As promised last night, we made our own tortillas.
We are still in the habit of making our own, so it was halfway through frying the steak for our fajitas that I realized I needed to make them.
As I said, we used Penniless Parenting's recipe-and it went well! Amongst our first postings, we tried the recipe found in Under $1000 Per Month. It went well, though we were uncomfortable with the amount of shortening in it. Penniless offered up their recipe and we finally got to try it!
Instead of reprinting the recipe, I would like to direct you over Vegan Tortillas by Penniless Parenting
Our only problems were that it was hard to roll them thin enough and they'd shrink back down as I rolled them. However, they worked well for the food. I am toying with ideas to add some flavor to my tortillas, as I always did like the jalapeno ones at the store and other odd flavors.
Do you have another tortilla recipe for us to try? We'd be delighted!
Showing posts with label tortillas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tortillas. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Monday, February 22, 2010
Monday's Recipes- Fajitas
Fajitas are a favorite in my family. When we want a cheap, out to eat, sit-down meal, we often share a single order of fajitas and walk out full. I love it. Recently, I took to making our own fajitas. It's really quite simple.
We use (for the three of us):
either 1/2 lb of steak or a single chicken breast cut into strips
2 bell peppers, usually green because they're cheaper but if other colors are on sale, we'll toss those in. Cut these into strips as well
1/2 medium purple onion, cut into strips
Fajita seasoning (we do not buy those individual packets. At our grocery store they have an area with fresh seasonings, for about $1.50, I get one of these and it goes about 5 rounds of fajita dinners, someday, maybe I'll try making my own blend but it's not expensive so I don't see it as an immediate thing to play with)
extra (optional) toppings for us often include just sour cream. We use light, but you can use whatever you prefer.
The Directions
Our particular style of fajita mix requires you to marinade your meat in it for 1 hour. I can't lie, I often forget to do this in time so I find myself just sprinkling it onto the meat as I cook it.
I usually use my 10" skillet to saute the meat first. I put a hint of cooking oil (never a lot) and sprinkle the seasoning over the meat, I cook until done. For steak, for us, we like a wee tiny bit of pink. Chicken must be cooked until no pink though!
I than remove the meat into a covered dish to keep it warm. I use these little casseerole dishes my aunt gave us at my bridal shower. They are small and perfect (and make a nice display) Next, I saute the onions and bell peppers together. I usually like to put a little of that fajita seasoning on there as well.
Next, I move those to another covered container.
I set it all on the table with some tortillas...in the past we've been using store bought, but tonight, I intend to try to make our own from the recipe offered by our follower, Penniless Parenting. I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow!
Andrew and I than sit down, I cut some of the veggies and meat up even smaller for our daughter, and we make each fajita as we're ready for it!
We use (for the three of us):
either 1/2 lb of steak or a single chicken breast cut into strips
2 bell peppers, usually green because they're cheaper but if other colors are on sale, we'll toss those in. Cut these into strips as well
1/2 medium purple onion, cut into strips
Fajita seasoning (we do not buy those individual packets. At our grocery store they have an area with fresh seasonings, for about $1.50, I get one of these and it goes about 5 rounds of fajita dinners, someday, maybe I'll try making my own blend but it's not expensive so I don't see it as an immediate thing to play with)
extra (optional) toppings for us often include just sour cream. We use light, but you can use whatever you prefer.
The Directions
Our particular style of fajita mix requires you to marinade your meat in it for 1 hour. I can't lie, I often forget to do this in time so I find myself just sprinkling it onto the meat as I cook it.
I usually use my 10" skillet to saute the meat first. I put a hint of cooking oil (never a lot) and sprinkle the seasoning over the meat, I cook until done. For steak, for us, we like a wee tiny bit of pink. Chicken must be cooked until no pink though!
I than remove the meat into a covered dish to keep it warm. I use these little casseerole dishes my aunt gave us at my bridal shower. They are small and perfect (and make a nice display) Next, I saute the onions and bell peppers together. I usually like to put a little of that fajita seasoning on there as well.
Next, I move those to another covered container.
I set it all on the table with some tortillas...in the past we've been using store bought, but tonight, I intend to try to make our own from the recipe offered by our follower, Penniless Parenting. I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow!
Andrew and I than sit down, I cut some of the veggies and meat up even smaller for our daughter, and we make each fajita as we're ready for it!
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Tortillas-From Scratch
One our family's favorites is taco night. It is funny in a way because growing up, I liked tacos, but didn't have to have them a lot.
When I was pregnant with Miss Lorelei, many many things changed in my eating habits. This was one of them. I craved tacos a lot. I got mad (we're talking almost crying) because Taco Bell got rid of the Grande Soft Taco. I loved this thing, it was a taco with an extra tortilla. Between the two tortillas was nacho cheese. And it was cheap-Dollar menu cheap. I walked in one day and it was gone. Since than, Taco Bell just isn't what it was for me.
