Homemade Tortillas

Found this great recipe at Today's Daily Dose:

Ingredients:

3 cups unbleached flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
4-6 Tbsp. vegetable shortening or lard
about 1 1/4 cups warm water

Instructions:

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl.

Add vegetable shortening or lard. Or use a combination of half lard, half shortening.
Use a fork or a pastry cutter to cut in the shortening or just do it the old fashioned
way and use your hands.

Next add warm water a little at a time until your dough is soft and not sticky. You do
not need very hot water.

Knead the dough for a few minutes.

Now you will pull off pieces of dough to form about 12 small dough balls. Let them
rest for at least 10 minutes, longer if you like.

This is a good time to heat up the comal (or a frying pan). You will want to set it at medium to high
heat. If it is too hot the tortillas will cook too fast.

Now you can roll out the dough with your tortilla rolling pin or palote. It is a good
idea to dust each ball with a little flour just before you roll them out. Lay the palote
in the center of the dough ball and roll up, center and roll down. It is good to lift the
dough and turn it. Again, rolling pin in the center and roll. Roll them out fairly thin.

Lay your tortilla on the hot comal. It takes just a few seconds to cook. Flip to the other
side. When they are done it should have lots of nice brown speckles. Place them in a
towel. If you would like you can use a tortilla warmer to keep them warm longer.
They are ready to be served!

If you need any of the equipment to make flour tortillas, try our tortilla kit.

Recipe came from here.

Mmmm, we are trying these out today!!

Yummy Treat

This treat looks yummy and is good for the kiddies too!! Thanks to Beauty from Chaos for the great recipe!

Smoothie Treat:

Take some strawberries (frozen are ok!) about 11 lg ones and add to blender
Pour a cup of Milk or OJ in
Add about 6 ice cubes (more or less depending upon your tastes)
Blend until all smooth

For a variation you can add fresh bananas,or blueberries,etc.

Mmm, thanks for sharing!!

Happy Cheese Bread

Mmmm, this looks incredible and I am a BIG fan of bread!! Especially thanks to my bread machine! Here's the yummy recipe from Scribbit :

1 cup warm water
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
4 1/2 teaspoons yeast
1 lb mozzarella, grated
olive oil cooking spray

Put the water, flour, salt, eggs and yeast in the bucket of your bread machine in that order then set the machine to the "dough" cycle and let it run.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees (yea you read that right, watch the eyebrows when you open the door).

Take the dough out and divide it into two equal sections. Press each section into a 7-inch circle on a greased cookie sheet. If the dough sticks to your hands run them under some water and your wet fingers will slip right off the dough.

Divide the grated cheese into two equal portions. Take each portion and squeeze the grated cheese into a ball--see picture to left. Set each ball of cheese on each circle of dough then gather the edges of each circle of dough up around the ball, making sure to seal the extra dough at the top.

The grated cheese ball is now encased in dough.

Press the ball dough cheese and dough flat with your hand--wetting your fingers as necessary to prevent them sticking to the dough. Press the ball down evenly so that the cheese gets mushed down in the center and you create a new circle of cheese-filled dough that's about 7 or 8 inches in diameter (you don't want to break it up so get it as flat as you can without tearing it up).

Once it's flattened, take a sharp knife and slash an "X" across the top of the dough so that the cheese gets exposed a big as you see in the picture on the right. Pop the breads into the oven to bake at 500 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Take them out of the oven and spray them with a bit of olive oil cooking spray then put them back in for another 3-5 minutes or until they're golden bubbly and nicely browned.

Cut the circles into wedges and enjoy--you're going to love them.

What a great recipe! Thanks for sharing!!

Short Bread

This is a simple dish that we can whip up at a moment's notice!! Thanks to Bethany at The Centsible Shopper for the great recipe !!

Shortbread is simple, buttery goodness at its best. Try serving it with tea or fruit for a delightful treat.

Shortbread

1 1/2 C. flour
1/3 C. sugar
3/4 C. butter

Blend ingredients well. Dough will be stiff. Press into a 9 x 9 inch glass dish or form into log on cookie sheet. Bake in oven preheated to 350 until edges are pale golden brown. Cut while warm.

