Homemade Tortillas

Source: Victoria Blanchard

Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups flour (I did three cups all purpose and 1/2 cup whole wheat)
1/2 cup lard (I didn't have any lard, so I subbed Crisco, which maybe is shocking to some, but I think they turned out tasty)
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup warm water

Directions:
Mix flour, salt and lard until crumbly - a fork works great for this, or a pastry cutter if you have one, or two knives.  Add water about 1/4 cup at a time while still mixing.  You probably will have to get your hands in there and mix/knead so it all stays together (or maybe I'm just incompetent with a spoon).  Cover and chill in fridge for 20 minutes (or more if you need to).  Divide into small balls - mine made 13 that were about 2 inches in diameter, roughly.  Roll out on a floured surface as thin as possible - mine ended up being about 10-11 inches in diameter.  Fry for on a medium-hot pan for a couple minutes on each side (I flipped it when the bubbles on the surface were about dime sized).  Eat and enjoy right away.  If you have leftovers you can save them in a plastic bag, but I'd suggest reheating them for a few seconds in the microwave to get the softness back.


Notes:
We made these for Cafe Rio pork burritos when I was in Virginia and I realized they really aren't as intimidating as I thought they'd be.  So when we were out of our regular store-bought tortillas and I really wanted to try the Sweet Potato Tacos, I decided I'd just have to make them myself.  Oh yum.  And besides being good, they are super cheap!  And Gregg was so impressed with my skills.  :)

Sweet Potato Tacos

Source: adapted from a recipe by Natalie (Perry's Plate), via the Tasty Kitchen blog

Ingredients:

½ pound ground beef or turkey

2 Tablespoons taco seasoning

½ cup tomato sauce (usually I use a whole 8 oz can)

1 can (15 oz.) black, kidney, or pinto beans, drained (I'm usually a huge fan of black beans in things like this, but this time I opted for kidney and LOVED it)

6 cups sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (I used 4+ cups - filled up my large liquid measuring cup - which came from one biggish and one smallish sweet potato)

2 tablespoons butter

½ teaspoon salt

1½ cups chopped fresh spinach (didn't have any, but I didn't let that stop me from making it)

1½ cups shredded cheddar cheese

tortillas, sour cream, salsa, fresh cilantro, and/or guacamole for garnish

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425ºF.  (I actually had it a little lower - more like 380 or so and cooked it a bit longer because I got it into the oven a bit earlier than I needed to)

Brown ground meat in a skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in taco seasoning, tomato sauce, and beans. Set aside.

Spray a 9x13 inch casserole dish with non-stick spray.  Place sweet potato cubes in the pan and top with the butter and a sprinkle of salt.  This is where you'd add the spinach if you had it, but if you don't, it's still darn yummy.  Then add the taco meat and bean mixture and the cheese (but next time I'm debating about whether I'll skip the cheese at this step and just add it at the end with the garnishes).  Cover with foil and bake for 25-30 minutes, until the sweet potatoes are tender.

The original recipe assembled everything in foil packets: To assemble packets, spray the foil with non-stick spray. Place 1 cup sweet potato cubes in the center of each piece. Top with a small piece of butter (about 1 teaspoon) and a pinch or two of salt. Sprinkle some chopped spinach over the sweet potatoes, followed by about 1/3 cup of taco meat and a sprinkle of cheese. Fold the sides in, then bring the top and bottom ends of the foil together in the center and fold, sealing the packet.
Repeat with remaining ingredients, placing the packets on a rimmed cookie sheet.  Bake as above.  I thought this might make a great campfire meal idea - with or without the tortilla.

Serve in a tortilla with sour cream, salsa and a few sprigs of fresh cilantro.  And guacamole if you have some.

Makes 6 servings.

Notes:
This may be my fastest turnaround from seeing a recipe to saving it (on Pinterest, of course) to making and eating it to photographing and blogging it.  All done in just about a day and a half!  And that's saying something.  I'm really on a sweet potato kick at the moment, so whenever I see a recipe doing something creative with them, I get really excited.  And this one was really, really great.  A keeper, for sure.  Especially with homemade tortillas, as seen in the photo above (only because we didn't have any from the store, but now I wonder if I'll ever go back!).

Update:
I've made this multiple times now - we LOVE it!  I even tried it in the crock pot recently and it worked like a charm.  I did up the sweet potatoes to 3 medium sized (probably closer to that 6 cups of cubed sweet potato that the original recipe calls for, but I'm not totally sure because I didn't actually measure).  I also added a whole can (1 cup) of tomato sauce to the meat/bean mixture just because I didn't want to have a half can sitting in my fridge and then going moldy (that's what happened last time).  It was perfect.  Still haven't tried it with spinach, but I think it would be wonderful.  Black or kidney beans are my usual choices.  And I don't add cheese in the oven/crock pot (I did the first time, but ever since nope) - I just sprinkle some on top as garnish in my taco shell.

