This blog is about tortillas! 

By Grace Snively

 

This blog is about tortillas. 

I had to write that. Who knew there was such a need for a homemade tortilla recipe?

Social media is an interesting place. I post about my artwork, my business, my family, and last week I posted about tortillas. My tortilla post reached a record number of comments (again, social media is an interesting place) so I felt like an official blog post was needed! 

In this blog, I will share the ever famous Facebook tortilla recipe, but I will also share 1 other thing I do in the kitchen that I’ve had questions about in the past! So, if you’re still interested in tortillas, read on! You will find this non blog writer, who struggles to spell and understand commas, attempting to put the tortilla recipe in writing! 

TORTILLAS 

We have struggled to find soft tortilla shells with minimal ingredients, which led me to search out a homemade recipe! After trying several out and tweaking things a bit, this is the one I landed on! 

Ingredients: 

3 cups of all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

⅓ cup oil (I use avocado oil)

1 cup hot water

1. In a bowl or mixer (I have used both…and gravitate towards a bowl now, but if you’re using a mixer you’ll want to use your dough hook) combine flour, salt, and baking powder. 
2. Next, add in oil. (I use avocado oil, because it’s a safe high heat oil.) 
3. Add in hot water.
4. If using the mixture, you’ll want to mix on a higher speed for about 2 minutes and then lower for another 2 as it forms together. If you are hand kneading it, work the dough for 3-5 minutes until it is no longer sticky
1. Hand Kneading Tip- Don’t forget to dust your working area with a little flour to keep it from sticking. I use my kitchen table for hand kneading. 
5. Once your dough is ready, you’ll want to divide them out into about 12-16 portions that you roll into a ball and slightly flatten. Place them on a plate, cutting board, or cookie sheet - cover and set aside for at least 15 minutes! 
6. When ready to cook, warm a large skillet (we use cast iron) on medium to high heat. I recommend adding a small layer of some type of oil to the skillet to keep your tortillas from smoking. 
7. You can prepare your tortillas 2 ways: Roll them out with a rolling pin to make them thinner like a traditional tortilla, or hand flatten them for a slightly thicker tortilla. Personally, we really like them hand flattened and it’s one less dirty dish that way! 
8. Transfer tortillas one at a time to the skillet! They take about 1 minute per side to cook! Look for little bubbles to form and you’ll know they are close to being done.
9. Remove from the skillet, stack, and enjoy your homemade tortillas!

We enjoy our tortillas with tacos! I’ve also found they are great to have as a side bread option with soup or a roast and they make excellent PB&J wraps or sandwiches for lunch the next day! 

 

 

VEGGIE BROTH

I love making my own veggie broth! Again, I struggled finding broth at the store with minimal ingredients and we seemed to use it often! Now, the key to making a veggie broth is adding in spices that you gravitate towards while cooking! I’ll explain below!

Veggies that are GREAT for broth:

1. Carrots
2. Parsnips 
3. Green Beans
4. Celery 

Veggies I like to use and why:

1. Onions - I enjoy cooking with onions or onion powder, so I always add an onion to my broth for the taste. 
2. Garlic - I LOVE garlic! This is a must for me on my veggie broth. However, this is an acquired taste, so only add garlic if it’s something you enjoy cooking with! 
3. Tomatoes - These are hit or miss for people. I like adding 1-2 seeded tomato scraps into my broth because it gives it a pretty color and I enjoy the taste of tomatoes.

The things you do not think of:

1. Carrot stems and leaves
2. Onion peels
3. Ends of root veggies like parsnips, beets and carrots. 
4. Kale & Collard Greens - They are loaded with nutritional value! You’ll want to limit the amount so that your broth does not get too bitter and limit the amount of time they are in your broth. I only let them boil for about 10 minutes before removing them! 
5. Squash peels 

Do not add:

1. Potatoes - They are super starchy and will cloud up your veggie broth.
2. Radishes - They will make your broth spicy (I tried, and it was awful).
3. Broccoli - This veggie is very strong and your broth will end up tasting just like broccoli.
4. Cabbage - Too strong, it will leave your broth bitter.
5. Corn - They are starchy and will leave your broth cloudy
6. Cucumbers - They can be added in very small quantities, but I don’t think they are worth it. They can make your stock turn bitter very quickly. 

Spices to add:

1. Basil 
2. Bay Leaves
3. Parsley
4. Rosemary
5. Thyme
6. Salt

Now, this might seem like a lot to remember or a lot of work to make broth! But, it doesn’t have to be! Here is what I do!

My broth is solely made up of veggie scraps! I keep a gallon baggie in the freezer to add my scraps to any time we have a veggie with dinner that I think will work for my broth! 

1. I’m roasting carrots in the oven. I take the ends that I’ve cut off and add them to my freezer bag.
2. I’m making BLT’s and cutting off the top of the tomatoes. I added a small slice of the tomato to my freezer bag. 
3. I’m snapping the ends of green beans to add to my soup. I put the ends into my freezer bag. 
4. I peel an onion to cut up and saute. The peels go into my freezer bag!

Once my freezer bag is full I make new veggie broth. You can make broth using a slow cooker or a stock pot on the stove. 

Slow Cooker

Add all of your veggie scraps + desired spices like garlic, salt, parsley, and thyme to the slow cooker. Fill with water until it's about an inch above all of your veggies and let it cook on low heat for 6-8 hours. 

Stock Pot

Add all of your veggie scraps + desired species like garlic, salt, parsley, and thyme to the stock pot. Fill with water until it's about an inch above all of your veggies and let it boil for about 15 minutes and turn the heat down to simmer for 1-2 hours. 

Once your veggie broth is complete, you will strain the broth to discard the veggie scraps and freeze it or use your broth within 2-3 days of being refrigerated! I try to measure out my broth in 2 cup, 4 cup or 6 cup increments and freeze it in a bag so that it’s easy to pull out and use for cooking! 

We have come to an end of my cooking instruction + blog experience. Do I want to do this again? I’m leaning towards NO and I now have a full appreciation for those Pinterest bloggers sharing recipes! I hope my hour of attempted writing inspires you to make homemade tortillas or veggie broth! And, keep checking back here at the Grey House Blog for more “For the community, by the community” blogs, just like this one.

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Speaking of community....our Grey House community just put together a Blog post this week on Back To School meal time. Check it out here! 

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