Taco Shop Salsa

Do you eat breakfast burritos?  I love ham and eggs in flour tortillas.  However, I can't eat it without salsa...the kind you get in taco shops.  I don't know why.  I actually like both ham and eggs, but put them together, wrap 'em up into a burrito, and I can't eat it unless there is salsa to pour on it.  Weird, I know.

So today, I have a recipe for some Taco Shop Salsa.
 

Taco Shop Salsa

5 roma tomatoes
12 Japones chiles **
8 Chiles de arbol **
 **This salsa had quite a nice spiciness to it...if you don't want spicy, use about 8 Japones chiles, and 3-4 chiles de arbol (the chiles de arbol are the spicy ones...go more or less to suit your tastes).  Remember you can always add more chiles, but you can't take them away!

Add your tomatoes to a pan and cover with water.  Boil until the tomatoes are soft.

 

 

Get your chiles.  The small ones are the Japones chiles and the long, skinny ones are the chiles de arbol.  Add them to some hot oil and fry for just a minute until they are dark (see pic below).  Be sure to flip them over and get both sides.  **Be very careful to not add any broken chiles to the hot oil...if the seeds get into the oil, you will get a very strong chile odor and won't be able to stop coughing!**  The frying only takes a minute so don't walk away.

 

 

 

Add the chiles and tomatoes (not the oil or water though) to a blender and process until smooth.  Add about 1 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp garlic powder (or to taste).  Pulse to blend the seasonings.

 

 

Yum!  Fresh salsa!  Now make up a breakfast burrito and Enjoy!

 

 

Happily Homemade

Sandra

 

 

Seed Planting Day!!

Today I am planting seeds!!  Woo-hoo!  Yes, little things like this excite me :) 

I got my seeds from Botanical Interests (I am an affiliate with them and any orders placed through my blog goes to help support Made at Home Daily.  Thank you for your support.  All opinions are my own.). 

If you are looking for some good quality seeds, non GMO and untreated, they are the place to go!  And my frugal self LOVES their prices!  They average about $2 a pkg of seeds, which is LESS than what I'm finding in most stores this year, AND they have a much better quality.  You can't beat it!  Right now they are also sending a free packet of seeds (mine was Lettuce Mesclun) when you order! 

Here's what I'm starting indoors today:

I will be growing: 

 

*Pineapple Tomatoes--a large beautiful orange tomato that looks like a pineapple when sliced

*Green Zebra Tomatoes--a medium green tomato with dark green stripes

*Cherokee Purple Tomatoes--a large purple tomato that looks as beautiful as it tastes

*Brandywine Tomatoes--a large classic dark pink/red tomato

*Italian Roma Tomatoes--traditional Roma tomatoes...perfect for sauces and canning

*Bush Ace Tomatoes--an average red salad tomato that is perfect for canning

*Cherry Rainbow Tomatoes--includes 7 types of cherry tomatoes (orange, yellow, white, green, red, purple, and pink & white striped tomatoes...I will literally have a rainbow of cherry tomatoes!)

*Jalapenos--because we have to have salsa with all those tomatoes

*Serranos--a smaller, spicier chile than jalapenos

*Homemade Pickles Cucumbers--small cucumbers that are the perfect size for making pickles, or eating fresh...I plan to do both

*Yellow Crookneck Squash--because it just looks so cool!

*Hearts of Gold Cantaloupe--my children LOVE cantaloupe so I'm hoping for a bumper crop

*Sugar Pie Pumpkin--a small pumpkin perfect for making pies

*Lettuce Mesclun--baby salad greens...super easy and fast growing (this I will actually sow outside right now...we don't get frost typically so as a cool weather plant, I can just plant this outside now)

 

Are you getting ready to start seeds indoors?  If so, what will be in your garden this year?

 

Happily Homemade

Sandra

 

 

Spicy Oatmeal Cookies

Lately I've been on an oatmeal kick... Maybe it's seeing all the frigid weather in other parts of the country that makes me want to curl up under a blanket and eat warm comforting food.  Maybe because it's still January and the whole eat healthy theme is still in effect.  Either way, here's a deliciously spicy cookie that even the Handsome Mexican helped eat (and he's not a big cookie eater)!

