Well, it’s still a whole wheat tortilla, so maybe “amazing” is a bit of an overstatement.  They are an acquired taste if you’re used to white flour products.  The point is, they are fully cooked, still soft a day later and taste pretty much the way they are intended to taste.  That’s success in my book.

I don’t remember with certainty where I got my original recipe.  I’m pretty sure I modified a basic white flour tortilla recipe and incorporated some ideas I found others using.  For example, instead of traditional lard or shortening, I use olive oil.  I’m taking all this time making my own tortillas so they are healthier and olive oil fits that bill best.

There really isn’t much to the recipe…

3 cups whole wheat flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp sea salt, 2 Tb olive oil, 1 cup warm water

Mix the dry ingredients together, add the olive oil, then mix in the water slowly.  I use my stand mixer, first with the paddle beater to mix everything.  Then I switched to the dough hook to knead.

A couple of things I did differently this time…  Because I’m using whole wheat flour & that takes longer to absorb the moisture, I allowed the dough to sit for a few minutes after mixing.  Then, I added more water gradually, as I kneaded in the mixer, to make sure the dough was nice and soft.  I probably added about another 1/3 cup of water in all.  I did that in stages, kneading quite a bit after each addition to make sure the dough didn’t get too wet.  That’s the other thing that was different…  I kneaded with the mixer much more than I have before.  I let it go until the dough formed a nice, soft ball.  I did let it sit in between some water additions also.  I can do other things while the mixer is kneading, so even though it took a bit of time, I wasn’t standing there watching it all along.

Next, I divided the dough into balls, each weighing about 2.2 oz…  a total of 12.  I put them back into the bowl & covered it so the dough could rest about 20 minutes.  Then I heated my griddle.  I use cast iron on the stove.  I let it get hotter than I usually do…  medium high; this time I let it start out more on the high side.  While it was heating, I started rolling out the tortillas…  Roll each one out once, let them rest, then roll out again.  As I was doing the second roll out, I also started cooking the tortillas, about 30 seconds per side.  I think it was key to have the griddle nice and hot.  It seems counter intuitive, however it seemed to allow them to cook all the way without getting too crispy.

After I cooked each one, I put them in a large freezer bag in a towel.  The moisture created by putting them into the bag seems to help keep them soft.  I’ve done that before to save a batch that was too crispy.  I’m not sure how it would have worked if I had just put them directly in the towel.

It might seem like a lot of work, although I’m sure if I do it regularly, it will be much easier.  It’s worth it to me to know exactly what’s in my food & now that I have it down, these seem a lot tastier than the ones I can buy at the store.

They were delish!  Yes, they’re also vegan & low fat.  I love tweaking recipes I find, especially when they actually turn out tasting great.

Preheat your oven to 425F

Combine:

3 1/2 cups Flour

1/2 cup Sugar

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

2 tsp Baking Powder

Mix in 1/2 c. Olive Oil (best to mix this in with a fork or pastry cutter)

Mix in 2 cups Pureed Banana (I blended the banana in a blender first & added a little water to make 2 cups)

Add in some fresh or frozen Blueberries (or whatever you want)

Lay the dough out & knead a few times (this is a bit messy with the blueberries so make sure you cover your surface so it won’t stain…  I used a pastry mat with lots of flour)

Shape the dough into a circle…  about 12-14″ in diameter

Cut into triangles…  I think I did about 12

Place on baking sheet & bake at 425F for 12-15 minutes

Enjoy!!!

So, back to the point…  It’s not the social norm for take-out places to offer up a reusable bags, so if you’re going to do it, you’ll have no choice except to remember your own.

I frequent a little take-out place that cooks up fresh food with real ingredients.  It’s not as controlled as cooking at home, although it’s about as close as I’ll get when I don’t want to cook.  At times, I’m getting only one item & possibly a condiment.  One day I just asked myself, “Why am I even getting a bag?  I’m just putting my item in there to take it home.  It makes no sense to generate a piece of trash for this short trip.”  That day I simply carried my item without a bag.

As I mentioned, this is NOT the social norm.  The lady, who waits on me frequently, looked at me like I was a little crazy when I informed her I did not need a bag.  I could tell this had NEVER happened before.  I have to be honest about this too…  I was not surprised at all by her reaction.  After the crazy look, I simply said, “less trash”.

The next time I went to my I’m-too-lazy-to-cook-today spot, I took a small reusable bag with me.  For one reason, it was a little easier to carry in a bag & I didn’t have to worry about leakage on my car seat.  Another reason is that the bag would keep my food warm.  In fact, this one would work a whole lot better than paper because it was plastic & thicker.  Yep, worked like a charm.

