Homemade Tortillas

There is nothing.... I repeat nothing better than a warm homemade tortilla. Seriously, I could just eat a stack of these babies for dinner but I am nice and shared with the rest of my family. These are incredible. They will change the way you look at tortillas forever. Try them, you will love them. Promise!



Ingredients:

2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of vegetable oil
3/4 cups of warm fat free milk

Directions:

1. Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and oil in a large bowl. (I used my stand mixer)
2. Slowly add the warm milk. Stir until a loose, sticky ball is formed. Knead your dough for two minutes on a floured surface or in your mixer. The dough should be firm and soft.
3. Place your dough in a greased bowl and cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap for 20 minutes.
4. After the dough has rested, break off 8-12 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.)
5. After the 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. Don’t over work the dough, or it’ll be stiff. Keep rolled-out tortillas covered until ready to cook.
6. In a dry iron skillet or I used my electric skilled (usually used for pancakes)heated on high, cook the tortilla about thirty seconds on each side. It should start to puff a bit when it’s done.
7. Keep your cooked tortillas covered wrapped in a napkin until ready to eat. Eat them when they are warm..... so good!

* Have these with fajitas, soup, on the side with taco salad, or sprinkle with cinnamon sugar for a sweet treat!

Taco Soup

Here is another wonderful, healthy, warm soup for you this fall. I started making this when I was first married and it has been a keeper! This recipe is made with ground turkey but you could use shredded chicken or an extra can of beans to make it a vegetarian meal. Anyway you go it is spicy and wonderful!!




Ingredients:

1 lb. ground turkey (or cooked shredded chicken)
1/2 onion, chopped
1 can sweet corn, undrained
1 can kidney beans, undrained
2 (15oz.) cans diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can diced green chilies
1 package taco seasoning
grated cheese
sour cream
chopped cilantro
chopped tomatoes
warm tortillas (homemade recipe is next!)

1. This is the easiest soup....ever. In a big soup pot heat to medium/high heat and cook your onions until they start to become translucent. Add in your ground turkey and brown until cooked through. Add your seasoning packet and to the meat and onions. Give that a stir and open ALL those cans.
2. One by one add your canned veggies and beans. Now if you want to go vegetarian add another can of kidney beans or a can of black beans. Also, if you are using chicken add that now. Allow your soup to come to a simmer to combine all the flavors. Turn it to low and keep warm until dinner.
3. If your soup gets a bit thick, just thin it out with a bit of water. When it is time to dish up you can add cheese, sour cream, diced tomatoes, chopped cilantro, crushed chips.....OK you can add a ton of stuff to really spice this soup up!

* Serve with tortillas on the side or corn chips. I made homemade tortillas that were amazing!! I seriously could have eaten those and been completely satisfied.... but the soup is good too!!
* Tortillas are the next post!

Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes

Oh my, these were soooo good! I have said before that I love cheesecake. I love mini cheesecakes because they cook fast and they are the perfect size. Well these cheesecakes were perfect! The sweet creamy pumpkin was the perfect fall treat. This recipe is from Our Best Bites and everything they make is fabulous! I altered it a bit to cut back on fat and calories but wonderful just the same!



Ingredients:

24 low-fat nilla wafers
1 cup white chocolate chips
3 packages low fat cream cheese
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup egg beaters
3/4 cup pumpkin
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon cloves
whipped cream

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line 2 muffin tins with cupcake liners and place a nilla wafer in the bottom of each cup.
2. Melt your white chocolate chips in a bowl in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time until smooth. Set aside.
3. With an electric mixer, beat your cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add in your egg beaters. Then mix in the pumpkin, vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves. With the mixer running, slowly and steadily add in the melted whit chocolate in a stream.
4. Using a ladle or measuring cup fill your muffin tins 3/4 way full and place in oven. Bake for 20-25 minutes until center is just set.
5. Cool your cheesecakes for an hour at room temperature and then keep in the fridge until you are ready to eat.
6. When you are ready to serve top with a bit of whipped topping and dig in!!

* You could replace the nilla wafer for a ginger snap cookie if you want, yum!!

Red Beans and Rice with Turkey Sausage

This is comfort food. Yum. This meal is sooo quick to put together. Seriously, incredibly fast. In the time it takes to make this meal you can bake up some muffins and toss a salad or steam veggies and walla......dinner is ready! This is a great fall meal to warm cold bellies.



Ingredients:

1 box (8oz) dirty rice mix
2 1/2 cups water
2-3 turkey sausage links (the spicy kind are great!)
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 large green onion, sliced

1. Get those sausages cooking. In a non-stick skillet, cook your sausages until cooked through. They can be cooking while you get your rice ready, which is next.
2. Ok, super easy here. In a 2 quart sauce pan heat rice and sauce mix and water until boiling. Reduce the heat to medium low. Cover and cook about 25 minutes. Stir every once and a while so rice isn't sticking to the bottom of your pan. Whenever your sausages are done cooking you can slice them up and add them in to the simmering rice to all the flavors blend.
3. When rice is tender go ahead and add your beans. Stir them in and cook about 1 minute until warmed through. Take your pan off the heat and let stand about 5 minutes. Fluff the rice and give everyone a nice big spoonful. Garnish with green onion.

* Corn bread or muffins would be great. A green salad or steamed green beans, broccoli, or roasted asparagus are all good veggies to have with this meal.

