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Tortilla Trauma!

(My version of Costco's uncooked tortillas--I have a LONG ways to go!!)

Do you love the new trend of the uncooked tortillas? Where have these been all my life? They are FAR superior to a precooked, dried out tortilla. The fact you can make them right before you eat dinner and have warm tortillas off the griddle in seconds is the next best thing to sliced bread!! The ONLY downfall is how expensive they are! It is hard to get a package of regular tortillas on sale for .77, verses the $3-$4 a package for the uncooked tortillas. For now, this is something I will splurge on, but in the case of an emergency or time I have to live off of my food storage, I think I will need an alternative.

Tortillas really are a great item to have the capability of making from your food storage. They would work great for wraps for lunches, be used in enchiladas, soups, burritos, and can even be used in desserts (they are great buttered with cinnamon and sugar or with a cream cheese filling and fruit inside). The other great thing about learning to make your own tortillas is that they can be made without a leavening agent (like yeast) and you wouldn't need to bake them in the oven if your power was out. They can be cooked on the grill or in a pan over a camping stove.

Now to my dilemma! I have not mastered tortilla making yet and it is driving me crazy! I am posting the recipe I have been using (it seems to be a pretty basic recipe I see out in the blog world), but I can not get them to work. They are either too thick, too dry, too doughy, or too ugly. You name it and I have had a something go wrong. My tortillas are more like saltine crackers than they are a soft, warm tortilla.

I need your help! If you know the secret to making a soft, thin, and heavenly tortilla, will you please share your knowledge with me? ANY tips or tricks would be helpful for me--just leave a comment or email me at Shandra@dealstomeals.com. THANKS!! In the mean time, here is my sub-par tortilla recipe:

Homemade Flour Tortillas
2 c. all purpose flour
2 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
3 T. shortening

Mix together with enough water to make a stiff dough. Roll dough VERY thin and fry on hot skillet.

(My dough in a food processor)

(My dough balls that were uneven and dry)

(My million dollar tortilla smasher that I bought off of Ebay that doesn't work!!)

(My not-so-cute tortilla cooking on my grill)

Thank you in advance for your help with my tortilla dilemma :)

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Powdered Eggs at the BEST price!

I posted a few posts ago about the importance of having powdered eggs in your storage. I have a couple cans in my storage but wanted to beef up my supply by 2-3 more cans (I use a lot of eggs in my cooking!).

After some price comparisons, I have found the least expensive place in Utah to purchase powdered eggs. Macey's is having their case lot sale this week and are having their powdered eggs (2.25 lb. can) for $14.99. This is normally a great deal, but I have found it for even less!

Honeyville Grain (the store--not the online store) is having a powdered egg sale that is good through April 17th. They have their 2.25 lb. can of powdered eggs on sale for $12.04! This is equal to 78 eggs (or $1.85 dozen). This is a little more than regular priced eggs (prices have gone up throughout the years), but these are still an economical item to have in your storage.

Here is there address in case you live close enough to take advantage of this sale:

635 N. Billy Mitchell Road #A
Salt Lake City, UT 84116
Monday-Friday 9 a.m.-6 p.m.
Saturday 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

For those of you out side of Utah, this will help you know what price would be a good deal for you to stock up on. Anything under $15 for a 2.25lb. can is a GREAT deal and worth stocking up your food storage.

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Oatmeal Breakfast Muffins

I was looking through a cookbook and found a couple of recipes that I thought looked good. I love having healthy (okay..somewhat healthy) after school snacks for the kids--or else they ransack the pantry looking for granola bars and fruit snacks. These muffins seemed like they would be worth trying. I have to admit, they were pretty good! My husband did say that he thought they were a little too healthy (I tend to do that--hey, at least I didn't put pureed beans in them!) They have a VERY dense texture, but I feel like they would fill the kids up and would be great in lunches. We have three friends over and they all came back for seconds :)

I happened to have flax seed on hand, so these muffins worked great to get rid of those. If you don't, I would assume you could use more flour or oats in it's place.

Oatmeal Breakfast Muffins
1 egg
1/4 c. canola oil
1/2 c. applesauce
4 bananas
3 T. sour cream
1 t. vanilla

Mix above ingredients together.

1 1/4 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 c. flax (if you have flax in seed form, put in a blender with the wet mixture above for 1 minute until well blended)
1 1/4 c. quick oats
1/3 c. brown sugar or honey
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 c. raisins or craisins
1/2 c. chocolate chips (optional)

Mix together the wet ingredients. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Put muffins in a greased muffin tin and bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes (until they are browned on top and have a cake-like texture). You could use all raisins or all chocolate chips--personally I think chocolate makes everything taste better!

Another great recipe to use up that food storage!

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Crazy Cheap Croutons

Okay, for some of you this is going above and beyond in the Betty Homemaker category, but if you are like me and run out of croutons and still want a crunch on your salad, this is an EASY way to save a couple of dollars! Those of you who laughed when they read my post about making homemade breadcrumbs can just skip past this post ;)

Okay, to make homemade croutons, all you need is old/stale bread, butter, and seasonings. I had a package of dry hamburger buns that I kept for this very reason, so they came in handy the other night for dinner. Just cut them up into small cubes, put them on a pan (I put mine on my baking stone), drizzle some melted butter over your bread, season with garlic powder/spread, parsley, oregano, pepper, or whatever seasonings you like, and bake at 350 until they are golden brown. For leftover croutons, just store in a tupperware and they will last for a couple of days. Because you used fresh butter, they will begin to taste stale if you keep them on the shelf too long. I am sure you could keep them in the fridge if you needed to.

Put these delicious and EASY croutons on your favorite salad for the perfect crunch!

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