New Tortilla Recipe!!

As I mentioned in my post about my cooking goals for the new year, I've been meaning to try out a healthy recipe for tortillas for quite some time. Well, today I finally did! If you are trying to find healthy recipes, then you really need to check out the Passionate Homemaking blog. Her recipes have worked for me almost every time and she is my "go-to" when I have a recipe need. (Plus, she named her daughter Karis, which I obviously love :)

Anyways, Her tortilla recipe is as good as the rest. It is completely healthy, fairly simple, and yummy. If my toddler hadn't been nosy about the tortilla press and smashed her finger in it, we would have had a completely successful cooking day :) And no, you don't have to have a tortilla press. I am just blessed to have a sweet SIL who lent me hers :)

I'm super pumped about this recipe -- now I can make breakfast burritoes, fried healthy chips for my hubby, and meals in a hurry. I doubled this recipe and next time I will probably triple it to make enough for a month.

So here is Lindsey's recipe:

3 cups whole wheat or kamut flour (I actually used spelt and it worked fine!)
1 cup warm filtered water
1 Tbsp acid medium (kefir, whey, buttermilk, yogurt, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice)
1/4 cup coconut oil or butter, melted
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt

Directions:

1. Combine flour, water, melted coconut oil or butter and 1 Tbsp of acid medium. Cover and soak at room temperature for 12-24 hours.
2. After soaking, add baking powder and salt to soaked flour mixture, kneading in the flour until the dough is workable but not too stiff.
3. Shape into 8 – 10 balls and let stand 10 more minutes. (I found that I could cook more tortillas at a time if I made smaller tortillas, so I made about 11 per batch)
   
4. Roll to form a 10 inch circle or use a tortilla press.
5. Bake on a lightly greased griddle till done (not browned). Toast for about 20-30 sec. per side.
   

Yield: 8-10 tortillas.

A Healthy Treat

I created these bar treats the other night when I wanted something sweet and filling, but healthy. They are very similar to my "Lara" bars, but I just used the ingredients I had on hand instead of following a recipe. I didn't measure a bit, but I will estimate for you :)

Chop in the food processor in this order:
1 cup dehydrated coconut flakes
1 cup soaked and dehydrated almonds, pecans, or a combo
1 bag of dates (probably about 10 dates)
2 heaping spoonfuls of coconut oil
a handful of Carob or chocolate chips if desired

Blend until it has a smooth consistency. Put wax paper down in a glass dish (I used an 8x8) and scoop mixture onto it. Press into pan, put in the fridge, and let chill for a good 15 minutes.

Cut into small bars and enjoy! Eat straight from the fridge because they melt in your hands :)

Tex-Mex Beefy Hashbrown Casserole

This is a recipe that my Mom made for my Dad recently and he just raved about it. So I thought I'd try it out for Mark. I 'll let you know how we like it :)

1 lb ground beef
1 red pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 pkg taco seasoning mix (I'll just use my home-made Taco meat instead)
1/2 cup water (this is for mixing with the seasoning, so I'll skip it :)
4 cups cubed hashbrowns (I'll probably just grate some potatoes :)
1 pkg (10 oz) frozen corn -- make sure you get organic or it will be GMO!
8 oz Velveeta, cut into cubes (as much as I love Velveeta, I will not use it because it is FAKE cheese and so very bad for you! I'll just use cheddar :)

Heat oven to 350. Brown beef with pepper and onion. Drain; return to skillet. Stir in taco mix and water. Add potatoes, corn and water. Mix well. Put in a 9x 13 baking dish; cover. Bake 20 min. Stir. Bake uncovered another 15 minutes til heated through. This can also be done as a skillet meal.

Random Pecan Encrusted Chicken

The other day I was making a humongous batch of my family's favorite home-made cheesy chicken strips and I ran out of bread crumbs with about 6 strips left to make. What to do? I searched my pantry for a replacement, but since we have gotten rid of pretty much all processed food, there were no crackers or cereal to crumble up. But then I noticed my soaked and dehydrated pecans and got excited. I love to order pecan-encrusted chicken at restaurants so I decided to try it myself. Mark thought it was fine (although he is obsessed with the garlic-cheesiness of my other strips and prefers them). But the girls and I just couldn't get enough!

Ingredients:
6 chicken strips
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup flour
pinch of sea salt
1 pumpkin muffin, crumbled (optional)
1 cup of crispy pecans, ground up
1 tsp. cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
2 tbs butter or coconut oil, melted
maple syrup to drizzle over the top (optional, but highly recommended :)

Directions: Place the flour and cinnamon in one bowl. Place the egg in another bowl. Mix up the crushed pecans, crumbled muffin, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a 3rd bowl. Grease baking dish with butter or coconut oil. Dip chicken in all three bowls, coating well and then placing in baking dish. Drizzle with butter or CO and syrup. Bake at 350 for 30 min til juices run clear.