Cheesy Stuffed Chicken

This meal was so delicious! My husband kept making mmmmmmm sounds. I'll take that as a good sign :)

I love chicken. It is so versatile and low in fat and calories. But, sometimes it can be bland if it's not spiced up just right. This meal is a great way to get out of your boring chicken routine. It looks so fancy but was really easy to make and would be perfect for entertaining. Seriously make this, you will love it!



Ingredients:

6 chicken tenders, pounded flat and thin
3/4 cup fat free ricotta cheese
1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
salt
pepper
Italian seasoning

1. Heat your oven to 425 degrees. In a small bowl stir together the ricotta, basil, sun-dried tomatoes, and garlic until creamy and combined. Add a couple shakes of salt and grind some pepper in there too. Mix and set aside.
2. Line a cookie sheet with foil and spray with non-stick spray. On a cutting board, place your chicken that has been pounded flat. Using a spoon scoop out some ricotta filling and place in the middle of your chicken. (Remember you are stuffing 6 chicken tenders, so you can divide your mixture into 6 portions so they are the same)
Ok, now fold one half of the chicken over the mixture and then roll the chicken to seal the mixture in. Now, at this point you can use a toothpick to keep it closed, but I just picked mine up and placed it on the cookie sheet seam side down and it worked perfect. Do the same to the rest of your chicken and put on the cookie sheet.
3. Sprinkle each chicken with a bit of salt and Italian seasoning. Drizzle a little olive oil over the top and pop it into the oven.
4. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the tops are golden.

* Serve this meal with steamed carrots, broccoli, or green beans. A nice green salad would be nice, and some rolls or garlic bread.

Halloween Goodies

Ok, you have just a few days to make a couple more Halloween treats soooo.... here are a few to snack on! I hope you enjoy!

Witch Broom cookies

Ingredients:
Peanut butter Cookies: (you could use your favorite recipe in place of this one if you wanted)
1/2 cup butter, soft (for low fat use a 1/4 cup applesauce)
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cup flour

honey wheat pretzels
chocolate melties
sprinkles

1. Mix up your cookie ingredients by creaming your butter (or applesauce) with sugars, peanut butter, and egg. Stir in the vanilla. Go ahead and add your dry ingredients and mix until well combined.
2. Next you are going place 6-8 pretzels on ungreased cookie sheet. Using a small cookie scoop make a ball of dough. Press each ball onto the end of each pretzel. Press the dough with a fork to resemble "bristles" of broom. Bake at 350 for about 8-9 minutes. Let the cookies cool for a few minutes on cookie sheet before carefully removing them onto a wire rack.
3. Heat up your chocolate in the microwave until smooth. Using a spoon, drizzle chocolate over the cookies and pretzel. You can also put white chocolate chips, peanut chips, or butterscotch chips in a zip lock bag and melt them, snip the tip of the bag, and drizzle over for a little more decoration. Sprinkle with sprinkles and enjoy!

Halloween Lunch


Sandwich of any kind : pb & J, turkey and cheese, tuna, whatever you and kids like
Halloween cookie cutters
carrots
pears
mozzarella cheese
gummy worms

1. Make your sandwich and using a pumpkin cookie cutter cut out your sandwich.
2. Next cut your veggies, fruit, and cheese and place them on a plate to look like candy corn.
3. For a sweet treat add some gummy worms and you have a fun lunch!

Pumpkin Gingerbread
I was going through my mom's recipes and I came across this one. I totally forgot about it and it is so good with tons of flavor! Perfect if you have some leftover pumpkin that needs to be used up! Moist,dense, and delicious with butter!



Ingredients:

2 cups flour (you can do one white and one whole wheat pastry flour)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ginger
1 cup pumpkin
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
2 egg whites
1/2 cup fat free vanilla yogurt
1/4 cup fat free milk
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
dash of salt

1. Preheat our oven to 350. Spray your loaf pan. Combine all the dry ingredients in one bowl. Mix all the wet ingredients in another bowl. Pour wet into dry and mix until just combined.
2. Pour into pan and bake for 35-45 minutes. I start checking my bread at about 30 minutes. When you are baking low fat breads it is really important to NOT over bake. It will lead to a dry bread. So start checking your bread early and take out as soon as your toothpick comes out clean.
3. Let cool before you wrap in plastic wrap for freshness. Yum!! This is really yummy, especially warm out of the oven!

Orange-Cinnamon French Toast

If you are anything like us you love breakfast for dinner. We do, we do it all the time. Like once a week. Yum. This french toast is amazing! You won't believe it is baked in the oven to golden perfection. It comes together in a minute and get this.... only 158 calories per slice! Seconds....yes please!



Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 eggs or 3/4 cup egg beaters
1/2 cup orange juice
1/8 teaspoon salt
6 slices of Texas toast

1. In a bowl combine butter, honey, and cinnamon. Pour into a greased 13x9 pan. Tilt the pan back and forth to coat the bottom of the pan.
2. In a shallow bowl, beat the eggs, orange juice, and salt. Dip your yummy fat bread into the egg mixture and place in the prepared pan.
3. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Invert each piece onto plates or a serving platter. Serve with honey, butter, or syrup.

* Add fruit salad, fruit smoothies, hash browns, scrambled eggs, any or all to make this meal delicious!