Real food: Homemade Tortillas

When my children started eating real food (as in when the world became alive to them :), it became pretty important to me that they eat "REAL" food. Not food that could sit out on the counter for 20 years and still be ok to eat. (Is that ever ok to eat?)

Yes, my children still eat boxed crackers sometimes, in fact, Judah eats his weight in Graham Crackers every day. And yes, Malone could eat Easy Mac for every meal of her life, if only I would relent and let her. But as much as I can, I try to make sure the food they (and we) consume is made of REAL ingredients. I know this probably comes easier to me than most, since I particularly enjoy making things from scratch, have the time to do so and more resources than many. I wish (fist of fury in the air) that as a community we would make it easier and cheaper to eat REAL food. I could go on long enough to make Michael Pollan proud, but I won't.

I will, however, share with you my latest conquest in this journey to real, homemade food, HOMEMADE TORTILLAS. UH- mazing! That's all. This is how tortillas were meant to be eaten. I got this recipe from Petit Elefant. Thank you, Allison. Thank you. She has more step by step pictures to help you along if you are a rule follower, like me, and need to make sure your dough looks like hers. Its so easy, and fairly quick. Do it. Make them. Now!

Homemade Flour Tortillas

Courtesy of Petit Elefant

Makes 9-10 tortillas, depending on size

2 C. All-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 tsp vegetable oil

3/4 C. hot water

1. Mix together the dry ingredients. Mix well.

2. Add oil to the water. Mix together well...ha ha

3. Add water mixture to dry ingredients one teaspoon at a time. Mix, mix, mix. Until a dough forms.

4. On a very well floured surface, knead the dough until smooth

5. Cut and roll into 9-10 small balls

6. Cover with a damp/wet kitchen towel for 20 minutes. Knead little balls and cover again for 10 minutes.

7. Roll out as thin as you can (I like them not too

thin because then they got a bit crispy. I like

them a little thicker and soft)

8. Cook in a greased (BUTTER!) pan until tortilla bubbles, turn over and cook until golden brown.

9. EAT!

I made some for Buffalo Chicken Tacos. Divine. But then I also made a couple extra for dessert, which meant I sprinkled them with cinnamon and sugar. Ahhhh.

Recipe: Mexican Lasagna

Neither Cameron nor I care a ton for traditional lasagna, so this Mexican version is right up our alley. And since we're in New Mexico, I thought I'd share with you with wonderful readers (Hi dad! Hi Laura!) Hope you enjoy!

Mexican Lasagna- thought up in the recesses of my mind...

3 cooked Chicken breast, shredded
Corn chips
1 c. Sour Cream
1 can Green Enchilada Sauce
Half an onion, sliced

1 Yellow bell pepper, sliced
1 c. Cilantro
2 small cans of Green Chilies, chopped
1 can black beans, drained & rinsed
2 c. Cheddar cheese (or whatever kind)
salt
pepper
cumin


1. Preheat the oven to 375, & grease a 9x13” baking dish

2. Cook onion and peppers until just softened. Take off heat and throw in Cilantro

3. In a bowl, mix sour cream and Enchilada sauce until combined

4. Start building the lasagna: chips, veggies, chicken (then sprinkle with salt, pepper and cumin), sour cream sauce, chilies, beans, cheese, and repeat.

5. Bake for 20-30 minutes, until its bubbling and the cheese has slightly browned.

** A couple thoughts:

- This is such a forgiving, easy recipe. You can add whatever vegetables you like. Some that I have added in the past includes corn, zucchini, tomatoes, leeks, asparagus.

- Also, you can make your own corn chips if you like by baking some cut up tortillas (with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, cumin, red pepper if you like a little heat) 375, until golden.

- If you're from New Mexico you do not have to used canned anything, but rather fresh, amazing chilies and green enchilada sauce. Anyone from New Mexico: Where can I find this? I've heard rumors.

Now, go sit on the porch with a nice cold, Mexican coke (in the glass bottle) or Negro Modelo in hand. Enjoy.

Where in the World are the Schaefers?

Here's some clues:

1. Its warm

2. Its dry and desert-y (we're bathing in lotion....ok, not really, but maybe we should)

3. Close to another country

4. Cameron is in training. Again.

5. We've travelled through 7 states.

6. We've survived 3 kids ear infections (out of 4 ears) and I'm pretty sure 2 sinus infections too. So this is not a clue to anything, but I just wanted to let you know an overarching theme to our road trip.

7. This state has THE BEST green chili burgers EVER.

Where are we?

Why, yes. We are in New Mexico!

In. a. hurry.

We leave this week.

If you were at my house, it would not look as if we are moving this week.

Thank the Lord for governmental moves.
They literally come and take stuff off of the walls and drawers and pack them up.

BUT, we are going to be in New Mexico/on the road/without our stuff for the next 3 months so I have to pack up that stuff before the packers and movers come....MONDAY!

How does one pack for 3 months on the road, for a family of 4? I'll let you know in a couple of days.

Did I mention we are going on a 2 week road trip? With a very chatty 3 year old and a pathetically sick 1 year old? Any advice for car activities?

We're swimming in paperwork.

Closing on our Vegas home, finding renters for our WA home, moving docs, its nuts and not very environmentally friendly. How very Pacific Northwest of me.
I love Seattle.

I'm so sad to leave here.

Cameron and I went on one last Seattle date last night. This was our view as we were walking back to our car.

Beautiful.

I want to come back and live here again-- with all their tech-savvy people that makes me feel like I still live in the cave-era, granola parents, environmentalists, even the liberals (that one is for you, Dad)...I'll miss them all.