Anyhow, so we find ourselves having tacos sometimes as frequently as once a week. Now tortillas are fairly cheap, until you start going through them like we were. Let me tell you, tacos once a week, plus I came to like to experiment making wraps in the last few months...we've been averaging buying 5 "bags" of flour tortillas a month, minimum!
Tonight, was taco night. Some of you may know the blog Under $1000 Per Month. I know some of you chastise it, and may think poorly of her for how she does things, but she's at least got a start at some good frugality. She also stands by her beliefs. Anyhow, she makes her own tortillas.
Independently, one day, my husband began to comment on making our own tortillas. Really, it's him that comes up with most of the from scratch ideas.
I grew up using flour tortillas, so when I found a recipe in Betty Crocker's cookbook (you know the one, it's the one EVERY mother seems to own.) I was excited and started mixing ingredients. I was going to make a tortilla! My husband came over to help and makes the comment-without even realizing anything- "Oh, we're making corn tortillas?"
Oops. Yeah, you'd think cornmeal being an ingredient, I would have figured it out. Nope. It snuck past me. We tried anyhow.
Made one, it wouldn't flip. Scraped it into the garbage.
Andrew fried a second after spraying our pan with Pam. Tried it. Blech! Not my style!
So I remembered Emily had a post. I checked it out, and used her recipe for a starter.
I whipped up
1/4 cup shortening
1/2 cup water
2 cups flour
and 3/4 tsp of salt.
The flour sucked up the water, but still left a lot of flaky. Being that I would want a dough to make a ball out of, than to roll out, this didn't seem right. So I kept adding water until it worked. I'm honestly not sure how much water I added. If I had to guess though, I'd say maybe 1/4-1/2 cup more.
I than continued on in the directions and divided the dough, rolled them out, than threw them on a plate. Andrew fried them. Side one: Fry until it first starts bubbling. Flip, fry about thirty seconds than done.
It was easy.
Would I make this recipe again? I probably will. Honestly, they don't taste like store bought, but they aren't bad. We would like to try a few more recipes, and see if we can possibly get healthier and closer to store bought.
But really? The cost came out near $0.50 for a dozen or so tortillas.
And I am a believer that every penny counts. If this were the recipe we'd start using, I would say we would save a minimum of $5 per month, or $60 per year. Not bad!
When I was pregnant with Miss Lorelei, many many things changed in my eating habits. This was one of them. I craved tacos a lot. I got mad (we're talking almost crying) because Taco Bell got rid of the Grande Soft Taco. I loved this thing, it was a taco with an extra tortilla. Between the two tortillas was nacho cheese. And it was cheap-Dollar menu cheap. I walked in one day and it was gone. Since than, Taco Bell just isn't what it was for me.
Anyhow, so we find ourselves having tacos sometimes as frequently as once a week. Now tortillas are fairly cheap, until you start going through them like we were. Let me tell you, tacos once a week, plus I came to like to experiment making wraps in the last few months...we've been averaging buying 5 "bags" of flour tortillas a month, minimum!
Tonight, was taco night. Some of you may know the blog Under $1000 Per Month. I know some of you chastise it, and may think poorly of her for how she does things, but she's at least got a start at some good frugality. She also stands by her beliefs. Anyhow, she makes her own tortillas.
Independently, one day, my husband began to comment on making our own tortillas. Really, it's him that comes up with most of the from scratch ideas.
I grew up using flour tortillas, so when I found a recipe in Betty Crocker's cookbook (you know the one, it's the one EVERY mother seems to own.) I was excited and started mixing ingredients. I was going to make a tortilla! My husband came over to help and makes the comment-without even realizing anything- "Oh, we're making corn tortillas?"
Oops. Yeah, you'd think cornmeal being an ingredient, I would have figured it out. Nope. It snuck past me. We tried anyhow.
Made one, it wouldn't flip. Scraped it into the garbage.
Andrew fried a second after spraying our pan with Pam. Tried it. Blech! Not my style!
So I remembered Emily had a post. I checked it out, and used her recipe for a starter.
I whipped up
1/4 cup shortening
1/2 cup water
2 cups flour
and 3/4 tsp of salt.
The flour sucked up the water, but still left a lot of flaky. Being that I would want a dough to make a ball out of, than to roll out, this didn't seem right. So I kept adding water until it worked. I'm honestly not sure how much water I added. If I had to guess though, I'd say maybe 1/4-1/2 cup more.
I than continued on in the directions and divided the dough, rolled them out, than threw them on a plate. Andrew fried them. Side one: Fry until it first starts bubbling. Flip, fry about thirty seconds than done.
It was easy.
Would I make this recipe again? I probably will. Honestly, they don't taste like store bought, but they aren't bad. We would like to try a few more recipes, and see if we can possibly get healthier and closer to store bought.
But really? The cost came out near $0.50 for a dozen or so tortillas.
And I am a believer that every penny counts. If this were the recipe we'd start using, I would say we would save a minimum of $5 per month, or $60 per year. Not bad!
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