AND, I didn’t get the same crazy look when I said no thanks to the disposable bag.  In fact, it was accepted & maybe even expected.  Yay!  She totally got it.  Maybe she’ll start using reusable bags too.  Then someone else.  Then someone else.  Then someone else.  Get it?

Take a bold step once in a while.  If you see an opportunity to reduce, just take it.  What have you got to lose?

The amount of paper wasted on coupons that end up getting trashed is ridiculous.  Of course, I toss mine in the recycle bin…  still, it’s a waste because I never need ANY of the coupons or ads that are included.  I buy organic & earth friendly as much as possible…  sadly, that lifestyle doesn’t seem to be supported in the ads & coupons I typically receive in the mass mail.

Back to the point…  I’d rather not have my mailbox stuffed with crap I don’t need.  It’s a waste of paper, landfill space and/or recycling energy and my own personal time I must spend going through it & finding the best way to dispose of it.

Great news for those who feel the same.  You can get off the mailing lists.  The most direct method is to contact the company who is sending you the information.  These days you can usually do this online & it’s fairly simple.  Go to the company’s website & many have an option to be removed from their mailing list.  It could be a separate form just for that or it could be one of the options incorporated on their email contact form.  You could also simply email them & request you be removed.  Of course you need to provide the relevant information, such as your mailing address.

I did this a while ago with some financial companies who were sending me multiple offers each week & I’m happy to report the volume of my mail has decreased.  Yay!!!  I’m excited to stop receiving the irrelevant ads soon as well!

The first time I ever used tofu, it was completely disgusting and it was a very long time before I even considered using it again. It was mushy so I stir-fried it thinking it would firm up. It was like eating jello that tasted like paste. Yuck!

Many years later, when I shared that story with a friend, I was told that all tofu is not created equal and I probably used soft tofu instead of firm. OK, I gave the firm tofu a shot. Still not good. I did however notice at some point that there was also super firm tofu… Now we’re talkin!

That did it! Super firm tofu is my choice for stir fry. The other night I marinated some in a little soy sauce and ginger. Yummy!

I also discovered that soft tofu has it’s purpose as well. It’s fantastic as a base for a creamy soup, dip or dressing. I’ve made a ranch style dressing with it, pasta salad dressing & an amazing tomato soup. Really, you can use it for anything you’d use plain yogurt for except it heats up better & doesn’t add that sour flavor.

In any case, if you’ve tried tofu and didn’t like it, consider how you’re using it because all tofu really is not created equal.

On day 2, I basically duplicated my food from day 1. For dinner, I had some Thai peanut cabbage spring rolls. I also had some almonds & cashews to snack on. I didn’t feel like the green smoothie yesterday morning so I had rye flakes first, then later had the smoothie.

No smoothie today. Breakfast was cooked rye flakes & lunch was quinoa cakes with yogurt sauce. That was basically satisfying. I think I’ll have whole wheat pasta for dinner. I’ll either have it with the leftover butternut squash soup as sauce or some leftover jarred pasta sauce.

I did some stretching yesterday. My back muscles still feel sore, although not so much.

Parachute fabric for my yoga swing arrived too. More on that later… I have to be sure it works out before I say too much about it, right?

For lunch I decided to use up some of this butternut squash from the garden. I roasted one for about half an hour. Then I sauteed some leeks in olive oil, added a cup or so of water, cut the squash in 1″ chunks & added that. I let it simmer for about an hour, then blended the squash with some of the liquid & put it back in the pan, stirred it together with nutmeg, salt & pepper to taste.

I thought grilled cheese would go wonderfully with this soup & didn’t want to eat regular bread. I made sort of a crepe pancake… 1 egg, about 1 cup whole wheat flour, about 1/4 tsp baking soda, about 1/2 cup milk & a bit of water to thin. I didn’t really measure anything so that’s why “about” (I’m guessing how much I used). I heated a pan with just a bit of olive oil, poured in the batter & spread fairly thin. I cooked 2 pancakes, then put feta & cheddar cheese in between, grilling each side until browned. The “recipe” would make about 4 pancakes.

It tasted great & gave a gourmet touch to comfort food. The soup was creamy & thick. I thought it would also be great as a pasta sauce. I’m sure I’ll do that with some of the leftovers by adding some Italian herbs. Heck, maybe I’ll do that for dinner.

I’ve been lax in my dietary considerations. It’s coming through in how my muscles feel, as well as my weight. I’ve been stretching, although alone that doesn’t seem to be cutting it.

