Tacos

I know that homemade cheesecake is hard to follow but it must be done. We have a very simplistic approach to tacos at our house - whole wheat tortillas, rice, beans, corn, cheese, tomatoes, peppers, sour cream, onions, olives... Each person gets to make their own tacos with whatever they like. Here are some taco basics:

Tortillas - Homemade and whole wheat tortillas are easy to make from scratch. I started with this recipe but have modified it by subbing out the shortening for butter. Here is my version:

Homemade Whole Wheat Tortillas

4 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoons salt
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup butter
1 to 1-1/4 cups water

1. In a large bowl combine the flour, salt, and baking powder. Cut in butter. Then add water, a little at a time. After each addition stir the dough with a fork until it forms a cohesive ball of dough. Do not add too much water.
2. Knead dough ball about 20 times. Cover and let rest for about 10 minutes.
3. Divide dough into 20 pieces and roll into balls. Roll out the balls into thin circles about 7-8 inches in diameter*.
4. To cook, place tortillas one at a time in a hot dry skillet. Cook about 30 seconds per side. They should be dry and have a few brown spots on each side.
5. To make tortillas more pliable, place warm tortillas in a plastic bag and close it up – the steam will make them softer, and more flexible.

*To save tortillas for later, separate rolled out dough with wax paper and place in plastic bag and freeze (try to keep them flat).

Makes 20 servings
2000 total calories (100 Calories per serving)


Beans - Cooked Dry Beans are very simple. For tacos we often use black beans but sometimes I just use a combination of beans. If you make one pound of beans you can use half (or less) and freeze the rest. First you will need to soak the beans. One way to soak dry beans is to rinse one pound of dry beans, pour them into a large pot and cover with water about 2-inches above the top of the beans, bring the beans to a boil and let boil uncovered for two minutes. After the two minutes is up, turn off the heat, cover with a tight-fitting lid, and let them sit for at least 2 hours. OR you can rinse the dry beans, place them in a large bowl cover them with water and let them sit overnight in the refrigerator.

Once your beans have been soaked drain the water off, rinse the beans, and recover with water (in a large pot such as a stock pot because as you cook them they will grow). Bring the beans to a boil and allow to simmer for 1-2 hours. Do not put a lid on the beans or they will boil over (don't ask how many times it took before I learned that lesson). You will also need to watch to be sure the water doesn't boil off - the beans should be covered with water at all times. If you want to add more flavor to your beans, feel free to add a few cloves or garlic and/or onions (I use dehydrated onions). Voila! Now you have beans.

Homemade Cheesecake

I made up this recipe for my husband's birthday just last week. I altered it from a similar recipe that calls for yellow cake mix. Do you know what is in yellow cake mix? Neither do I and that can't be good. So, I decided that if I can make a yellow cake from scratch then I could totally make yellow cake mix from scratch. As I was making this I thought to myself, "If pioneers made cheesecake, this is how they would do it." I often compare my food to pioneer food because it was just so simple and went off of their food storage.

Homemade Cheesecake

2½ cups whole wheat flour
2½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1¾ cups sugar
6 2/3 Tbsp powdered milk (6 Tbsp plus a heaping ½ Tbsp)
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
4½ tsp vanilla (divided)
5 Tbsp water
4 large eggs
2 8-ounce packs of cream cheese (NOT Light)
½ cup sugar
1½ cups milk
3 tsp lemon juice


1. Heat oven to 300°F

2. In a large mixing bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, salt, 1 ¾ cups sugar, and powdered milk. Reserve 1 cup. To the remainder add vegetable oil, 1½ tsp vanilla, 1 egg, and water (1 Tbsp at a time, you may need more or less). Mix until just moist and starts to stick together. Press crust evenly on sides and bottom of greased 13” by 9” pan.

3. Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add ½ cup sugar and continue to mix until fully incorporated. Add eggs one at a time being sure to mix well after each addition. Add reserved cake mix. Beat 1 minute on medium speed. At low speed, add milk, lemon juice, and 3 tsp vanilla. Mix until smooth.

4. Pour into crust. Bake at 300°F for 45-55 minutes until center is firm.

5. Allow to cool at room temperature before refrigerating.

Makes 24 servings
4992 total calories (208 Calories per serving)

For the topping, I was going to get cherry pie filling but I couldn't bear the high fructose corn syrup so I decided that I could make my own. Coincidentally, the grocery store had quarts of fresh blueberries so I grabbed one and made my own blueberry sauce based on this recipe. I was not patient enough to cook it on low so I upped the heat to medium-high and after I added the blueberries I boiled them for more like 5-8 minutes so some would pop open and some would still be whole. I let it cool to room temperature and served it at room temperature, which was just perfect against the cool cheesecake.

The Start

Welcome and Greetings! I am very excited to have a place where I can focus on food. My friends who have gotten random "I've come up with a new recipe" emails will probably also be happy for a cleaner inbox. As a little intro, my husband and I started our relationship with Hamburger Helper and have since transitioned (albeit slowly) to making things from scratch. I make about 95% or more of our food from scratch and I love it. Less ingredients, fewer calories, more flavor. This huge change in our lifestyle has come from many sources - being at one point too poor to eat meat at every meal, the Doctrine & Covenants Section 89 (better known as the Word of Wisdom), and a desire to simplify our lives. This blog will be where I post new recipes, talk about wonderfully yummy food we eat at restaurants, and whatever food or nutrition questions I am thinking through.