Flour Tortillas

After months of searching for a decent flour tortilla in Denver, I finally gave up. They don't know from a good tortilla. In my quest to find an easy and authentic recipe, I found this blog. This lady speaks my language.

These were incredibly easy to make so there is no excuse to ever buy tortillas from the grocery store again...unless you are lucky enough to live near a Fiesta or Central Market. I had to use more milk than the recipe called for but maybe that is because I was using skim milk. Use your own judgement.

Peter liked them but said they were "hard to cut." Poor guy, he can't help that he's from Colorado.

Flour Tortillas
2 cups of all-purpose flour (can make them whole wheat by substituting one cup of whole-wheat flour for white flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of vegetable oil
1 cup of warm milk

Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and oil. Slowly add the warm milk.
Stir until a loose, sticky ball is formed.

Knead for two minutes on a floured surface. Dough should be firm and soft.
Place dough in a bowl and cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap for 20 minutes.

After the dough has rested, break off eight sections, roll them into balls in your hands, place on a plate (make sure they aren’t touching) and then cover balls with damp cloth or plastic wrap for 10 minutes. (It’s very important to let the dough rest, otherwise it will be like elastic and won’t roll out to a proper thickness and shape.)

After dough has rested, one at a time place a dough ball on a floured surface, pat it out into a four-inch circle, and then roll with a rolling pin from the center until it’s thin and about eight inches in diameter. (If you roll out pie crusts you’ll have no problem with this.) Don’t over work the dough, or it’ll be stiff. Keep rolled-out tortillas covered until ready to cook.

In a dry iron skillet or comal heated on high, cook the tortilla about thirty seconds on each side. It should start to puff a bit when it’s done.
Keep cooked tortillas covered wrapped in a napkin until ready to eat.
Can be reheated in a dry iron skillet, over your gas-burner flame or in the oven wrapped in foil.

While you probably won’t have any leftovers, you can store in the fridge tightly wrapped in foil or plastic for a day or so.

Makes eight tortillas.

Freezer Meals

Long time, no post. I have reasons (excuses?) for my lapse in posting over the last month. First, this pregnant lady only wanted to eat cupcakes and Tootsie Rolls until late January. I didn't think those eating habits warranted any new blog entries. Second, as soon as I felt like eating normal food again, I was off to Houston for ten days. The trip did give me an excuse to try out some yummy freezer meals. The week before I left I prepared double of everything, wrapped them in individual servings and left heating instructions for my sweet but domestically challenged husband. Peter very much appreciated the homecooked meals and he managed to only eat at Chipotle twice while I was gone. I call that a huge success!

I did a lot of research on freezer friendly options and settled on five meals. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of the finished results but I am providing links and reviews for each dinner. This was a trial run for when little Ruppenthal arrives. I plan on making a month's worth of meals ahead of time so that when we're tired and cranky, we don't have to resort to fast food...but I'm sure there will be a few Chipotle nights in our future :)

Next week I will be back with all new recipes!

• Baked Chicken with Penne and Sun-Dried Tomatoes- this was by far Peter's favorite. He loved it so much that he has already asked for it again. Martha Stewart has a nice collection of freezer friendly options on her website. I am definitely going to refer back when I need new ideas. The reheating instructions indicate that the dish needs to be in the oven for 1 1/2 hours. I reduced the time to an hour and everything turned out great!
• Green Chile-Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas- these were a very close second. I loved them more than Peter did because I thought they really tasted like good Tex-Mex restaurant enchiladas. Yum...I want to make these again!
• Crab Manicotti/Cannelloni- OMG, these are amazing! They are so rich, yummy and perfect. I had to increase the reheating time to about 75 minutes.
• Beef Lasagna- I'm not Italian nor do I have even a drop of Italian blood running through these veins so I was very nervous about making lasagna from scratch. I won't lie, it's a messy process but SO worth it! It turned out perfectly and reheated wonderfully. I did change th original instructions a bit. I put the leftover lasagna in the fridge overnight and cut it into individual squares the next morning. I froze two servings in each foil pan. I reheated at 400 degrees for one hour, removing the foil for the last ten minutes.
• Stuffed Shells- I didn't get to these because we had a ton of leftover lasagna so I will be trying them next week!