Lavender Shortbread Cookies

Source

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups butter, softened
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup sifted confectioners' sugar
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh lavender
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint leaves
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 
  

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, white sugar and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in the lavender, mint and lemon zest. Combine the flour, cornstarch and salt; mix into the batter until well blended. Divide dough into two balls, wrap in plastic wrap and flatten to about 1inch thick. Refrigerate until firm, about 1hour.
2. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into shapes with cookie cutters. Cookie stamps will work well on these too. Place on cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, just until cookies begin to brown at the edges. Cool for a few minutes on the baking sheets then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Notes

• This month's Relief Society enrichment activity was about growing and using herbs. The planning committee asked several sisters to bring herb-related treats to share - they provided the recipes and the ingredients. I was assigned these Lavender Cookies, which I had never heard of, and, to be honest, was slightly hesitant to try. Surprisingly, they were delicious! Perfectly light, savory, and dainty. Bret enjoyed them too, but adamantly labeled them as "chick food," so don't plan to contribute these at your next Super Bowl Potluck. :)

Chili-Chocolate Cupcakes with Chili-Cream Cheese Frosting

Source

Ingredients

• Cake:
• 1 (18.25 ounce) box devil's food chocolate cake mix
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 1/4 cups water
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs
•  
• Frosting:
• 1 teaspoon ground ancho chile pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 4 cups confectioners' sugar, or more as needed
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 teaspoon clear vanilla extract, or to taste
• 24 small dried red chiles

• Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 24 cupcake cups with paper liners.
2. Empty the boxed cake mix into a mixing bowl, and whisk in 1 1/2 teaspoon of ground ancho chile and 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper. Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat in the water, vegetable oil, and eggs; beat for 2 minutes. Spoon the batter into the prepared cupcake cups, filling them 2/3 full.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 18 to 22 minutes. Remove and cool completely before frosting.
4. In a bowl, sift 1 teaspoon of ground ancho chile, 1/8 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, and the cinnamon with the confectioners' sugar. Beat in the cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until the frosting is smooth; mix in the vanilla extract. Spread the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes in attractive swirls, and poke a small dried chile, stem-side up, into the frosting as a garnish.

Notes

• This week I was asked to bring a food favor to a baby girl shower. Because the party had no theme other than the gender, I decided that a "sugar and spice" dish would be appropriate. I've sampled chili-laced dark chocolate (made by Lindt) before and loved it, so I wanted to transfer that flavor into a baked good recipe. One google search later, I found this bad boy and oh my, was it delicious! I omitted the cayenne pepper because I didn't have any on hand, but had to double the chili powder to get enough kick. For aesthetics, I topped each cupcake with chili-chocolate shavings and a cupcake flag/label to warn the party guests about the heat. 

Whole Wheat Brownies

Source: adapted from a recipe on marthastewart.com, via Pinterest

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for pan (I used salted butter and should have lowered the added salt later on because they taste a bit salty to me - Gregg didn't notice - but they're still good)

1/2 cup all-purpose flour, (spooned and leveled)

1/2 cup whole-wheat flour (spooned and leveled)

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon coarse salt (see note above about salted butter)

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup packed light-brown sugar

1 1/4 cups unsweetened applesauce

1 large egg

8 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (I just dumped in some semisweet chocolate chips - what was left in my bag that I didn't measure - maybe 2/3 - 3/4 cup? - and they're plenty chocolatey)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch square baking dish; line with parchment (skipped the parchment and life still went on), leaving a 2-inch overhang on all sides. In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, cocoa, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.

In a large bowl, stir together sugar, applesauce, and egg. Place butter and 6 ounces chocolate (see note above about chocolate chips) in a heatproof bowl set over (not in) a pot of simmering water; stir until melted (I just did this in the microwave for 33 seconds - worked like a charm). Stir chocolate mixture into sugar mixture. Stir in flour mixture. Pour into pan and top with 2 ounces chocolate (didn't measure - just sprinkled a few chips on top to look purdy).

Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs attached, 40 minutes (35 for me). Let cool in pan on a wire rack. Use parchment to lift cake from pan and cut into 16 squares (ha! we went for more substantial 9 squares).

Notes:
When I saw Laurel pin this on pinterest a few weeks ago I knew I had to give them a whirl.  I liked the idea of adding whole wheat flour and applesauce (though, seriously, I don't think these really can count as "healthy" despite all that).  The batter texture wasn't really doing it for me (yes, I like to lick the bowl - so sue me), so I was a bit anxious for how they'd turn out cooked.  Turns out you can't judge a brownie by it's batter.  Holy moly were these good.  And fudgy.  And moist.  And thick!  Probably the best "from scratch" brownies I've ever made.  And not too much harder than from a box.  Win!

