Love these Taquitos - the perfect snack

As our holiday gatherings are just days away, are you stressing over all the things left on the To-Do List?  Especially if you have overnight guests coming,  it’s easy to let the fear of “what will they eat, what if they don’t like it, how will I do it all” steal our joy.

Don’t let that happen!! Savor these days and embrace this most magical time of the year, even if that means letting go of some of your “Most Wonderful Life” expectations you’ve set. It’s Ok to realize they might not happen and your time together will still be magical. 🙂 It’s taken me years to soak that in, but it makes all the difference.

When our two eldest got home from college this week, I thought my heart might burst. I can’t even tell you how much I miss them when they’re gone and all feels right again when they come through those doors safe and sound.

I’ve spent weeks thinking of how I’d spoil them with my homemade cooking, baked treats and all the bells and whistles that come with being home on break, but….

Life and schedules got in the way!!

I started off so strong.

Getting ready for some special meal time

Right off, we had a hot breakfast and dinner as a family. Candles lit (because you know that’s a priority in this home), Conversation Starters Jar ready to go, laughing throughout the evening and soft Christmas jazz playing in the back ground.

It was just like my favorite Hallmark movie.

But the truth mimics something more like our real life picture below.

Real life family meal time

I couldn’t stop chuckling at their antics, so I quickly grabbed my camera because sometimes the truth encourages.

I had such high hopes for evening dinners together while they were home. What was I thinking?

They had plans one night. I had obligations the next, and then my husband had to work late. The whole time our frozen ground beef and chicken for my favorite Taco Casserole and Easy Freezer Friendly Chicken Tetrazzini sat unmade in the fridge. My idyllic dinner dreams for December had been thwarted, so I switched to zone defense and came up with a great plan to make everyone happy, which meant actually showing myself grace.

The kids announced they were going out to eat after church since we didn’t have anything made at home and I screamed lovingly replied, “NO, we are eating as a family.”

Perfect Solution to feeding a big group

My defensive strategy consisted of stocking my freezer with some fast and fun, protein-packed fuel to power even my biggest of football players.

We can never get enough Mexican inspired food in our home and Salsa, Guac, Taco dip, Taco Salad are continuous staples, so I combined the best of both worlds by heating up José Olé Chicken & Cheese Taquitos as well as their Beef & Cheese Mini Tacos. I melted some extra cheese on top, added side of guac and dolloped our favorite salsa and sour cream for a perfect quick lunch.

Noon time snack ideas

The reason I chuckle at these pictures is because I made up this nice platter, put the plates out and by the time I was ready, more than half of the food was gone. So much for best intentions when you’re feeding my crew.

Ideas for Feeding a large group

Moms, that’s what happens if you turn your back on the food for a minute in this house. These kids eat like crazy.

Yes, the “feeding this gang post” with my Top 10 Tips will have to wait until after Christmas (it will come because so many ask how to feed growing teens). I decided to share the outtakes of real life because that’s what I’m all about and this quick Jose Ole meal saved my sanity on a day I had to be three places at once.

I’m having thirty people over this week and these Taquitas and Mini Tacos are going to be making an appearance once again because they were so good.
The perfect appetizers

Here are just a few more outtakes.

I just love our family. They are so much fun, but a little note to the moms of young boys. If you’re waiting for them to outgrow their rough housing and wrestling phase, I urge you to throw that expectation aside.

The boys love their dad
Love raising boys....and how to feed them

Now they get even more excited because they can take dad. 🙂

When all the kids are home, this is often real life meal time

P.S. You’d think they never learned any table manners, but just to assure you, they do have these 10 Most Important Table Manners every kid should know down pat. 🙂

Jose Ole

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of JOSÉ OLÉ®. The opinions and text are all mine.