Tortilla Roll Ups

Ok - to be honest, this one is only approved by Erika and I. It must look to girly or not be heavy enough for the guys in our family. Erika and I started making these last year (2007) when we were doing homeschool together and they became our traditional lunch. They are also great for travel. Oh yummy!



Ingredients:
tortilla (we like the tomato basil and the garden spinach the best)
vegetable cream cheese
lunch meat (turkey is our favorite)
thin slices of cheese (we like pepperjack and colby jack)
lettuce
tomato (I like, Erika doesn't)
green or red peppers (or both)

Lightly spread some cream cheese over the tortilla. Layer the toppings and roll together tightly. If you roll it tight it is easier to cut into slices which make a beautiful display for a 'girly' activity (bunco, bookgroup, baby shower, enrichment).

A great substitute for the boring sandwich!

Pumpkin Bread

This is approved by all of us! I found this recipe back in the days of watching the morning shows while I nursed Nathan. It was a morning routine for me and I found several recipes but this one is my alltime favorite from the routine.

It is similar to the Great Harvest Chocolate Chip Pumpkin bread but we like this one better. It costs less and is a bigger loaf! The original recipe calls for nuts which we love but I have also made it with chocolate chips, which the kids love but LeRoy and I don't necessarily.

Mix together:
2 cups Pumpkin Pie Mix *

1 cup sugar

1 stick butter, melted and cooled

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

* The Pie mix only comes in the large cans so either double the recipe to make 2 loaves or use the rest of the pumpkin for pancakes. You can also use the regular pumpkin which doesn't have the extra flavoring but it still tastes good.

In another bowl mix together and then add to pumpkin:

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix just until moist then fold in 1 cup of one of the following:

walnuts or pecans

cranberries

chocolate chips

This will be a thick mixture - not like a cake. Pour into a 9" loaf pan that has been sprayed with pan spray. Bake 55-65 minutes until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with only a few moist crumbs. Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Use a butter knife to go along the edges of the pan before dumping the bread out of it.

Chimichangas

This is a guaranteed crowd pleaser for everyone at our house, except me! They all love them. They ask for them often. I get extra hugs when I make them. So what makes these so appealing to my brood? Duh, they are fried.

It's that same frying process that leaves me with a headache from the permeating grease smell that lingers in the kitchen for what seems like days during the winter. My best suggestion, and the only one that I have found to avoid the headache and a greasy kitchen, is to cook these in the summer in a dutch oven, or regular frying pan, over a cache cooker. These are so easy in the summer and I don't deal with the annoying leftover headache or smelly kitchen. So now, on to the recipe.

Filling:

• 2 cans refried beans
• grated cheese
• taco seasoning to taste
• salsa or hot sauce to taste
• browned ground beef**

**Our family prefers just the beans, not the beef added but you can do it both ways.

Have a sautee pan filled with enough oil to cover half the chimi - so you can roll it over to fry the other side. I have a friend who does enough oil to dip the whole chimi in but I think it wastes the extra oil and it scares me to have that much hot oil on my stove :) Heat to . . . hot. My stove does best just above medium heat. It takes a while to get it there but it doesn't fry them so fast that they burn.

Put a spoonful (large, small, depends on how many you want to make) of the filling in the tortilla. If you are going to fold them into squares just leave the filling in the center. If you are going to roll them more like a crisp bean burrito (which is what I do) then spread the filling on half of the tortilla, avoiding the edges. To roll mine I turn the sides in a little (prevents spattering when the oil hits the filling) and then roll them in a tube. With 2 cans of beans I usually get between 15-19 chimi's depending on how full I make them. You can of course do the recipe with 1 can for a smaller family but if you are going to go to the effort I'd do 2 cans and freeze the leftovers.

To fry, use metal tongs to hold the tortilla closed, set in hot oil with the fold of the tortilla down first, fry on one side until golden, then fry on the other side. Set on a paper towel to soak up a little of the oil. If you eat them right away they are crispy and if you let them sit a little they are soft.

