Crave Wednesday: Loaded Nachoes

In Southern California, most of our activities are outside.  Which means, when it rains, everyone heads to the same few places.  Like our Children's Museum.

Our kids love it any time of year, and Thatkid had been asking for a return visit for a while.  So one wet and rainy morning, we decided to make him a very happy child.  We warned him that the outside area would be closed, but he wanted to go anyway.  It was very very busy, especially because the outside area was closed.  But the boys still managed to have a pretty good time.

Every few months they change things around, creating different areas of interest in the museum.  Currently the two "rotating exhibits" are the Southern Pacific area, capitalizing on the popularity of Moana, and the health care center.

There's a reception area to sign in, a nursery, doctor's office, and pharmacy to play in.  It was probably the most popular area of the museum.


The air tubes remained a favorite for the smaller set, and Thatbaby spent a lot of time making balls float.

Thatkid spent a lot of his time building and his brother joined him for a brief moment before building a tower, knocking it over, and losing interest.

The pirate ship is a perennial favorite.  They changed the layout a bit so the slide is now part of the "3 and under" area which Thatkid was not happy about.  But he still got the spend time climbing and steering the ship.

The lifejackets were obviously necessary.  He made sure both he and his brother were protected.

My boys never cease to crack me up.  They're very...interesting.  I was talking to Mrs. J this weekend about the nachos she made and how her children devoured them.  My kids love chips, but nachos? Not their thing.  They try to find the chips with nothing on them, or maybe a little bit of cheese.  They don't know what they're missing.  Nachos, decked with beans, cheese, and salsa, are one of my favorite guilty pleasures.   Although I probably shouldn't complain much, because the less my kids eat, the more there is for me!

Loaded Nachoes (From Cooking Light)

1 cup fat-free refried beans

1/4 cup cilantro, minced

1/4 cup green onions, chopped

3 oz multrigrain tortilla chips

1 1/2 cups Monterrey Jack cheese

3 Tbsp light sour cream

32 pickled jalapeno slices

salsa

1.  Preheat oven to 375. Combine refried beans, 2 Tbsp cilantro and 2 Tbsp green onions in a saucepan.  Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally for 4 minutes, or until heated through.
2. Place chips on large jelly roll pan.  
3. Place beans over chips.
4. Top with cheese.    Bake for 4 minutes, or until cheese melts,  Remove from oven.
5. Dollop on sour cream.
6. Sprinkle with remaining cilantro, green onions, and jalapeno slices.  Serve with salsa.