We Like Making Our Own Stuff

If your kids are taking lunch from home to school, you may be running out of ideas.  I know I am!  Sandwiches and wraps get old after a while, you know? When looking for inspiration, many parents cross paths with a product known as Lunchables.  You know, the cool pre-made lunches sold at grocery stores?  The ones your kid begs you to buy every time you pass them in the store?  The ones that are highly processed and over-priced?  We pass on those, but I'm not above trying to copy them myself.

I'm always up for the challenge of finding ways to reuse my leftovers--I hate throwing food away!  My husband and kids will eat leftovers if I make them, but I'm sure they'd rather not.  Unless, that is, it doesn't taste like leftovers. It helps a lot in getting your family to eat leftovers if you can transform it into a completely different meal--especially if you've got a lot of leftovers.  For example, we made a huge batch of Sloppy Joe's for a party, and ended up with quite a lot of it being leftover.  After a few meals of Sloppy Joe's on a bun, I was getting pretty sick of Sloppy Joe's. However,  by using Sloppy Joe's in a new way, they tasted better--which is why I decided to make Sloppy Joe's Quesadillas. The recipe is pretty simple:  tortillas, cheese, and Sloppy Joe's.  You can use any type of tortilla you would like for this recipe, but might I suggest homemade flour tortillas (click for recipe) ?  I used cheddar cheese...

There is nothing like a soft, warm, flour tortilla fresh out of the pan--store tortillas don't even compare. Making your own tortillas may seem a daunting task, but once you get the hang of flattening them, you will find that they take very little effort to make.  Here are some tips that you may find helpful if you are a beginner tortilla artist: It is nice to have a pastry blender for blending the lard or butter with the flour.  If you don't have a pastry cutter, use either a fork, or two butter knives.   I have found the best tools for mixing are my hands!    The flour and water amounts in the recipe are adjustable.  If your dough seems too sticky, then add more flour. Once you have finished kneading your tortilla dough, it should only be slightly sticky.  If it is sticking to your hand in big globs (see picture below) it needs more flour. Do not skip the "rest time" for the dough.  Allowing the dough to rest after...

Those taco shells you get out of a box are okay I guess, but if you want something really fresh and delicious tasting, you need to try making your own from scratch!  Making tortillas is not as labor intensive as it may sound, and it requires very little in the way of ingredients (three ingredients to be exact). And not only are there few ingredients, as far as equipment goes, you can get away with what you have on hand if needed.  Now, you can use a tortilla press if you have one--they do speed up the process--however, a tortilla press is not a necessity.  You can use a rolling pin, or just smash each tortilla under a large, heavy plate.  Whichever method you choose, you will find that sandwiching the dough between two pieces of lightly greased (I used coconut oil) parchment paper will work well for flattening your tortillas and preventing them from sticking.  And as far as cooking the tortillas, I prefer to use my cast iron pan, but any pan...