#3: Homemade Flour Tortillas.... Si!

The kids had a great time rolling out these easy homemade flour tortillas, and enjoyed their first time flipping tortillas!  This recipe makes 24 tortillas, which was perfect for our large crowd on New Year's Day, but have included the measurements to reduce by half for just a dozen tortillas (in parentheses).  These go great with our recipe for Caldo de Res! :) Let us know how the tortilla rolling goes for you!

Here's to full bellies!

Vanessa

Homemade Flour Tortillas

Yield: 24 (12)

4 cups (2 cups) all purpose flour

1 teaspoon (1/2 t.) salt

2 teaspoons (1 t.) baking powder

2 Tablespoons (1 T.) lard

1 1/2 cups (3/4 c.) water

Whisk flour, salt and baking powder together in a large bowl. Mix in the lard by hand until it reaches corn meal consistency.  Add in water and mix until dough forms.  Using a lightly floured surface, knead until dough becomes smooth and elastic (about 2 minutes).  Divide dough into 24 (12) equal sized balls.

Head a large skillet or flat top griddle over medium-high heat.  Using a tortilla press or lightly floured rolling pin, roll each tortilla into a thin, round tortilla.  Place on hot griddle and cook until bubbles form.  Flip tortilla over and cook until golden on both sides.  Continue for all tortilla balls.

#2: Caldo De Res = Yum!

Here is a recipe for a hearty Mexican soup that we made yesterday for New Year's Day dinner.  The kids loved helping chop the vegetables and were so proud of their caldo!  For the Caldo de Res, we got a little veggie crazy, but that is what is so neat about the recipe.  You can do a little or a lot, and it still comes out fantastic!  To complete the meal, check out our blog post for the homemade flour tortillas recipe! Let us know if you make either of these recipes and how they worked for you!

Here's to full bellies!

Vanessa :)

Caldo De Res

3 pounds bone-in beef 

1 T. vegetable oil

Salt, to taste

Pepper, to taste

1 onion, chopped

1 cup each of red, green and yellow bell pepper, diced

1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes

1 T. minced garlic

3 cups of beef broth

4 cups of water

3 carrots, peeled and rough chopped

1/4 cup cilantro, washed and chopped

3 ears of corn, shucked and split in half

3 celery stalks, washed and rough chopped

3 cups of fingerling potatoes, washed and rough chopped

2 chayotes (Mexican squash), washed and rough chopped

1/2 medium cabbage, washed and quartered

2 large jalepenos, sliced

1/4 cup onion, diced

1/4 cup cilantro, washed and chopped

4 limes, quartered

In a large stockpot, heat oil over medium-high heat and brown meat.  (Stew meat and ribs were on sale, so I used these!)  Season meat with salt and pepper to taste.  Add in onion and bell peppers, and cook until soft.  Add in diced tomatoes, garlic and beef broth. Liquid should cover beef by about 1", add water if needed.  Reduce heat to low, cover loosely with lid and simmer for one hour, stirring occasionally.

After one hour, add in carrots, cilantro and corn and simmer for 10 minutes.  Add in celery, potatoes and chayote and continue to simmer until vegetables are soft (about 45 minutes).  Push cabbage into soup, and simmer for an additional 10 minutes.

Serve soup in large bowls.  May use jalapenos, chopped onion and cilantro as garnish.  Squeeze lime wedges over soup and enjoy.

#1: Happy 2013, Y'all!

This year my family and I have vowed to do something awesome.... But we are still working on what that something awesome should be!  We have tossed around lots of ideas, including 100 days of hitting the gym, cooking dinner 100 times, saving money for a cool trip, etc.... But for now we are going to focus on having a great 2013!  We spent New Year's Day cooking our hearts out, and made caldo de res, Mexican rice and pinto beans, and homemade corn and flour tortillas.  We enjoyed having our family and friends stop by, played a lot of games, and watched a few shows of Dance Moms!  We are excited about several new ventures this year for our family, and hoping for lots of cooking, eating and blogging this year!