homemade whole wheat tortillas

I think there is somewhere deep inside me and my friends dna that makes us love mexican food. Maybe it was in the water at WAHS. Or maybe it was (and is) our undying love for "the guad" here in cville. But whatever it is, it's beyond a craving, it's a need. I need Mexican food and it makes up about 2 out of 7 meals we eat here at my home.

So making mexican food has become a passion.

But let's be honest. The stuff they sell in stores and market as "tortillas" are hardly such. So I decided to make my own:) And I probably can't do them justice...well maybe if I actually make them with pork lard (yum). But here's my recipe. I have modified it from a recipe from How to Cook Everything.

So go ahead make your own. Not only will they taste better, but you will save a pretty penny as well.

Whole Wheat Tortillas:
1 1/2 cup flour
3 tblspoon coconut oil (or butter)
1/2 cup warm water
2 tsp salt (or more)

Mix together. If you have a stand mixer. Mix well on a high speed w/ a dough hook for a good 5 min. If kneading by hand you might want to use this as your work out for the day and give it a good 10-15 min. Then leave a let rest in a semi-warm place for a couple hours. I like to make mine at lunch and let sit on the counter wrapped in foil until I am ready to make dinner.

Now the part that takes some work. You will want to pinch off small balls of dough. Maybe golf ball or ping pong ball size. And roll out as thin as you can. Heat up a nice big cast iron skillet and lightly (or heavily) butter. Brown on either side. They will puff up a bit and then deflate.

Eat at once. Make them into Enchiladas or just store them in the fridge. Maybe they will be good for a week. But chances are you'll eat half the batch when you're cookin' them up!

one of those moments

This picture doesn't do it justice. I woke up late (thank you husband). I didn't feel well. There was a lot of crying (not from me, but I kind of wished I was able to be the one crying). Things just weren't going well.

Until I put on a little music...coldplay of course. That always calms me down. And what do you know? Apparently, it calms down toddlers too!

I was already holding Jude and Stella decided to join in. I had both kids on my lap for all of ten minutes for quite possibly the best snuggle ever.

Refreshed. Thankful. Blessed.

It was one of those moments that you never want to end. (thankfully my sister walked in the door right before it ended and she was able to snap a pic so that I could have proof)

my little boy

If you haven't used lucy @ lucyophoto.com. you should. look at these pictures! Why do I even bother taking pictures of my kids when my rockstar, photographer sister takes these...


and I think (finally) we are starting to look alike? book her today!

fabric, thread,needles & time

That is my recipe for a quilt. And that is my new project for the week (well...year?)

I'm not big on new years resolutions. I think we should always be looking at our life and working towards making it better. In particular, the husband and I like to look at our life week to week and make changes (resolutions, you may say) to keep our life on track. So, on a long and snowy drive back from Pennslyvania on Christmas we took a look at our life.

And what did we find? Well for one, I spend too much time online. Hmmm go figure:)

So my resolution? Since I love to make things homemade. I decided on a couple new projects. First, a quilt. Since my most favorite quilt (from pottery barn) was so worn in that my feet keep getting caught in the holes.

You may say...when did you learn how to quilt? Well, I didn't. I started by rummaged around my moms sowing closet for old fabric and I just kind of went at it. My mom helped me with some simple math to make sure my edges lined up and I started cutting, then I started sowing...

And what I found is that when you don't watch television and play online, you get a lot done!

My husband loves to read to me and so he loves my new hobby of quilting. For some reason I listen a lot better when I am sowing then when I am looking at pictures on facebook...oh well

For those who sew...I'm probably not doing quilting justice. But for my first project I am working on a queen-ish sized quilt. The pattern is a simple 7x7 block of mismatched old fabrics. Here is my first pic:
now I will get off the computer, I promise;)