Homemade Tortillas

With only a couple basic ingredients, you can have soft and warm tortillas in no time!  I like to make these at the beginning of the week when I plan on making tacos for Mexican night and then use any leftovers for sandwich wraps later in the week.  You can turn these into homemade chips by cutting into triangles, brush with oil, salt, and bake until crispy.  The original recipe I found said to use shortening, however, I hardly have that on hand if I am not baking cakes, so I substitute vegetable oil and it always turns out wonderfully.  Give these a try and you will never buy store bought tortillas again!


Yield: 12-15 tortillas


2 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup oil
3/4 cup hot water
1 tsp salt


Combine ingredients in a large bowl and knead to fully incorporate.  

Divide dough into equal portions.  Cover and let rest 30 minutes. (Usually I am impatient and cover dough with damp paper towel while I am rolling each ball out instead of waiting the full 30 minutes).

On a lightly floured surface roll out dough with rolling pin until as thin as possible.  I usually make mine the size of a frying pan and thin so I can almost see the counter top through it.  

Cook in skillet over medium high heat about 30 minutes each side popping any bubbles that form.  

Cover with towel to keep warm while making the rest of the tortillas.  

Store in Ziploc bag.

Sweet Dreams,
Cindy

Coleslaw

I found this recipe online years ago and have been using it ever since.  It is easy to make and tastes very much like the coleslaw served at KFC.  

This recipe tastes good right away but even more amazing the next day!  I usually cut the recipe in half and still get plenty of leftovers for the week.  When I made this for our 4^th of July celebration I bought a 4lb head of cabbage and used half of it for this coleslaw, which made more than enough for 4 people.   

Yield: 7 cups of slaw.  I would guess enough to feed 10 people as a side dish. Perfect for a picnic or church pot luck!  

1/2 cup mayonnaise (I use Light Mayo)

1/3 cup sugar

¼ cup milk

2 ½ Tbsp lemon juice

2 Tbsp vinegar

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

8 cups cabbage, shredded (1 head)

1 or 2 shredded carrots

2 Tbsp mined onion

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. 

Cover and let sit in refrigerator at least 30 minutes.  It will taste even more like KFC coleslaw the longer it rests.  You will also notice the sauce will become thinner the longer it rests, which is nice because it tastes a lot lighter than a thick, heavy, mayo rich sauce.

Serve to hungry guests!

Sweet Dreams,
Cindy

Funnel Cakes

This recipe will be a favorite for kids of all ages.  When I was in high school, my Mom would make funnel cakes for my friends when we would hang out at our house during the summer.  We have also been making these for the 4th of July for several years now.  To keep the tradition going, I will post my recipe and hope that you too will enjoy it and get as many wonderful memories as I have!

Yield: 6-8 Funnel Cakes

3 cups of flour

2 tsp baking powdered

1/2 tsp salt

3 cups milk

4 T orange or lemon juice

Oil for frying

Powdered sugar, cool whip, fresh berries for topping

Mix ingredients together in a bowl.  Batter will be similar to pancake batter but a little more runny. 

Transfer some batter into a glass measuring cup to help pour into pan.

Heat 1/2 in deep oil in a skillet on medium high heat.  Test to check if oil is hot enough by dripping some batter into the oil.  If it sizzles and floats to the top, it is ready.

Carefully, drizzle batter into oil.  I make a couple circles around and then try to make star patterns with the batter to connect all the swirls together. 

Fry until golden brown.  Carefully turn the funnel cake over and fry the other side.

Remove from oil and set on paper towels to drain excess oil.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar while still warm.  Serve as is or add cool whip and berries for an extra special treat!

Last month, I wanted to make something unique for my Dad's birthday "cake" and knew he would enjoy a personal funnel cake topped with powdered sugar, cool whip, and strawberries!  When I brought the funnel cake over to him with the candles lit, his eyes opened wide and jaw dropped. Needless to say he was impressed and we all really enjoyed the sweet treat.