Funnel Cakes

Funnel cakes are one of our favorite treats to make/eat at home and are so easy to whip up with all the ingredients being readily available! And it makes for a quick snack when the kids' friends come over!

Which is why when I saw this Funnel Cake Kit, I just had to have it! It was only $9.99 and the pour spout is definately a step up from the sandwich baggies I used with the tip snipped off! Hopefully it will prove less messier as well which led my daughter to say "Where's the fun in that?". Hmmm..clean or fun? I'll let you decide for yourself,lol!

In the meantime, here is a favorite recipe we use at home to make our own batter that we got from here. After trying many dif recipes, we found this one to be the best!!

Funnel Cakes

Ingredients:

3 eggs
2 cups milk
1/4 cup white sugar
3 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder

Directions:

In a medium bowl, mix salt, baking powder, and half of the flour. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream eggs, sugar and milk. Add flour mixture and beat until smooth. Continue to add remaining flour, but use only enough to achieve desired consistency. Batter will be thin enough to run through a funnel.

In an eight inch skillet, heat the oil to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

Put your finger over the bottom opening of the funnel, and fill the funnel with a generous 1/2 cup of the batter. Hold the funnel close to the surface of the oil, and release the batter into the oil while making a circular motion. Fry until golden brown. Use tongs and wide spatula to turn the cake over carefully. Fry the second side one minute. Drain on paper towels, and sprinkle with sifted confectioners' sugar or cinnamon sugar.

Peanut Butter Balls

Oh, boy! The recipes are just coming in!! Thanks guys so much for your help, I'm sure the girls are gonna really like these, I especially like the no bake factor,lol!! This one is from Sarah:

Peanut Butter Balls

Rolling up these no-cook peanut butter balls gives kids a good excuse for playing with their food. For a deluxe version, toss the finished balls in shredded coconut, carob chips, or chopped peanuts and call them "meteorites."

1 cup creamy or chunky style peanut butter
1 cup powdered milk
1-1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
1 cup honey
Optional shredded coconut or chopped peanuts

Step 1
In a medium bowl, combine the peanut butter, powdered milk, sugar and honey. Pull off walnut-sized pieces, roll into balls and set on waxed paper. Refrigerate until firm or roll in shredded coconut or chopped peanuts before chilling. Makes 24 to 30 balls.

Thanks Sarah! Sounds Yummy!!

Nana's Easy Crockpot Spaghetti Sauce

Candace, over at A Garden of Blessings has this amazingly easy way of making home made sauce!

Nana's Easy Crockpot Spaghetti Sauce

3 large cans crushed tomatoes
1 12oz can tomato paste
3 bay leaves
1 tsp basil
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
some garlic powder
some onion powder
2 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup brown sugar
some pepperoni, cut into quarters (optional)

Put everything in the crockpot, but the paste, early in the morning and let it go all day.
Add more sugar if it tastes too acidic.
You can also use other kinds of canned tomatoes.
I sometimes like stewed, and then put through the blender. It tastes different when you do that though.
You can also use Italian spices if you want, rather than all the individual.

Thanks Candace for sharing such a great recipe!!

Magic MilkShake

Reader Amy emailed this recipe for us to try and guess what? It is Fabulous and we also have the ingredients on hand so its quick to make!! The girls LOVE it!! Try it out and let us know how you like it!

Magic MilkShakes

1-1/2 to 2 cups ice water
1-1/2 cups nonfat dry milk powder
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 to 1-1/2 trays of ice cubes, as much as you can spare
2 tablespoons corn oil plus a 5-second squirt of non-stick spray for emulsification purposes

Place all of the ingredients into the blender, including the oil and the non-stick spray. Use less water for thicker milk shakes and more water for shakes that are easy on your blender motor. The blender should be about 3/4's full. Place the lid on. Process for a full 2 minutes. Pour into cups and serve. Makes 4 - 12oz servings. For preparation tips please see below.

Also, here is the original Link from where the recipe came from. Thanks Amy so much for the Great Recipe!!

Do you have a Fave Frugal Recipe that you you love? We would love to hear about it and try it out!