Nachos: a meal or a snack?

Where do you find plain tortilla chips? Apparently black pepper was the least of the possible evils at M&S. 

We buy the plain Doritos, available at most supermarkets.

We buy the plain Doritos, available at most supermarkets.

Those are the 'Lightly Salted' ones, right? That's what I usually buy as well. But a lot of the shops have their own brand of plain corn chips, too. I know Somerfield does, and they're pretty good! Not quite as big as the Doritos, but thicker, so I like them for nachos. They hold up better under the weight of all my toppings!

Those are the 'Lightly Salted' ones, right? That's what I usually buy as well. But a lot of the shops have their own brand of plain corn chips, too. I know Somerfield does, and they're pretty good! Not quite as big as the Doritos, but thicker, so I like them for nachos. They hold up better under the weight of all my toppings!

Yep those are the ones.  Haven't tried the Somerfield ones but some of the own brand chips seem to be quite greasy.

Yep, we get Doritos lightly salted, too. And no problems finding refried beans at any decent size supermarket. Our last salsa was the Pringles brand which was a tad sweet. Before that we had a huge bottle of Pace brand from Costco but I don't know when we'll get back there to replenish our supply.

Finding ingedients is so easy here!  I'll miss the food shopping when we go back to Japan.  I can't usually find refried beans without lard there... and it's a long trip to get the other stuff.

I always make my own salsa.  (Pico de gallo) People seem to like it... here's my recipe (post yours!)

2 cans diced tomatoes (sorry, cheating... but easy)
1 large onion, diced
1 HEAD minced garlic
1 or 2 dried chili peppers, chopped.  I leave the seeds in. I prefer chipotles.
1 large bunch cilantro or equal amount lovage, chopped
Juice of 1 lemon or lime
Dash chili powder
salt

It needs at least an hour to sit, (overnight is best) and a bit of draining.  For kids, I delete the chili pepper... but they can usually handle the garlic.

This salsa kills viruses dead.

Where do you find plain tortilla chips? Apparently black pepper was the least of the possible evils at M&S. 

I like the 'restaurant style' tortilla chips from Lupe Pintos... they are thicker than Doritos.

I like the 'restaurant style' tortilla chips from Lupe Pintos... they are thicker than Doritos.

Where can you find those? I've never seen them!

And no problems finding refried beans at any decent size supermarket.

Yeah, but we live in an area without decent size supermarkets. Co-op didn't have refried beans and it was pouring so neither of us wanted to go to Tesco. I'm actually not sure our pathetic Tesco has them, either.

I'll check out the options for chips at Tesco and Co-op next time I'm there. I don't remember seeing them, but I try to stay out of that aisle! 

Will post my salsa recipe when I have a chance--I don't have it here and we're still monitorless at home. I make pico de gallo (spring onion rather than regular onion, fresh jalapenos, NO cilantro!) if I'm short on time, but my favorite salsa is cooked rather than raw.

I made a batch of salsa for my dad ("The hotter the better!") one year with triple the jalapenos and a couple of habaneros thrown in for good measure. That stuff would have killed anything dead! Even he couldn't eat it.

Where can you find those? I've never seen them!

I think Lupe Pintos is a store.  If I remember correctly, there's one in Glasgow.

I think Lupe Pintos is a store.  If I remember correctly, there's one in Glasgow.

Oh, I see. Thanks for clarifying. 

I think nachos are a meal if you eat so much that you can't eat for another four hours....

Nachos at my parents house were always made as a meal - ground beef with diced onion, tomatoes, olives, sour cream and melted cheese, yum! Like I'm talking a whole plate stacked! :p

Has anyone seen any melted cheese in a tin? We'd usually get the saucy cheese in a tin and then just heat it up in a saucepan so it was hot.... We'd get the type of cans you'd get at Smart & Final. I've tried melting cheese on chips in the oven and even tried the El Paso Nacho Kit, but it's so not as good as proper saucy cheese! Plus, everything gets much colder quicker when it's not piping hot melted cheese. Do they sell that here? I don't live anywhere close to a Costco

And I've noticed that the meat here is stringy? Mince meat? But when we've had nachos, the meat was more clustered into balls and not stringy.... I don't know if there's a different between mince and ground beef? Or if my mom just cut the meat up or what.....

I just bought everything for nachos yesterday when I did my weekly shop. This morning I told dh that we were having that for dinner tomorrow and he was so excited! He did ask if I'd bought meat for them - I told him no, that I just got refried beans, jalapenos, etc. and he decided that would be OK.  I even found Cool Chile chilis in adobo at Sainsburys which made me very happy.

Has anyone seen any melted cheese in a tin?

Sorry, no offence meant, but that's just wrong. Cheese in England is far too good - buy something local (ie. chemical and additive free), grate it and melt it in the oven over the rest of the stuff. If it's not saucy enough google a recipe for cheese sauce and make your own - it's so much better for you to get cheese, milk, flour, etc. than to buy fake cheese in a tin....

And I've noticed that the meat here is stringy? Mince meat? But when we've had nachos, the meat was more clustered into balls and not stringy.... I don't know if there's a different between mince and ground beef? Or if my mom just cut the meat up or what.....

Mince is ground beef. Buy a decent quality one or an extra lean one and it won't be stringy. Whether or not it's in clumps or quite broken up will depend on how you cook it.

chary, I think you can mail order Lupe Pintos -- QG will know the link!

Normally Steve won't eat things like soup & bread, beans on toast, or salads for the evening meal -- those aren't a 'proper' tea to him, but lunch things instead.  But I have gotten him to eat Doritos, refried beans, salsa & cheese before as an evening meal & he likes it!

Unfortunately, the tortilla chips & all quickly make me swell up & affect my BP -- so I had to relegate them to a light snack at intervals that are very few & far between.  I love them but they don't love me.

Sorry, no offence meant, but that's just wrong. Cheese in England is far too good - buy something local (ie. chemical and additive free), grate it and melt it in the oven over the rest of the stuff. If it's not saucy enough google a recipe for cheese sauce and make your own - it's so much better for you to get cheese, milk, flour, etc. than to buy fake cheese in a tin....

very true... tetcutiepie, you've made a cake... now you should make some really nice cheese sauce if you prefer that to melted cheese on nachos! 

Definitely a meal.  We use Sainsbury's own brand plain tortilla chips (pretty good, and only 19p!), salsa, cheese, quorn chicken style pieces, jalapenos (argh, I need to figure out how to do the n with the ~ over it on a Mac), and guac. SO good.

I've given up on ordering nachos at restaurants around Derby, because the vegetarian ones always have courgette at every place I've tried!  It is just so, so wrong.  I don't mind courgette in some stuff, but I do not like it soggying up my nachos! 

I don't think DH has ever said "This is just a snack" about anything I've made.  If he did, my response would probably be, "Well, you know where the kitchen is."