I wanted to upload this recipe before the 4th of July weekend!  This is one of my favorite holidays.  It is usually spent having BBQ's, corn on the cob, watermelon seed spitting contests, swimming, singing, and fireworks! Whatever your plans are, remember to say a prayer thanking God for protecting our beautiful country and blessing us to be a part of the Greatest Nation on Earth.  

Happy Birthday, America!!!

Sweet Dreams,
Cindy

Marinated Roasted Red Peppers

Every time my husband and I visit his parents, my mother-in-law has a beautiful spread of Italian food waiting for us.  It usually consists of an anti-pasta platter with cheeses, salami, pepperoni, prosciutto, marinated olives, shrimp, Italian bread, and marinated roasted red peppers.  It all tastes wonderful, but I especially love the marinated roasted red peppers.  They make an ordinary sandwich taste out of this world amazing!

Since we live 10 hours away and don't have any Italian deli's nearby, I have searched for and tried a number of recipes trying to get my red peppers to taste like the one's my Mom serves. 

Here is my simple yet flavorful recipe:

Yield:  2-3 cups (plenty to serve at a dinner party of 4 and still have leftovers for lunches that week)

3-4 large red peppers

3 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

1/2 tsp Italian seasoning

1/2 tsp garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste

Cut peppers in half long ways.  Remove seeds and membrane, then place on cookie sheet skin side up.

Broil on High for 5 to 8 minutes or until skin on peppers is black.  (You will want as much skin to turn black as possible so that it will be easier to peel off later)

(The right side of this pepper was a lot easier to peel than the left since the skin was more burnt)

Remove peppers from cookie sheet and place in brown paper lunch bag.  Fold down top and allow the peppers to rest for 10 minutes.  

Open up bag and remove the peppers, being careful since they are still hot.  Peel off the skin and cut peppers into pieces.  (Cut the size large or small depending on how you plan to serve them--smaller if serving with crackers as an appetizer and larger if going on sandwiches.)

(Skin off versus skin on) 

Place cut peppers in bowl and mix with Oil, Balsamic Vinegar, Italian Seasoning, Garlic Powder, Salt and Pepper.  Cover and let them marinade in the refrigerator at least 3 hours.  They are great right away but taste even better the next day!!

I really hope you try this recipe.  I love serving this to guests and it always impresses!

Sweet Dreams,
Cindy

Homemade Sweetened Condensed Milk

I love blender recipes!!! I found this recipe a while ago and have been wanting to try it ever since.  I rarely have a can of sweetened condensed milk in my pantry since I have a sweet tooth and bake something with it right away! Typically, I use sweetened condensed milk in my Mom's recipe of Welcome Home Bars which are very similar to Seven Layer Bars.  Ahh, Heaven!!  

This was a very easy recipe (made in a blender) and I could not believe how much it resembled the real product.  I will be using this recipe for sweetened condensed milk from now on since it is a lot cheaper and I always have the ingredients on hand.

Here is a picture of the instant nonfat powdered milk if you have never used it before.

Yields: 1 (14 oz) can Sweetened Condensed Milk

1 1/3 cups of Instant Powdered Milk (found in a box in the baking isle) 

3/4 cup Plus 3 Tbsp of white granulated sugar

1/3 cup Plus 2 Tbsp boiling water

3 Tbsp melted butter

·       Place all ingredients in a blender.  

·       Cover with lid and blend for 1 minute. 

·       Pour into bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and store in refrigerator until ready to use. 

I poured the finished product into a glass measuring cup and it came out to be 12 ounces instead of 14 ounces. But, when I used this sweetened condensed milk in my Key Lime Pie recipe and it worked great.  I made the sweetened condensed milk first and kept it in the fridge until I was ready for the key lime pie filling. The finished pie was nice and creamy just like I used a store bought can of milk.

I hope you give this a try the next time you need sweetened condensed milk in a recipe!

Sweet Dreams,
Cindyhttp://cindyloubakesforyou.blogspot.com/2011/06/key-lime-pie.html