Lets not even talk about my Bible Study girls.

Tear.

Tear.

But Las Vegas is sunny, right?

OK, gotta go wipe a runny nose and figure out what I want to wear for the next 3 months.

One last funny story before I go?

Ok.

We were driving the other day, and Malone said, "Dad, what do Panda Bears eat?"

Cameron replied, "They eat Bamboo."

She quickly replied with a disgusted look on her face, "EWWWW!"

We couldn't figure out why she was so grossed out by bamboo.

Later her and I were talking about panda bears and I said, "Well, daddy told you what they eat, right?"

She said, "Yes, they eat Panda Poo!"

Ahahahaha! She thought Cameron said, "Panda Poo" instead of "Bamboo!" We laughed sooo hard.

Had to be there?

Ok, I'm out. Wish me luck.

Dear Broncos

Dear Broncos,

I'm not a huge football fan, but others in my house are. And apparently, you didn't do so well this last season. You think you could try a little harder next season, for this kid?

Thanks.

All our love and support,

The Schaefer family

Favorite things

Here in the Schaefer household, we are preparing to move, be in transition for a couple of months and finally, set up home in Las Vegas, sometime this Spring. (PS: Our offer got accepted on a house there! Woo-hoo! We are on our way to owning a home in Las Vegas!) All that to let you know that we are in the midst of CHANGE, oh glorious change. But I'll try to keep you up to date on everything.

Since I've been back home now for a little while, I've been finding all kinds of inspiring and lovely things. So here is a couple of them in no particular order:

1. Pumpkin Nutella Snack Cake from Twopeasandtheirpod. Make it. You won't regret it. I can literally eat an entire pan. But I won't. Because I can't make them anymore or else I will. Its a vicious cycle.

2. I've become a little obsessed with Etsy lately. I also have been searching for some unique things to put in our new house. Practical or just beautiful. This falls under the practical category and I just love this dry erase daily wall decal.

3. My particular obsession with Etsy has been artwork. Check out some of these for our reading/music room.

Reading is Cool

Our House

Keep Calm

4. And while I'm searching on Etsy, I take a break to eat this. Key Lime Pie, also from Twopeasandtheirpod. So refreshing, so easy, so delicious. This is going in my recipe favorites folder.

5. And then I go back to finding these treasures. But this time I look for things for the kids' rooms.

Here's some for Judah:

Take Flight

I love cars

Here's some for Malone:

Believe it

Adventures Awaits

6. Speaking of kids, check out these kids learning kits, called Time for Tots. People are so inventive. They are themed learning kits for kids. For instance, I just saw a February kit, or a shapes kit, and then it includes all the tools you need for the kit and a list of activities to utilize the kits with. Uh-mazing! I definitely plan on getting some of these for the kids in the HOT summer days in Las Vegas when we can't go outside. Hmmm....that will be an entire year of us not being able to go outside...Winter here, Summer there. Yikes.

7. My friend, Melanie introduced me to these. Its a website called File Folder Fun and they have free, download-able games for kids of all ages. You print off the pictures and glue the various parts to a file folder. Super easy, cute and free. I know my description of it stinks, but you HAVE TO check it out.

8. Gray. The color. I want to paint every room in my new house a variation of gray. Who am I? What happened to my obsession with bright colors? I guess its bright colors with gray walls.

Alright friends, I'm off for a little weekend fun with some girls. Cameron is graciously playing Mr. Mom, so I can go to Seattle for a couple of days, reboot, and hopefully come back a better mommy and wife. But more on that later.

Happy 3rd Birthday!

I have news: I no longer have a baby girl. All of a sudden, I blinked my eyes and she is a full-fledged little girl, complete with LOTS of emotions (that we're learning to control), and opinions about what to wear AND eat (WHAT? This is new for me) and a love for all things grown-up. The best part is that she can conversations with me about her day. She can randomly come up to me and say, "Mom, I like you" or "Wow, I like your socks." Yep, folks, she's three. Where did the time go?

In our house, we celebrate birthdays for days, weeks, months at a time. Since its hard to understand why we have our birthday parties on one day, but our actual birthday isn't until the next, we just keep celebrating. And that's what we did this past weekend. It started a couple of months ago, when someone...ahemm.....ahemm.....Leigh Anna...planted the idea in Malone's head of a princess birthday party. We had been talking about it literally for months and by "we" I mean, Malone and Leigh Anna. So, of course, I could not just give her a crown and call it a day.

So we made it a Princess Fest.

But first, the Birthday Girl had to open her presents from family. Oh how she loves her baby dolls and needed furniture for her dolls. We take our babies' needs very seriously around here.

Then it was busy, busy, busy getting ready for her party. We had a crown decorating station.

and lots of food. We also had a cake. Oh the cake. It took me 2 whole days to make. But it came out UH.MA.ZING (if I have to say so myself.)

I don't think she quite knew what to do when she saw it. She knew what I was doing, but hadn't seen it completed yet. I think she was more concerned that her new Barbie was stuck in the cake. Ha Ha Ha.

We opened presents. And by "we", I mean, me, Malone, Judah and some of her friends who wanted to help. It was a group activity. I'm always blown away by people's generosity.

One of her gifts, from our dear friends, Leigh Anna and Sara was a box full of princess dress-up outfits. Here's Snow White in all her glory.

What a great party! It was my favorite Malone party to date and I'm pretty sure Malone LOVED it. So, here's to you, three year old, Malula! We love you so much and can't wait to see what lays ahead in this journey of guiding and teaching your little heart.

As a PS: Look what a handsome boy this fella is. Can you believe that he will be one on Sunday? I am the luckiest girl in the world.