Lemon (or Lime) Crinkle Cookies

Source: Mel's Kitchen Cafe via my sister, Heather

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon (or lime) zest
1 Tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon (or lime) juice, from about 1/2 lemon (or 1 lime)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheets with parchment or lightly coat with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add vanilla, egg, lemon (or lime) zest and juice and mix well, scraping down the sides as needed. Add the dry ingredients (except the powdered sugar) and mix until just combined. Place the powdered sugar in a bowl or plate and roll tablespoon-size balls of dough in the powdered sugar to coat. Place on the prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart.

Bake the cookies for 9-11 minutes. The cookies will not be browned on the edges but they will have lost a bit of their shininess on top. Don’t overbake! Cool the cookies on a cooling rack and store in an airtight container or eat immediately.

Notes:
I had seen this recipe pop up on Mel's blog in January, but had forgotten about it till my mom told me my sister had made "some yummy lime cookies" and when she shared the recipe with me, they were one and the same except Heather substituted lime juice and zest for the lemon called for in the recipe.  I got overzealous at the grocery store a few weeks ago and bought four limes, not knowing exactly what I was going to do with them.  Bingo!  These cookies were it.  Next time I think I'll add even more lime juice, just to give it a little extra flavor (I didn't measure with this batch - just squeezed as much juice as I could out of a lime and dumped it in).  But yum - fun, and cute, and springy, and delicious.

Cream Cheese Lemon Bars

Source: RecipeTips.com (via pinterest)

Ingredients

• 1 box lemon cake mix
• 1/3 cup butter or margarine - softened
• 1 egg
• 8 ounces cream cheese - softened
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 lemon - grated
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice or 1/2 fresh squeezed lemon
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

• In a mixing bowl, blend dry cake mix, butter, and 1 egg.
• Press into a 9 x 13 pan, ungreased.
• Beat the cream cheese until smooth.
• Gradually blend in the powdered sugar.
• Stir in lemon peel and lemon juice until smooth.
• Reserve 1/2 cup of this mixture and refrigerate it for later use.
• Beat the remaining 2 eggs, add the vanilla, and then beat this mixture into the remaining cream cheese mixture until well blended.
• Spread over the cake mixture.
• Bake at 350° until set, approximately 25 to 30 minutes.
• Cool completely.
• Spread the reserved cream cheese mixture onto the bars.
• Refrigerate until firm; then cut into squares and serve.

Notes

• I made these when I was in a pinch for a new dessert last week and they were fantastic! A happy medium between lemon cake, cheesecake, and lemon bars. Yum!

Paprika Chicken Stroganoff

Recipe and Photo Source: Mel's Kitchen Cafe

INGREDIENTS:
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, chicken thighs or a combination of both, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 tablespoon sweet paprika or regular paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more as needed
1 medium yellow onion, diced (about 1/2 cup)
8 ounces white button mushrooms or baby bella mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 3/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup plain yogurt, creme fraiche, or sour cream
Hot, cooked egg noodles, for serving (about 12 ounces to 1 pound)
Fresh, chopped parsley for garnish

DIRECTIONS:
In a medium bowl or shallow pie plate, toss the cubed chicken with the paprika, salt and pepper. Sprinkle the flour on top of the chicken and toss to coat.

Heat the olive oil in a large 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until rippling and hot. Add the chicken in a single layer and cook until golden brown on each side, tossing occasionally, about 5 minutes. The chicken will finish cooking fully a bit later so it doesn’t need to be cooked all the way through. Scrape the chicken onto a plate and set aside.

Add another teaspoon of oil to the pan, if needed, and stir in the onions and mushrooms. Saute the mixture, stirring occasionally and scraping up the browned bits from the chicken, until the onion is translucent and the onions and mushrooms are browned, about 5 minutes.

Pour in about 1/4 cup of the chicken broth and deglaze the pan by scraping up any bits from the bottom. Stir in the tomato paste, whisking to combine. Add the rest of the chicken broth and the bay leaf, stirring well.

Add the chicken back into the skillet and simmer the mixture over medium-low to medium heat, until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce thickens slightly, about 5-6 minutes. Stir in the yogurt (or creme fraiche or sour cream) and cook for about 2-3 minutes longer. If you would like the sauce to be a bit thicker, make a cornstarch slurry by mixing 1 tablespoon cornstarch with 1-2 tablespoons cold water. Add the cornstarch slurry to the simmering mixture in the skillet, whisking quickly to combine. Let the mixture simmer for 2-3 minutes until thickened. Serve over hot noodles and garnish with fresh parsley, if desired.

NOTES: I was excited to try this recipe because 1) we have several bags of frozen chicken to eat before we move and 2) it closely resembled a delicious dinner that I was served by a friend several months ago. I was lucky that it was spot on, perhaps better! Not anything fancy, but a wonderful comfort food dish for a cold night.