeanette adds a small can of diced green peppers to hers. I keep mine more mild because my kids will gobble it up unless it's too spicy!
When I make this I usually make a huge serving (at least twice this recipe) and it's gone immediately!
Guacamole:
1 Cup Salsa recipe
2 ripe Avocados
Mash avocados, add salsa, and stir. Make this very last minute to keep it from changing color. Anjeanette also leaves the pitts of the avocados in her guacamole until it's time to serve. She says this keeps the guacamole from changing colors.
I also make chips out of the flour tortillas. Once tortillas are baked, they just have such a delicious flavor to them! To make the chips I first coat a sheet pan in vegetable oil and salt. Then I take a flour tortilla and rub both sides in this. Next take the flour tortilla and slice it into fourths, like a pizza. I even use a pizza cutter to do this. Lay all these tortilla slices onto the sheet pan and bake at 400 for 2 minutes. Then, turn them all over and bake for another minute. Watch your oven and cook times as all vary so much. You want both sides to be golden brown. They are so yummy!

My Taco Salad:
Refried Beans (I always stir in taco seasoning to my refried beans!)
Cheddar Cheese
Browned Hamburger (Stir in Taco Seasoning with water to coat hamburger)
Lettuce and Spinach (torn up)
Optional: Olives
Layer ingredients in baked tortilla bowl, in order. Top with salsa and guacamole!

Happy Cinco De Mayo!
Rebecca