Homemade Tortillas...yum!!!

This summer I have been working with Spanish speaking families in a KinderPrep program, going to their homes and working with children entering Kindergarten this upcoming school year. In our town, the majority of these families are Mexican. One of the moms would tell me about how her husband would ONLY eat homemade tortillas and that she made them 3-4 times a week. Another family had delicious food cooking one day and told me to skip breakfast before coming the next day so I could have some of their homemade tamales. Boy, were they good!

I have been thinking about the need to try my hand at homemade tortillas ever since. A couple nights ago I found a recipe I wanted to try and substituted half of the white flour for wheat flour. They turned out pretty good, but I decided I wanted to try white flour tortillas next. I scoured the internet for recipes and then decided to take some ideas from several, along with tips my daughter remembered from when a classmate and her mother made them for cooking class at school. (The main thing she mentioned was that the mom was kneading the dough a lot.)

Kneading is key. The first one I cooked tasted like a biscuit! Try it out...

Homemade Flour Tortillas

6 c. flour
2 t. salt
2 t. baking powder
2/3 c. vegetable oil
2 c. warm water

Mix dry ingredients and make a well in the center. Add oil and water and stir until ingredients are mixed thoroughly. (Do not worry about over-mixing the dough.) Once the dough has formed a ball, knead the dough for about a minute and let rest for a few minutes. Separate the dough into 1" to 2" balls.

Heat cast iron skillet over medium heat.

Prepare a surface for rolling out the tortillas with flour. Using the heel of your hand, knead a ball of dough 3-4 times before rolling out with a rolling pin or pvc pipe (the preferred tool of choice of my Mexican friend). Roll tortilla as thin as possible. I usually roll, then turn it as I flip it to make it as round as possible.

Place tortilla on hot skillet and cook until it bubbles up.

Once the whole tortilla is full of bubbles (about 30-45 seconds), turn and cook the other side for about the same amount of time. Remove from skillet.

I like to stack mine on a plate until they are all done. If you are planning to eat them soon, serve them directly from the plate. If you want to store them, allow them to cool (I leave them on the plate in a stack) and then place tortillas in a gallon zipper bag. I have no idea how long they can be stored, but I plan to keep them in the refrigerator for a few days. It's rare for something to last very long in my house though.

Yields approximately 36 tortillas.

Dinner tomorrow will be chicken fajitas with these bad boys! Can't wait.

tomato alfredo portabella lasgne...

I made this and "messed up" this evening. It sure looks yummy this way, so I will probably continue to make it "wrong". The recipe calls for spaghetti sauce on top, and I put the Alfredo there...makes it look creamy and melty, so I think I'll keep it!

9 pieces lasagne
1 (10 oz) pkg. frozen spinach
2 c. (8 oz.) shredded mozarella cheese
1 c. (4 oz.) crumbled feta cheese
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 c. (1/2 of 16 oz. jar) Alfredo sauce
1/2 lb portabella mushrooms, cut into 1/4 pieces
1 1/2 c. (14 oz. jar) spaghetti sauce
Grated parmesan cheese (optional) --I use grated NOT powdered parmesan cheese!

(NOTE: I used 10 oz. fresh spinach, chopped up. Also I used ricotta cheese this time. If I did it again with fresh spinach, I would slightly steam it in the microwave first, just to wilt it down to take up less space in the baking dish when layering.)

Instructions:
Heat oven to 375F. Cook pasta according to package directions, drain. (I always add olive oil to the water to keep pasta from sticking together.) Meanwhile, in medium bowl, stire together spinach, 1 1/4 c. mozzarella cheese, feta (or ricotta) cheese, and egg until well blended. In 13x9 baking dish, spread 1/2 cup of Alfredo sauce; place 3 pasta pieces lengthwise over sauce. Spread one-half spinach mixture evenly over pasta; layer one-half mushrooms over spinach mixture. Spoon one-half spaghetti sauce over mushrooms; place 3 pasta pieces on top. Repeat with layer of spinach mixture and mushrooms, then remaining Alfredo sauce (I used spaghetti sauce here). Top with remaining pasta; spread remaining spaghetti sauce on top (I used Alfredo here), cover with foil. Bake 25 minutes; remove foil. Sprinkle with remaining mozarella, and Parmesan cheese, if desired. Bake 10 more minutes until hot and bubbly, let stand 5 minutes before serving.

8-10 servings.

*I really liked it with the fresh spinach, rather than frozen. Also, I mixed in all of the mozarella into the spinach mixture, so I only used Parmesan on top of the Alfredo sauce. It had a really good flavor like this. The first time I made it, I followed the directions exactly and it turned out great too. I used ricotta because I bought it instead of feta and was already boiling the lasagne when I realized my mistake. I tend to ad lib on recipes, which works for me but may not for you. Good luck!

