Heyy girl, hey!

You like tacos?
Me too.

And right on a lil strip in Gaithersburg, MD is a taqueria called Ixtalapala that is pretty hard to describe because of how good it is.

Impressively authentic.
Absurdly cheap (we're talking $2-3 per taco back in like 2021).
Less than 20 min from the house.

Bad combo for two foodies with an undying love of Mexican food & a college-student budget.

Their horchata was really creamy, not too sugary & very cinnamony. If you're ever in the area, get a large & thank me later but we're not here for cheers.

So...back to the tacos.

It was maybe our second or third time eating there, I tipsy toed away from the standard carne asada & pollo taco to give taco de lengua a try.

Girl, when I say "Goooodneesssss."

It was so good it became the standard.

And ever since, beef tongue tacos are ones I get anytime we check out a lil hole in the wall taqueria.

Now if you've never had cow tongue tacos & you're not an adventurous eater, you might frown up your nose reading it on the menu.

And if that's you, that's cool. As my Dad says, "If you scared, say you scared." 🤷🏽‍♀️

Butttttttt...if you like trying new flavors (or you bought in on a cow & don't wanna waste any of it) THIS is your ticket.

So you know what happened next right?

As with all great plates we eat, I started thinking "I could make this at home". 💡

Neatly vacuum-sealed in my freezer (& sadly approaching it's one-yr mark) was my very own cow tongue. Just....waiting for me to make something delicious.

(Or at least get a good laugh trying!)

Inspiration & recipes will only ever get you so far though.

Enter - the star of every meal

Your ✨ PANTRY STAPLES ✨

They are the razzle dazzle of every kitchen.
The literal building blocks of any meal.

So making something as exotic-sounding as tacos de lengua becomes as ordinary as any other Taco Tuesday because you make it up using routine pantry staples.

Look back at that pic girl.

Besides the tongue (& maybe the peppers) you probably have everything else I used in your cabinet right now.

Spices & flavorings like paprika, cumin, chili powder Aromatics of black peppercorns, cloves, garlic Onions, bay leaves & salt & pep

This whole setup went into my IP (using the slow cooker feature) for pretty much all day though it only needed about 3-4 hours.

Life. Don't judge me, ok?

So believe me when I tell you that a well-stocked pantry is the key to eating in with bold flavors.

My kitchen is an everyday, run-of-the-mill sorta kitchen.

But it's stocked with intention based on the foods I know we enjoy most. Most of which are global & not ya typical American diet meals.

Whether you crave Caribbean every week or love pasta with a simple marinara sauce. Everything is as close to your tastebuds as what you keep stocked.

From jams & marinades to ready-made frozen homemade desserts, I pulled together like 20 of my most used reach-for's.

And then gave you several ways to use each one too, hello.

Dropped 'em right here, with the recipes included.👇🏽

Most Faithful Pantry/Freezer Staples

know before you go...

As a first-time tongue-cooker, this was easy. But you should peel the leathery outer membrane off after cooking (it's like peeling chicken skin).

Cow tongue is a juicy sort of taco - you won't need salsa! So if you don't have it, don't stress. Diced onions, fresh cilantro & a squeeze of lime will do you right. And if you do, use tomatillo. It's that. 👌🏽👌🏽

There's no real difference in texture compared to the typical steak taco. It's a tender meat taco - not tough or rubbery or any other weird texture.

Yes, my kids ate it. In fact, they punished it. Quicker than I could get the recipe up live on the site.

So be bold in the kitchen, girl!

Introduce yourself & the fam to new things slowly, methodically but definitely surely & over time the foreign will become familiar. ❤️

P.S. about tacos - you should also try cachete (beef cheek). It's next on my list when I can get some. 😎✌🏽

P.P.S. jumped to the end like this was a recipe? Here's the link then - my most-used pantry staples (& recipes).