WIAW: Dia de los Muertos

Happy Halloween, all the way from Montana. Though we had no real plans for the holiday, I managed a last minute costume for trick-or-treaters - let's just say that the rest of the costume involved black leggings with sequins (but the best part was Scrappy's matching collar!). Apparently it wasn't too bad of a choice since I just got hit on by a group of high school? err, middle school boys? at the door. Perhaps that was my fault - after all, I did tell the one boy that I liked the pikachu pillowcase he was using to collect candy.

With the general lack of trick-or-treaters though, we have about half a bowl of candy left. Even worse, it's all of our favorites - Snickers for me, Peanut M&M's for Trevor. Plus, the credit union where I work has been celebrating "customer appreciation month" since the start of October, I've eaten far too much candy - after all, there's been a huge bowl of it just four feet from my desk. Ugh.

While I'd like to say that this post is going to be full of healthy salads and carrot sticks to balance out all of the chocolate - it's not. Instead, we've been eating lots of filet, lots of bratwurst, and too many sweet potatoes in an effort to battle the cold weather that's settled in. (Though today's sunny 60's weather just might be proving me wrong.)

Today, though, in honor of Dia de los Muertos - and my love of Mexican food - Trevor made the world's best nachos for dinner. You may think I'm exaggerating but really people, chicken? smoked cheddar cheese? guacamole? salsa fresca? I've never had better. That's why I thought I'd share them for this week's What I Ate Wednesday, hosted by Jenn over at Peas and Crayons. (Was my last WIAW post really in September?!)

Making your own is easy, so easy, that I'm not even giving you real directions. For these, we combined Nacho Cheese Doritos and Mission Tortilla Chips - healthy, right? Then, we topped them with sauteed chicken prepared with taco seasoning. The key to nachos is in the layers and the next was made of refried beans, black beans, sweet corn, red onion and poblano peppers. The cheese on top? Grated smoked cheddar and monterey jack.

We suggest baking at 450 until the cheese is melted. Though a spring form pan isn't a typical choice for baking nachos, it worked out perfectly for our heaping pile of chips and melted cheese.

After the nachos come out of the oven, you'll want to top them with heaping piles of guacamole and salsa fresca. While you can find my favorite guac recipe here, salsa fresca is simple! Simply combine red onion, roma tomato, scallions and cilantro to taste. Then, toss it in a mixture of vinegar and lime juice. Season with salt and pepper, then pile it on top of your nachos... as well as breakfast the next day. To be completely honest with you, it has become a staple in our house lately.

For now, I'm off to watch a scary movie with Trevor - I'll try not to eat my fearful emotions and consume the still half-full bowl of candy on the table. Considering another group of non-costumed teenager boys just knocked on the door, I'm finding that awfully difficult.

"Trick or treat!"
"Nice costumes. What are you guys supposed to be?"
"I'm a teenage boy."
"Creative."
"God you're hot."

I'll take that as a compliment. Apparently I must not have gained ten pounds from all those Snickers I've eaten.

What's your favorite Halloween candy?