The Frugal Farm Living life deliberately

I'm afraid I've turned into a tortilla snob, and only homemade tortillas taste good to me. They do take a fair amount of time to make, and disappear even more quickly, so as much as I like to eat them, I don't love making them. Every once in a while I can find a store-bought alternative, but then something happens and it disappears. For example, for a year or two I drove by a Mexican bakery and never really had the time to stop. One day I finally did, and their tortillas were so good! I bought them two or three more times, and then the bakery went out of business. Then a while later I found a locally produced tortilla with the same ingredients as my own recipe, but I could only find them at one grocery store in my area. Now that there is a closer location of that grocery chain near my house, this location doesn't carry those tortillas. So I am back to making my own. I use a griddle so I can fry two at a time, and in as much time as it takes to roll the next tortilla, I can bake one. I don't even use a tortilla press anymore since it doesn't press the dough thin enough to avoid the rolling pin. I just roll out the tortillas from balls.

I always make a double batch and I'd make a triple batch if I wanted to fry tortillas forever. There are never enough leftover for another meal of tacos, but we can often have breakfast burritos the next day.

2 cups flour
2 1/2 tbsp shortening (seriously, how on earth would you measure this easily? Since I do a double batch, I do 1/3 cup for the double batch, with is 5 1/2 tbsp)
1 tsp salt
5 oz warm water (5/8 cup)

Cut the shortening into the flour which has been mixed with the salt. Add the water slowly and knead until dough is stretchy and elastic. Divide dough into 8-10 balls and cover with a cloth and let rest for at least 10 minutes. Roll out thinly and cook on a very hot heavy skillet or griddle until lightly browned on both sides.

I used to do this by hand, using a pastry blender to cut the shortening in, then adding the water and kneading by hand. Then I started dumping the flour/shortening mixture into my Bosch mixer and adding the water slowly as the flour spun around. Then I got a food processor and realized it did a fantastic job from start to finish. I put the flour and salt in, put the shortening in and pulse it a few times, then drizzle the water through the feed tube while it runs. The food processor does a really good job of kneading the dough to a soft, elastic texture and it's fast, too Sometimes I use a little less water than it calls for. Make sure you preheat your pan.

I didn't get into wearing my baby until number 4 was born, but it's a great thing! We still use the sling on occasions. I have been wanting to try the Ergo carrier for the next baby, and this morning, I found a contest via Erika's blog to win a free Ergo! Win a Free Ergo Baby Carrier from Along for the Ride Thanks Erika!

I realized that last week I passed the 2-year anniversary of the beginning of The Frugal Farm blog. It's amazing how time flies!

I'm also already 17 1/2 weeks pregnant, how's that for fast?

Have you ever seen such a thing? We had some water spraying out of the end of the new water line to the pasture overnight to prevent it from freezing.

Don't we all wish we could fall asleep whenever we're tired?