Tortillas! Tortillas!

So, if you've been reading you probably know that I like to cook. And since my kids don't eat, I figure cooking with them can't make things any worse...it can only make them more interested in food as it's impossible to become any less interested. Oh shoot, I'm off track again, thinking about the fact that my children subside on air and kisses. Anyway.

I decided today I'd make some homemade tortillas with the boys. There was a recipe in a recent Highlights High Five magazine (great magazine, by the way, for toddlers), so I thought I'd give it a try. We had a lot of fun, it wasn't too messy and didn't take too long, and the quesadillas we made were surprisingly good. I'm not going to lie to you...these tortillas weren't any better than store bought. Maybe not even quite as good as my favorite tortillas from Trader Joes. But we all ate them and enjoyed it! Here's what they looked like...not too bad, huh?


Here's the recipe, adapted slightly from the recipe in High Five:

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt (original recipe calls for 1/2 teaspoon, but I found the tortillas to be salty so I'll cut back in the future)
1/2 cup hot water (not boiling, just hot tap water)
1 1/2 Tablespoons vegetable oil

Directions:

Mix together flour and salt, then add hot water and vegetable oil. Stir until combined and mixture forms a ball (I had to use my hands, and let the boys knead it a bit, too).

Divide into 6 balls of dough.

Flatten slightly with your hand, then roll until flat and thin (my 2 3/4 year old boys could roll it out a bit, but then I had to finish rolling them thin). The dough should be fairly dry...mine didn't need any extra flour to keep it from sticking.

Coat a nonstick skillet with a small amount of vegetable oil and heat over medium heat. Add a tortilla and cook for 1-2 minutes, until the underside is slightly browned in places. Flip, and if you're making quesadillas, top with some cheese or other toppings and let melt with the other side cooks for approx. 1-2 mintues. Fold in half and enjoy. Or you could skip the cheese, just cook the other side, then use these to make tacos, burritos, whatever.

Random Unrelated Thought: Why does Massachusetts have such a stick up its butt about billboards off the highway? What, do they have to preserve ALL that view? Puh-lease! Connecticut is so much more fun to drive through. I mean, I feel like a trip isn't complete unless I see at least 10 billboards for some skanky porn related establishments. And you can count on Connecticut to deliver in the first twenty miles. I heart the Connecticut DOT, or whoever it is who lets them put up so many awesome billboards.