Beef and Kale Tacos with Homemade Tortillas

I've missed posting my cooking adventures.  I still am exploring and cooking new and interesting things as always.  Trying to stay away from processed foods and slowly moving my family to an organic diet.

I have a list of a few meals that are always my 'go to' meals that I know my family love and will eat without much complaint.  So if I've been experimenting and my family needs something simple I put one of my 'go to meals' in my menu plan.

My family loves tacos.  I often make my own Mexican rice and my homemade re-fried beans.  Today however, I had a busy day and had not soaked the pinto beans and I'm out of rice, waiting for an organic order to come in.

I have found a fantastic and EASY tortilla recipe.  I've used it numerous times and really love it.  The tortillas are super easy to roll out and cook up fast.  

Today I used coconut oil in the recipe.  I melted it and added the 3 tablespoons and returned the unused melted oil to my jar.  Coconut oil can melt and return to solid with out compromising the integrity of the oil.

 I do suggest that you roll out the tortillas one at a time as you cook them.  One time I rolled them all, stacked them and then had to re-roll it all as they all stuck together and I could not get them apart.  Roll them thin and stretch them if you need to.  Be sure to have a hot pan.  You will see them bubble up nice and fast.  I never worry about a nice round shape.  We really love these.  The recipe makes 8 nice size tortillas.

And in my quest to get as many veggies in my family as possible.  I cooked up the grass fed ground beef and added a plethora of organic veggies, including; kale, celery, onions, garlic, mushrooms and carrots.  This not only gets more vegetables into my family, but it saves on having a big meal of meat and as a result, makes the meal go further.  I also to not believe in hiding the vegetables.  I want my kids to know what they are eating and be aware that they do like all sorts of vegetables.

I garnished the tacos with lettuce, tomato, cheese, avocado and Greek yogurt.  Super super fantastic and yummy.  Yes, Greek yogurt.  I stopped buying sour cream.  Greek yogurt is a better choice and my kids are fine with it. 

We had cut carrots and cucumber on the side.  Everyone loved dinner and we have lots of leftovers for lunch this week.

Tortillas Homemade

We really enjoy Mexican food

the kidlets love beans and rice

and the boy also loves himself a taco

I've been making my own refried beans

and my own mexican rice for sometime now

it is really easy

So I decided to try my hand at homemade tortillas.

I'm addicted to Pinterest

and my homemade tortillas recipe

was found while pinning.

4 ingredients

seriously how simple is that

these were difficult to roll out

but I do think I overworked them

when I made the dough in the morning

the tortillas were a bit thicker then I wanted

they were difficult to roll out by hand

but we actually prefered them over the store bought ones

I used the recipe with all white flour as it was my first time making them

Ursula, our new kitten really wanted in on the dinner

Here you can see my little man as almost cleared his plate

he loved it all

girly, she can not leave Ursula alone

it's a good thing this kitten is patient

she really enjoyed the tortilla

and ended up eating it plain

Dinner was enjoyed by all!

Layered Nachos

My sister in law, her husband
one of their daughters
came for dinner last week
we always do something low key
and I was craving nachos

I cooked up and seasoned
some ground beef
cut up a ton of fresh vegetables
shredded some cheese
and bought my favorite nacho chips

I use a deeper pan
start with the chips
sprinkle the veggies
the meat and the cheese


do a second layer
with more vegetables
meat and cheese


a third layer
to finish off the dish


I baked this until
the cheese was melted
on all layers
then topped it with cilantro


I made some pico de gallo
and some homemade guacamole
put out some extra chips
to catch the goodness
that falls off the baked chips


such a yummy meal
to have once in a blue moon

Lime Chicken

I found an interesting
recipe for Lime Chicken
it looked easy
I made changes
to work for us

Lime Chicken Wraps

Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
zest of 2 limes
juice of 2 limes
1 cup of honey Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon soy sauce

I was making a very large amount
so I could also give this away
I baked the chicken
at 350 until done
about 30-45 minutes

