Homemade Tortillas

Part of my job as a preschool teacher is to eat meals with the children.  It provides a level of quality in our care, plus it saves me lots of time and money.  This season, our cook has been phenomenal!  She really cares about the food she makes and it has made our season very yummy.  This woman makes most of her food from scratch and that includes homemade tortilla shells.

 

Now that I have tasted her tortilla shells, the ones I buy in the store taste like wood.

 

So I begged and pleaded until she gave me the recipe.

 

Then I came back and yelled at her (not really) because she was keeping a key ingredient hostage.

 

Homemade Tortillas

 

Ingredients:

 

3 cups of flour

 

3 Tbl. of butter, softened

 

1 tsp. of Salt

 

1 tsp. of Baking Powder

 

Up to 1 cup of Steaming HOT Water

 

 

Hot water is the key here.  If you use cold or warm, you won't be able to roll out the tortillas.

 

Mix the dry ingredients and then add the butter until it is crumbly.  Slowly add the water until the mixture is dough like.  It needs to be slightly sticky.

 

I used my Kitchen Aid and that made it super easy to make.

 

 

 

 

Let the dough rest for approx. 20 minutes.

 

 

Then divide the dough into 12 pieces and shape each piece into a ball.

 

 

The first one I rolled out stuck to my cutting board.  I sprayed my cutting board one time with non-stick spray and it was good for all 12 tortillas.

 

Using a rolling pin, begin rolling the ball outwards, almost like a fan.

 

 

 

 

Roll it until you are satisfied with the size and shape.

 

 

Just be aware- they get thicker as the cook!

 

 

 

 

I used a non-stick skillet to cook mine.  I did not have to use any non-stick spray.

 

Cook each side for a minute over medium heat.

 

 

 

 

Homemade Tortillas

 

Yum!

 

(My entire family approved.  Even the picky eater.)

 

My tortillas still don't taste as good as hers and they will probably never look as good, but she's got over 30 years of tortilla making experience. 

 

They might not be AS good as hers, but they're still 100% better than the ones I buy at the store.

 

You can also freeze them.  Just place a piece of wax paper between each shell, place it in a freezer bag and freeze.

Update:  February 18, 2014

I haven't purchased tortillas since September of 2013 and I've learned a few more things that may help you make this recipe.

1) You can mix 2 cups of all purpose flour and 1 cup of whole wheat flour to make a healthier version.  The tortillas taste delicious and are hubby and child approved!

2) Letting the dough sit for longer than 20 minutes makes it even easier to roll out.  I  have been leaving them for 45 minutes... unless I get distracted and forget.

3) Cook the tortillas on medium/high heat.  You have to watch them closely but it makes them a nice golden brown.

Weekly Goals, September 23, 2013

Here's something that I realized yesterday about why setting goals are good for me.  When the mass amounts of never ending tasks are screaming at me, I just go to my list of goals for that week.  I will never have everything done, but having goals and checking them off helps me to feel like I have accomplished something.

Goals for September 16, 2013

1) Continue managing our money.  Another successful week!

2) Decorate for Autumn  I got the box out of the basement but that's as far as I got.

3) Organize Playroom  Done

4) Walk 3 Times  Walked Twice

5) Begin Gathering Pictures for Our Butterfly Album Not done, but a friend invited me to a scrapbook gathering and I'm going to save this for then. 

Goals for September 23, 2013

1) Money Management

Daily checking the accounts and balancing the checkbook and staying on task with our spending.

2) Daily Devotions

I have been forgetting a lot the last few weeks so it's time to refocus!

3) Walk 3 Times

4) Clean Kitchen Cabinet Doors

5) Autumn Decorations

Week Three of the Spending Freeze Challenge

I'm happy to say that my husband and I are still working together on this.  It's challenging and I find myself having to say no to a lot of things.  Keeping the goal of home ownership in mind gives me strength to stay on task.  This week I celebrated paying all our bills current and some early.  I can't remember the last time this happened but I know it's been at least 3 years.  I'm super-crazy happy over this not-so-small-to me success!

Here's an overview of week three...

1) Over the course of a week, we spent $106.97 on groceries.  This exceeded our grocery budget by $6.97 but I had forgotten to get ingredients to make a dessert for a carry in and needed to buy the ingredients for a tonic I make for colds.  I had a nasty sinus infection and the $2.89 I spent to make it was way cheaper than going to the doctor's.  This was also the first week where I felt like we had enough food.

2)  Matthew's shoes had come apart, the fabric was no longer attached to the soles of his shoes, and he needed new shoes.  I gathered some items that Liam had grown out of, took them to the consignment store and ended up paying 48 cents for 4 pairs of new-to-us shoes.

3)  I keep forgetting diapers at the grocery store!  Not good when my youngest is not potty trained.  :-(  I took several of my Thirty-One bags into the consignment store and got enough to buy a large box of diapers at Sam's Club.

4) It's nearing the end of the season for my job and everyone is exchanging gifts with their secret pal.  I politely turned down the instructions to participate and kindly repeated my answer when they tried to make me feel guilty.  It's a fun end of the season activity but our future home is going to be worth it.


To read more about our Spending Freeze challenge, click on this link: Frugal Living

The Woman Who Fears the Lord #9

The Woman Who Fears the Lord

 

A Study of Proverbs 31

Verse 18

 

"She sees that her trading is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night."

