My son just turned two! I know everyone says this, but I really can’t believe how fast the time flies. I’m literally still typing up his birth story! Ha!
The inspiration for this party came from looking through Pinterest at “toddler birthday party ideas,” and I just wasn’t loving them. E doesn’t really watch TV and isn’t super into one thing like superheros, or trains, or dinosaurs, or whatever. I mean, he’s barely two. He would love anything that involves food and people. I wanted to be excited about this party (I love making things and hosting people and getting to be creative with decorations, etc.), so I had the magical idea of… Taco TWOsday!!! Genius right!? Unfortunately, upon further research, I obviously wasn’t the first to come up with this idea. However, I wasn’t finding decorations that I loved, and I had plenty of ideas for this kind of party all on my own, so I’ll share a few of them for your future fiesta! Every day is a great day for tacos, right!?
Food is most important.
If the food is good, people are happy (and, E is happy!). I’m fairly selective about the kind of food I consume and will serve to others, so coming up with the food list was the very first thing I did. I have friends with a very wide range of dietary restrictions [and selective palates], but a taco bar is actually pretty easy to accommodate most things. These are just some ideas I used, feel free to adjust to your fiesta palate.
My Menu:
- Soft corn tortillas
- Crunchy Taco Shells
- Instant Pot (large-batch) Shredded Salsa Chicken:
-approx 3 lbs boneless/skinless chicken thighs
-taco seasoning (make your own)
-12 oz. salsa (any kind!)
- I seasoned each piece of chicken with the taco seasoning, and then seared it on both sides (use the saute feature of your instant pot)
- Pour salsa over seared chicken
- Pressure cook on high (manual) for 12 minutes, and natural release for 10 minutes.
- Finish releasing the pressure. It should shred easily!
Note: You will probably have extra liquid. You can pour some of it out, but it helps keep the meat tender so I left it all in there to serve and it was great!
- Ground Turkey (seasoned with your taco seasoning mixture)
- Mushroom Asada: I doubled this batch and used a little bit of it as the marinade for the fajita veggies. I also used Bragg’s Liquid Aminos instead of soy sauce.
- Fajita Veggies: After marinating (see above), I roasted in the oven at 450 degrees until some of the edges started to char (about 20 minutes).
- Black Beans: This made a TON. I’ll be eating black beans for quite awhile.
- Jasmine Rice: I left it plain, but adding some fresh lime juice and cilantro is quick and yummy!
- Guacamole: 3 ripe avocados, ½ large red onion diced, 1 large tomato (diced, seeds and pulp removed), 1 jalapeno (seeds removed) minced (optional), juice from 1 small lime, cumin, salt to taste.
- Corn salsa
- Pico de Gallo
- Salsa Verde
- Roasted salsa
Note: I bought all the salsas from Trader Joes. I really like their salsas and it saved me a ton of time!
- Sour cream (put it in a squeeze bottle, it works so well!)
- Onion/Cilantro mixture
- Shredded Mexican Blend of cheeses
- Shredded Iceberg lettuce
- Margaritas (of course!)
Dessert:
- Margarita Cupcakes
- Strawberry Cupcakes with Real Strawberry Buttercream
[I’m still learning all the ins-and-outs of piping, so these may not be the prettiest, but they were definitely delicious!!!]
Decorations:
This is the super fun part! I have a cricut (and I LOVE it), but I tried to make this easy so anyone can do it. Hosting a great party with amazing decor doesn’t have to be expensive! I did make Emerson’s shirt (see top photo) on my cricut with iron-on vinyl, but you can easily buy affordable iron-on letters and still make something similar. You just have to be a little creative and work with what you have!
For the banner: (See photo below for more details) I used 5 colors on 8.5 x 11 cardstock. Cut each paper into quarters. On each quarter, find the center of the bottom of the paper, and using a straight-edge, draw a light line from the top two corners to the bottom center. Paperclip the 4 quarters together and use the top one as a guide to cut all four at once. Repeat with all the banner colors. Hole punch the top corners of each piece and string them through with ribbon. Voila! So easy!
I got a mini-pinata for $4 at Target as a table decoration, and mini sombreros would be cute too! I will also add: I made tags/labels for the food, but completely forgot to put them out before people started arriving. I also didn’t get a lot of photos because I was busy hanging out with people. Which is a good thing, I think!
There is so much room for creativity! The most important part is to have fun and enjoy your guests. I promise your friends will love it no matter what! I hope this helps you have your own amazing fiesta party!