I cut up a large onion
diced 4 cloves of garlic
cooked with coconut oil


added some very yummy
very colorful
vegetables


cook the vegetables
until tender crisp
slice up the chicken
add to the veggies

mix up the sauce

the lime zest
and lime juice
just before the
soy sauce and
honey Dijon mustard
are added


add the sauce
to the chicken
and vegetables
BUT
when I tasted this
it was VERY limey
I was worried
I took a minute
and decided I needed
to make these into wraps
to make them work
I mixed in the brown rice
then we had this on wraps
with sour cream and cheese
this saved the meal


I was nervous
I was sending this to a family
I hope they liked it
my family
actually
very much enjoyed the meal
as wraps, this was very good
my little man loves wraps
next time
I would do more vegetables
then chicken and rice
but that's because I want
more color in a meal

Monday Night Quesadillas

I needed to use up
the left over
Indian Spiced Yogurt BBQ Chicken
I was low on groceries
so I looked at what I had
and decided to make
Quesadillas
we really like quesadillas
and they are so easy
chop up the chicken
chop up the veggies you want
I used onions
green onions
tomatoes
peppers
spinach
heat them up in a skillet
with some oil


explain to the little man
when he would stay warm
if he just would keep his clothes on
in this case, his PJ's
as he insisted it was a PJ day


while the filling mix
is heating up
heat up your shells


when the one side is heated
flip it and add the cheese
and your filling mixture


once the filling is in
fold and keep cooking
then flip to cook
the other side


I kept is simple
and we had this
with homemade apple sauce
the kids really liked
the apple sauce
the time for the apple sauce
I didn't add anything
to the slow cooker
just apples
and a bit of water

Chicken Quesadillas

My family loves
loves quesadillas
I never know
how to actually spell that
we had roast chicken
earlier this week
seriously you just
have to love the
roast chicken that
all the grocery stores
seem to have on hand
I don't understand how
they can sell it
for so cheap
okay...the
quesadillas
left over shredded chicken
tomatoes
onion
peppers
cheese
tortillas
taco seasoning

I always preheat
the chicken and veggies
cook then up with
the taco seasoning


I use my handy grill
heat up the tortillas
on one side then
flip them
add the cheese
add half the chicken mixture
then fold in half
cook for a bit
flip and cook a bit longer
I put them in a low temperature oven
to keep warm
while I continue to cook


I served these with
salad and homemade guacamole
my family is totally
digging guacamole lately
they love it
and it's simple to make
anyway
this dinner is always
always a hit with my kids


I haven't been
feeling myself
recovering from a cold
recovering from a dentist visit
my kids
are feeling better
for that I'm grateful

Tofu Fajitas, Pica de Gallo, Guacamole and Vegan Carob Pie

A vegetarian feast
tonight was so yummy
I made Guacamole
we love Guacamole
5 mashed avocados
2 diced tomatoes
1/2 a diced onion
a bunch of chopped cilantro

I also made Pica de Gallo
the recipe is from
the Pioneer Women
a great site to check out
I did remove the seeds
but left most of the ribs
this was pretty spicy
but good

next came the Tofu
I have never cooked with tofu before
but we have had it before
and all enjoy it
in fact my little man
he loves loves loves it
he was pretty miffed
when he knew it was in the fridge
and he couldn't have any

here is what I did
Firm Tofu
peppers
onions
grapeseed oil
taco seasoning

so here is the tofu
I cut the block into strips
then marinated it
in the grapeseed oil
and taco seasoning

remember how I told you
my little man loves tofu
I had to hide it
he kept sneaking pieces

so I cut all the peppers
and the onions
and sauteed them in grapeseed oil
and taco seasoning
look at the color
so yummy..oh ah beautiful

in a different pan
I sauteed the marinated tofu

I threw the peppers and tofu together
to serve it up
fajita style

these were so good
we layed the wraps
with the tofu and peppers
cheese and sour cream
and the pico de gallo
and guacamole
we all really enjoyed them
as did everyone else
seriously, really very good

for dessert
our friends brought
a vegan carob pie
it was yummy and chocolaty
Yummy
Chocolate
but healthy?
oh yes, it's true
this....amazing!
she will be giving me the recipe
fingers crossed

after dinner it was so sweet
our friends read bible stories
to the kidlets
they all loved it

it seems my girly
has figured out how to climb
down from the trampoline on her own now
she's way too smart