I wonder when our friend, Mrs. Proverbs, sleeps.  This is the second verse that talks about her working at night.  Verse 15 says that she gets up while it is still dark and now in verse 18, she's still working while it is still night.

I don't know about you, but I get grumpy when I haven't had enough sleep.  I am currently finishing up the last 3 weeks of my work season and am still having to fight to make sure I get an adequate amount of sleep each night.  (Not verbal or physical fighting.  Mental fighting to resist doing a few more things before bed and a constant discipline to either not turn on a screen or to close one.)

Mrs. Proverbs gets up early and stays up late.  She gets the job done.

In her era, I think working or being productive while it was still dark was a admirable character trait.

In the 21st century...

We have electricity.

We have energy drinks.

We have a never ending to do list.

How then, can this verse apply to us?

Mrs. Proverbs is using her resources to make a profit.  She's probably trading her veggies, fruits, livestock, handmade clothing, etc. for goods that her family needs or for money.  She's making money or saving money.  Very profitable.

She gets her jobs done, even if she has to work into the night.

This leaves me with 2 conclusions.

She is a woman of her word

and

She gets enough sleep.

There is no verse in Proverbs 31 that talks about Mrs. Proverbs getting enough sleep.  Yet, she is an awesome wife, mother, homemaker, business woman and member of her community.

All that awesomeness requires sleep.


You may find yourself bringing in an income for your family or doing some of the other awesome things listed in Proverbs 31.

Let's use this verse to remind us,

To follow through with what we say we're going to do

and

To make sure we get enough sleep.


Because being a woman who fears the Lord takes a lot of energy and to be truly awesome, you're going to need your rest.

The link to the series "The Woman Who Fears the Lord"

Caterpillar Update: We lost one?

Friendship Jr. emerged from his chrysalis earlier this week.  Liam was too nervous to hold him.  Matthew had no problem taking care of it for him.

 

On Saturday, we found this little guy on our sun porch floor.  The butterfly habitat was sealed up tight and we hadn't been missing any caterpillars.  I guess we must have had one that had escaped and spun his chrysalis somewhere in the room.

 

 

 

 

Weekly Goals, September 16, 2013

My progress on last week's goals...


Goals for September 9, 2013

1) Continue with the budgeting, planning and following through.  It can be done!  Accomplished!

2) Prepare winter clothes for consignment  Done

3) Clean my van  Done

4) Clean and organize Liam's room  Done

5) Start decorating for Autumn  Incomplete

Goals for September 16, 2013

1) Continue managing our money. 

I'm slightly obsessed with it right now... just ask my husband!  Earlier this week he texted me and asked if he could buy some snack crackers.  I about jumped through the phone and reminded him how we are on a spending freeze- aka, we are not spending money.  I let him know that he should plan ahead, take snacks from home... blah, blah, blah.

2) Decorate for Autumn

3) Organize Playroom

4) Walk 3 Times

5) Begin Gathering Pictures for Our Butterfly Album

Week Two of the Spending Freeze Challenge

My husband and I attempting to change our future by taking control of our money.  We want to purchase a house and I don't want our mistakes to be the reason we can't.

We have just finished week #2 of our spending freeze.  We use our money for bills, gas to get to work and other commitments we have made, and groceries.

This week I spent $98.47 on groceries.  I had budgeted $100.00 and felt pretty good about coming in under budget.  Until I got home and realized that we needed diapers and $8.00 for the Wednesday night meal at our church. 

Liam's not ready to give up on diapers.  He can go all day and only use one for a bowel movement, but so far he has need to be at home and half naked to do this.

The diapers and Wednesday night dinner put us $24.00 over budget.

Here are a few of our spending freeze successes for this past week---

* I based our weekly menu on what was on sale at the grocery store.  I happened to catch the last few minutes of an interview with the author of "Miserly Moms" on Focus on the Family.  She said that the front and back pages of the grocery store sales flyer are foods that they are selling at a loss to get customers into the store.  I went to Krogers, Martins, Meijers, and Aldis.  Next week I'll be going to Aldis first because I saw a few things that were even cheaper there than the other store's sales.

* We ate at our church Wednesday night which left no lunch for my husband to take the next day.  Normally, I would have given him a $5 and said to eat cheap.  This time, I got up at 5:30, made him grilled cheese sandwiches and some breakfast.

* My oldest son has soccer practice twice a week.  I'm working late this season and could have met them to watch practice.  Instead, I went home and made dinner.  I had my husband give them a big snack before they left and we all just ate a late dinner.

* We're adjusting our meal times.  Dinner should be at 6:00 but when I don't get home until 6:00, it makes it a little challenging.  Before the spending freeze, I would just grab takeout on my way home.  With the spending freeze, we eat when dinner is ready.

* A neighbor invited us to come to their church's Fall Festival.  I usually avoid situations where I don't know anyone and I don't go to church events that are not at our church.  I guess I feel like the church is trying to get new members and since we're not interested in finding a new church, we shouldn't go.  This time we went.  It was free, everyone was friendly and welcoming, the boys had a blast and it was only a mile from our home.

 Crafts that the boys did at the Fall Festival.



Fall Festival Face Painting

To read more about our Spending Freeze challenge, click on this link: Frugal Living

http://www.miserlymoms.com/default.htm