Shrimp Tacos and Spicy Corn

I came up with these during the early days of my relationship with Peter. I was off for the summer and he invited me over to his place for an afternoon by the pool and then an early dinner. I was trying to impress so I offered to make dinner. As soon as I got off the phone I panicked because I had not been to the grocery store and quite honestly, had no idea what to make anyway. These were the days when I thought heating black beans out of a can was cooking. I managed to find all of the ingredients, minus the shrimp so I made a quick trip to the store, and just kind of winged it. I love that I can prepare the spread overnight and then the next day I can make dinner in less than twenty minutes. Peter and I really enjoy these tacos and they have been in the rotation ever since that lovely summer afternoon.

We have always eaten the tacos with a side of black beans with cilantro and lime. Tonight I wanted to try something new. I had some leftover corn from Thanksgiving so I went searching online for a yummy corn sidedish. I found inspiration here and there. I made a few adjustments and I think it turned out really well!

I think I know my husband pretty well. I know what he likes, what he dislikes, what to NEVER say to him, etc... One thing I didn't know was that he hates corn. Whaaaaat??? I had no idea. He made a funny face when I put the corn on his plate but I knew he would be nice and at least try it. He ate the tacos first and then slowly reached for the fork and put the teeniest bit of corn in his mouth. I was waiting for a "sorry babe, I just don't like corn" but he took another bite, then a bigger one and then a whole forkful. That corn was gone in under a minute. I felt victorious! I asked him if there was anything else he thought he hated that I could possibly cook for him and hopefully change his mind. He "hates" eggplant so watch for an eggplant post in the near future. I welcome the challenge.

Shrimp Tacos
1 pound EZ peel shrimp, cleaned, deveined
1/2 medium white onion, chopped
1/2 bunch cilantro, cleaned and chopped
1 clove garlic
1 small lime
4 whole wheat tortillas
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Combine the onion, cilantro, garlic, juice from one half of the lime and the extra virgin olive oil in a mini food processor. Pulse until a pesto like substance forms. Add more extra virgin olive oil if necessary. In a large storage container completely coat the shrimp in the spread. Store in the refrigerator for at least two hours. You can also let them sit overnight.

Divide the remaining tablespoon of butter into fourths. On medium heat drop one on the fourths of butter in the pan and coat both sides of the tortilla in butter. Then leave the tortilla in the pan until in begins to puff, turn over and repeat on the other side. Repeat for each tortilla. Keep warm in a basket or tortilla warmer.

In a large saute pan heat the remaining tablespoon of butter on medium heat. Add the shrimp and cilantro spread to the pan. Cook until the shrimp are pink. This should only take a few minutes. Stuff each tortilla with 4-6 shrimp, depending on size of the shrimp and top with any remaining spread. Serve warm.

Spicy Corn
1 cup frozen corn
1/2 red pepper, diced
1 teaspoon lime juice
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1 clove garlic
1/4 cup white onion, diced
1 teaspoon hot sauce (Peter's favorite)
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon olive oil

Combine all of the ingredients, except the oil. Add the oil to a small saucepan over medium heat. Saute the corn mixture in the oil for 5-6 minutes. Serve warm.

Avocado Quesadillas

If P doesn't talk during dinner then I know the food must be good. He never utters a word when I serve these.  He enjoys them that much.

My husband loves avocados and I do not. I made the mistake of preparing these just the one time and the boy was hooked. Now I am stuck making this super yummy dish that he LOVES and I tolerate. I do like quesadillas in general (cheese, yes!) so I don't include the avocado mixture on mine.

My original idea did not call for chicken but after P was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, I had to add the chicken in order to fulfill his protein requirement.


Avocado Quesadillas
1 firm, ripe large avocado, peeled, pitted and sliced
1 medium tomato, diced, seeds removed
1 medium red onion, diced
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/2 cup shredded cheddar and monterey jack cheese
4 whole wheat tortillas, taco size
2 medium skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1/2 cup salt free fajita seasoning
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup olive oil

In a medium bowl mix the avocado, tomato, red onion and lime juice. Set aside.
Drizzle one side of each tortilla with vegetable oil. Place on a baking sheet and then under the broiler until golden brown. Remove, turn over, sprinkle the shredded cheddar cheese evenly on each tortilla and place back under the broiler. Remove when the cheese has completely melted. Set aside.

                                                  

In a small bowl coat the chicken with the fajita seasoning. You can do this hours in advance if desired but it's not necessary.

Coat a non-stick skillet with olive oil over medium heat. Place the chicken in the skillet, turning once until completely cooked. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and let sit for about five minutes. Then use a fork to shred the chicken.

Assemble the quesadillas- one tortilla cheese side up, two generous scoopfuls of the avocado mixture, a handful of shredded chicken and another tortilla cheese side down.