I need to get back on track with my eating, continue stretching/yoga and maybe some other activity. The main correction is with what I’m putting in my body. I’m getting back to the diligence I had a while ago.

Today (morning)… W=145 /BF=31%

For breakfast, I had a green smoothie. I used frozen mixed fruit (I know, that’s taboo… it’s much more convenient though & I need some practicality here), mustard greens from the garden & organic baby spinach (from the store… hasn’t really come into the garden yet), a little flax seed & about a Tb raw honey. I didn’t use a lot of greens because I wanted to be able to drink it. The spinach isn’t very strong tasting, however the mustard greens can be. Their smell is strong for sure.

I wanted the greens because it’s supposed to be good for muscle health & flexibility. That’s what I’m going for. I’ll probably have some oatmeal also because the smoothie isn’t super filling. So far, I haven’t made coffee. We’ll see how that goes. I don’t want a caffeine withdrawal headache.

Well, my kitchen countertops have been in shambles for some time now.  I had tiled over the old, ugly laminate a few years ago and some of the tiles started coming loose.  It was time for something new.  I mean, they were literally falling apart at this point.  I considered concrete.  In fact, for a very long time, that was the plan.  I just knew that was going to be time intensive…  Of course, I was planning to do it myself.  I really couldn’t justify the time for that and came to the conclusion that I needed a simpler option.

In the end, I decided on butcher block.  I like wood and thought it would warm up the kitchen.  (It did, BTW.)  And, I found a real wood butcher block at Ikea for an amazingly reasonable price.  There is no Ikea here however and this was not a product they offered online.  After some searching and considering my options, I did find a local company, modernlv, that actually goes to an Ikea in California and delivers product to people here.  Woo hoo!  Perfect.  Even with the delivery service, my countertops cost less than $180…  Then, of course, there is my labor

The first part of the project was a rectangular section of counter top.  Super simple.  I cut the piece, filled in a few nicks at the edge, sanded and installed it in a morning.  No snags at all.  The hardest part of that was getting the heavy piece outside to cut it without waking B up to help.

The second part of the project was put off for a while because it involved removing the sink.  It also involved an odd corner cabinet, where I’d need to join three pieces of butcher block in the area of the sink hole.  I figured out what needed to be done and worked out a plan.  I also knew my cuts needed to be super straight in order to join the edges together.  I don’t have super fancy tools for that sort of thing, so I was a bit reluctant.

On top of all that, I also planned to change the structure a bit.  There was a raised portion of the counter behind the sink that I’ve always found annoying, so I planned to lower that to the level of the rest of the counter.  I didn’t think that was really going to be too much trouble, however it’s one of those things I thought I might not have seen the whole picture until I got into it.

This past weekend, I finally took the plunge and went forward with this part of the project.  There were some snags, although I worked through them fairly easily.  I must have measured the hole for the sink 20 times before I cut it.  Then I thought I was only cutting it a bit smaller and it turned out to be quite a bit smaller.  That was the plan though…  to avoid making the hole to big.  The sink fits in nice and snug!  So, I’d say it’s perfect.

All in all, the project went fairly well.  I love the butcher block!  I’m planning to install a metal backsplash.  That should be a piece of cake…  whenever I get around to it.

The zucchini, straightneck & patty pan squash didn’t do well.  Actually, the straightneck did really well & produced alot at the beginning of the summer, then looked diseased & wouldn’t produce anything so I pulled it.  I had a huge ant & aphid issue this year and got it a bit under control for a while.  Oh yeah, I only got one okra…  I mean one PIECE of okra.  I harvested it for seed…  which may not be a good idea since it came from a plant that didn’t really produce.  I think it was because of the aphids (or some environmental issue) though, so hopefully it won’t matter.

I got a decent yield of spaghetti squash very early, then the plant completely died.  The butternut squash went completely wild (as you can see in the video).  The very first squash was ready pretty early, but it’s totally small compared to what came after.  It’s still producing!  Totally cool.

I decided to give corn a shot, although I planted it quite late.  It shot up pretty quick though so I think I’ll get something.  The pumpkins were supposed to be ready for Halloween & I planted it in more than enough time…  It just decided to take longer I guess.  I think we’ll be buying carving pumpkins & maybe have fresh pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving.  I’m still hoping at least one will grow supercharged & be ready in two weeks!

One conclusion I came to is that some sort of shade is probably a good idea.  Last year I had a canopy for part of the summer & I didn’t do that this year.  It probably would have helped, so I’m going to come up with something to give at least partial shade in the heat of the desert summers.  I’m sure it would be a good idea not to reinvent the wheel & get a book on desert gardening, lol.