**Due to a friend mentioning that she was eating low-carb, I suggested that she use long, thin slices of zucchini in place of the pasta. I think that would taste great, and be much healthier!

planning my thanksgiving menu...

i am going to attempt to stay as close to our traditions as possible, while making things as healthy as possible. looking for recipes without so much butter and sugar added. as i find them, i'll be posting here so we can get this blog moving again!

one thing of which i'm sure...we will be having our second annual "pie a week" event, in which we make two pies for thanksgiving dinner, then make a pie a week, every week, through the holidays.

that's a wrap...

i have been eating wraps at school this week. i have been trying to make sure they are healthy, which i guess i made some good choices since i did lose two pounds this week!

i always start with a whole wheat wrap (not sure why, but i have found that whole grain wraps actually have less fiber than whole wheat). sometimes i spread hummus, fat free sour cream, or plain yogurt on it, sometimes i just leave them plain. i have been stuffing them with a variety of items including: baby spinach, spring salad greens, portabella mushrooms, low-fat turkey or chicken from the deli, etc. i have also found that flavor is added with different seasonings, which help to make them super yummy too!

the sky is the limit as to what you can wrap...depending on what kind of food you love, you can always do it in a wrap. love mexican food? think cold tacos. slather on some sour cream, bean dip, or salsa. sprinkle in some meat (or not), cheese, spring salad, black olives, diced tomatoes, onions and avocados...wallah! pure yumminess! you can basically take any kind of ethnic food you love and modify it to make it healthy and wrap it up to take it with you for lunch. to add some healthy sides, just add some cut up veggies in a baggy to munch on, a piece of fruit, and maybe a few almonds (flavored, or not).

as i come up with new wrap ideas, i will share them and let you know what new combos i have come up with!

raw blueberry tartlets modified...

i recently got an email from SELF that had a recipe for these blueberry tartlets. i bookmarked the page for several days before actually getting around to trying them. i modified the recipe, and didn't want to mess with making little tartlets. i didn't have orange juice (or zest) in the house, so i just went with lemon juice. now that the fruit concoction is sitting in my fridge, i wish i had substituted honey for the brown sugar, but oh well. instead of making little "tartlets" i decided to put the "crust" mixture in a pie plate and make one big tart instead.

everything is currently sitting in the fridge for a couple of hours before i put it all together. will come back and update how the family likes it...and maybe post a picture if i remember to take one!

*****update*****
the blueberry tart turned out super good! hubby's not big on blueberries, so he skipped trying it, but the kids liked it. doing it in a pie plate was okay, but the "crust" came apart as i was dishing it out...single servings might be best, but it was definitely yummy!

healthy cookies and brownies...

last night i made "whole wheat oatmeal dark chocolate chip cookies" using this recipe. i didn't have molasses, and i added more flour because they were too wet, and i think i should cut the cinnamon next time.

that said, my kids loved them and wants me to make them again.

on a similar note, i made these brownies that jillian michaels made with a family on one of the episodes of losing it a few weeks ago. it's highly recommended by our family too...kids want me to make it again also!

bierocks and kolaches...

boy do those words take me back!

a friend of mine, who also is one of my former teachers and 4H leaders, posted that she had made bierocks last night. my mouth started watering. as people began to comment on her post, someone else mentioned kolaches, which began a whole new discussion...and my drool began to intensify.

since my kids don't have the pleasure of growing up in kansas and eating these fine, baked delicacies like i did as a child, i have decided that they need to be introduced to them. so i went on an internet search for recipes and we'll be trying both of them soon, especially now that i am once again the proud owner of a bread machine! i'm making a list of needed ingredients and plan to have a baking day this coming week...pictures to come too!

this recipe for bierocks looks amazing (and easy), and then i found a recipe for kolaches that comes with a great tutorial and information too.

bierocks were so common when i was a child that i remember my mom taking me to a restaurant in wichita to eat them when i was in preschool. when i entered school in a small rural town, i was surprised that they made them for school lunches in our cafeteria (though they were bland and we always drowned them in ketchup whenever possible). i don't think i have had a bierock since 8th grade now that i think about it.

kolaches were a staple at the sumner county fair, and from what i understand, they still are. i remember spending tons of time running around at the fair as a kid, riding the rides, submitting 4H entries, and hanging out with my friends. but the thing that sticks out in my mind is the smell of the kolaches baking... they had all kinds too! some of the fillings included pineapple, apricot, prune (yes, prune...and they were good too!), and poppyseed. the tables would be full of rows and rows of kolaches, just waiting for someone to come sink their teeth into and melt in your mouth! row upon row of little gem-topped pillows of dough...the thought of them just makes my mouth water and gives me a twinge of homesickness...if only i had a pair of ruby red slippers that really worked...sigh...

welcome to katee's korner kitchen...

here i will share the foods our family is eating, recipe links, healthy tips, etc.

we love to eat, and i love to cook...we are trying to be healthy, but i'm sure we'll splurge at times too!