You can eat these plain as a finger food - which is what the kids do. Or you can put them on a plate, cover with other taco type toppings (salsa, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, olives) and eat with a fork - which is what LeRoy does. Leftovers make a great lunch for LeRoy to grab and a good afterschool snack, especially for the 2 hungry teenage boys that appear at my house daily around 3:40. They also freeze well - don't ask me how long, I don't know. I have left them in the freezer for up to a week knowing I would be gone on a weekend and they are eaten that weekend but I'm sure they could freeze longer and be fine.

So what do I eat after I have gone to the effort of pleasing my family and I'm sitting on the edge of a grease headache? Usually regular vegetable tacos filled with lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, olives, salsa, avocado and a touch of sour cream.

**WARNING: due to the combination of deep fried and refried beans you may find family members experiencing a rather explosive, smelly after-effect. It is recommended that you DO NOT make these on a Saturday if your intentions are to attend church on Sunday.

Pizza Pockets

(For those with the Fullmer Family Cookbook, this is mom's breadstick, pizza dough recipe)

Dough:

1 TBSP yeast

1 1/2 cup warm water

1 tsp sugar

let is rise for a few minutes

Add:

3 cups flour

1 tsp salt

2 TBSP sugar

Mix and knead for about 3 minutes. You don't want it stiff but you might need to add a little more flour so that you can handle it. Let rest for 10-15 minutes. Divide into 10 balls. Roll out each ball to a rectangle (these will be very thin).

Spread only about 1 tsp of your favorite pizza sauce (homemade or canned) but be sure to not get it too close to the edges. If it is too close it just makes it messy to pinch together but it won't really hurt anything.

Add toppings:

any combination of what you like on your pizza

Pepperonni

Canadian Bacon

Italian Sausage

Pineapple

Olives

Mushrooms

Top with Grated Cheese

(we like a mixture of Colby Jack and Mozarella)

Fold over top and seal edges. Place on a buttered baking sheet, brush with egg mixture (1 beaten egg mixed with 1 tsp water), let rise 10-15 minutes. Bake 350 for 25-30 minutes until golden brown on top.

Notes:

* You don't have to have these perfectly shaped, by the time they rise a little and bake they look great.

* The 2nd time that I made these I just mixed all of my toppings together rather than applying 1 topping at a time. It saved a little time in the end and because it is folded over no-one sees how carefully (or not) you applied the toppings.

Bread

This one has a full stamp of approval from all 7 of us!! Two loaves just aren't enough, especially if we have extra teenagers over. During 1 week I made 6 loaves and felt like that was alot. Then I remembered that mom used to make 4-5 loaves with each batch she did and sometimes that was more than once a week. Way to go Mom!

From what mom tells me I learned how to make bread when I was 8 and even though we did have a bread mixer for a good part of my growing up years, I still don't like breadmakers (different from bread mixer). To me it is easier to mix the dough and do the whole process than depend on a breadmaker to do it taking longer time and producing only 1 loaf. If you think I'm crazy, that is ok. I have been told that before concerning my bread theories.

I make this bread with a little whole wheat flour and ground flax but you can just use white flour in place of the WW and flax.

In a large mixing bowl combine:

1 1/2 TBSP yeast

1 TBSP sugar

1/2 cup warm water

Let rise for a few minutes

In a microwave dish heat for 1 minute:

1 cup water

1/2 cup milk

2 TBSP butter/margarine

Pour into yeast mixture and add:

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/3 cup ground flax

2 TBSP sugar

2 tsp salt

Mix well and then add:

3 cups flour (and a little more if needed to make dough manageable but not stiff)

Knead just until mixed well, not too long or it will be a stiff bread. Let rise 15-20 minutes, punch down and shape into 2 loaves. Place in 2 large greased bread pans and let rise. Bake 400 for 10 minutes, then 350 for 20-25 minutes until loaf is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped.

If your kids are like mine, eat the 'heel' before the kids get to it. It is the best part of the bread!