Homemade Soaked Grain Tortillas

Ingredients:
2 cups whole white wheat flour
3/4 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup shortening or softened butter
1/2 cup water

Combine all ingredients and divide into the number of tortillas you'd like to make, roll into balls and flatten the balls to make tortilla shapes. Fry on medium high without greasing the pan for about 30 seconds on each side.

Now I have been researching soaking grains, such as whole wheat flour. According to my research, it is important to soak grains to neutralize the phytic acid present in the bran of the grain so that you are better able to digest and utilize the nutrients in your food. Phytic acid combines with calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and zinc in your intestines and prevents them from being absorbed by the intestinal tract. Soaking grains also helps to break down complex starches, tannins and some proteins that are difficult to digest, like gluten. Furthermore, soaking grains softens and expands the grain, resulting in baked goods with a lighter texture and making a larger quantity in the end. It makes the baked goods more satisfying and filling, which makes soaking grains thriftier than not soaking them.

To soak grains, you combine them (in this case flour) with the liquid ingredients (in this case water) and 1 TBSP of an acid medium per cup of water called for in the recipe (in this case 1/2 TBSP Bragg's raw organic apple cider vinegar). You can also add the liquid oil and sweetener called for in the recipe to the mixture (in this case butter/shortening). This will help maintain a moist consistency so that its easier to combine with other ingredients after soaking (in this case salt). Make sure to use warm liquids as this is necessary for the soaking process to be effective. You combine the presoak ingredients in a bowl, cover the bowl with a wet towel and let soak 12-24 hours, then add the remaining ingredients and follow the remaining directions of the original recipe. Yes, it takes a little longer to make baked goods, which requires more planning on your part since you'll have to start it at least 12 hours before you are wanting to cook it. In essence, soaking splits the cooking into 2 parts -- presoak and post soak -- with a 12-24 hour break in between.

I did buy tortillas at the store this week, but when I get down to the last few tortillas, I will try this recipe (including the soaking) and see how it turns out.

Mexican Night Tonight!!!

We love mexican food. We would eat it every day if we could. We've had sonora style (stacked)enchiladas, baked enchiladas, tacos, burritos, quesadillas. . . We love it all. Usually, Joey is the one who cooks, but tonight I'm cooking so I'm trying something new.

Last night, I soaked 6 1/2 cups of dry beans in 6 cups of water with 7 TBSP of whey. It started soaking at about 11 pm last night. This morning, around 9 am, I rinsed them and stuck them in the crock pot with some salt and 6 cups of fresh water. Its important not to put whey in the cooking water and to rinse the beans before cooking as whey will prevent the beans from cooking all the way. I cooked them on low for 5-6 hours and they've been on warm ever since. I've already sampled the beans and they are delicious. I have never had better beans. And they have the nice thick dark reddish brown broth that I love my beans to have. I thought the only way I could get it was by cooking the beans in the same water I soaked it with, so I was really happy to find out I was wrong about that. I let the girls try them, too. Addy and Evie sucked them down and Izzy threw them all over the floor, so they were a big hit.

I'm also making spanish rice to go with them for dinner. I found the recipe on Kelly the Kitchen Kop's blog and I'm very excited to try it.

Here's what I did (I mostly followed the directions this time LOL):
Chopped 6 stalks of celery (recipe called for 1 cup, which was 5 stalks, but I had already cut off the 6th stalk so I chopped it, too)
Chopped 1 medium onion (it called for a large one and I used the largest I had, but I think it was only a medium one)
Chopped 2/3 of a bell pepper (recipe called for a whole bell pepper, but I wanted to reserve a little bit for the chili and I forgot I was using it for 2 recipes, so I only bought 1)
Melt 2 tbsp butter w/ 2 tbsp olive oil
Saute celery, onion, and bell pepper in olive oil and melted butter

I was supposed to add the rice here and stir for one minute, but I didn't read the whole recipe until now (oops) so I added 2 cups chicken broth, 1 can tomato paste, 1 - 14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes (undrained). At this point, my saute pan was full, so I poured everything into my 2 quart dish that I had sprayed with olive oil spray then I added 1 cup of long grain brown rice and I put it in the oven on 350. I set the timer for 1 hour to check it and see if its done. Then I set it for 30 minutes. Then 10. When I tested it again, with rice still crunchy, I was fed up. I put it in a skillet that has a glass top, added some water and simmered it just like you would cook boxed spanish rices. Next time, I'm just going to saute the veggies in my glass topped skillet then cook the dish in it. I think it'll cut down on a lot of clean up and a lot of cook time.

A couple tips for making this dish. First, use a dish or skillet that has a capacity greater than 2 quarts. Second, add salt while it cooks. Third, 1 cup of rice IS enough. After an hour of cooking, it didn't look ricey enough to me, so I went ahead and cooked another cup of rice on the stovetop. By the time I gave up cooking the rice in the oven, I no longer thought it needed more rice. But that's ok. I'll just let Addy have rice and milk for breakfast and she'll be thrilled about that!