Spicy Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup butter, melted or really soft
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp baking powder
2 cups old fashioned oats
2 cups flour

Chocolate Dipping Sauce

2 cups chocolate chips
2 tsp shortening

 

Gather up your ingredients.  Add the oatmeal to a blender and pulse for a minute until the oats are broken up.  You don't want a powder but you do want them processed a bit.  Melt your butter if it isn't already really soft (you could plan ahead and leave your butter on the counter for 30 min or so before making the cookies...but who thinks ahead?!).

 

 

Since I make my own brown sugar, I added the 1/2 cup sugar and 1 tbsp of molasses and mixed.  Instant and easy brown sugar!  Go ahead and add your white sugar and butter and mix.

 

 

Once the butter and sugars are mixed, add the eggs, salt, baking powder and soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Mix well until everything is combined.

 

 

Add the oats and flour and mix until combined. 

 

 

You can either spoon the dough onto the cookie sheet and bake, or if you prefer a slightly crunchier cookie, like I do, you can flatten the cookie dough.  Bake for 14-16 minutes at 350F or until the edges turn slightly brown.  Let the cookies cool while you make the chocolate dip.

 

 

You can use a microwave to melt your chocolate and shortening, or if doing it on the stove, get two pans that fit inside each other (sorry, I didn't picture this...if you need to see it you can check out these Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls...I show how to melt chocolate there).  Add water to the larger pot and get it boiling.  Add the chocolate chips and shortening to your smaller pot.  Stir the chocolate until melted.  Once the chocolate is melted, dip 1/2 the cookie into the chocolate and then set on waxed paper or the cookie sheet to harden (you can also put them into the refrigerator to speed up the process).

 

 

There you go!  How nice do these look?  And the chocolate is the perfect accompaniment to the spicy oatmeal!  Enjoy!

 

 

Happily Homemade

Sandra

 

Cinnamon Apple Crockpot Oatmeal

If you are looking for a warm, hearty breakfast that takes a couple minutes to put together, and virtually no time to serve in the morning...Cinnamon Apple Crockpot Oatmeal is what you need.  Not only is it super easy to make, it makes your whole house smell like apple pie!  Just cook the oats overnight in your crock pot and come morning, you have a delicious, hearty breakfast...perfect if you're in the part of the country that has snow right now!

Cinnamon Apple Crockpot Oatmeal

2 cups steel cut oats
7 cups water
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup flax meal (optional)
1tsp vanilla
1-2 tbsp cinnamon (I LOVE cinnamon so I add extra...your choice)
3-4 apples, diced (I don't peel my apples but if you want, you can)
*1/2 cup +/- to taste, brown sugar.  I don't add any sugar to my oatmeal.  My family has different tastes when it comes to how sweet we like our oatmeal.  I love it sweet, my Handsome Mexican doesn't, the kids think either way is second to death...so I make it without sugar and just add to our taste when we are ready to eat it.  If you choose to add sugar, use brown sugar and start with a 1/2 cup and adjust according to your taste.*

Basically you just toss everything into the crock pot and cook on low for 8-10hrs (mine took 9 hrs).  Easy Peasy.

 

First and foremost, spray the dickens out of your crockpot with cooking spray!  Seriously, spray it well or your oatmeal will stick so badly, you'll have to just buy a new crockpot...ok, maybe that's a bit much, but after spending hours scrubbing out the glued on oatmeal, you'll seriously consider it!  Don't ask how I know...

 

Chop your apples into small pieces.  I only used 2 apples in my oatmeal, but wish I had added more...probably 4 would be great!  Then add your oats, flax meal, salt, and cinnamon.

 

 

Add the vanilla and water.  Stir around and put the lid on.  Set the crock pot to low and cook for approximately 8-10 hrs.

 

 

And there ya have it...yummy oatmeal for breakfast without any work at all!  Enjoy!

 

Happily Homemade

Sandra

 

 

Albondigas...Mexican Meatball Soup

I was able to get the Handsome Mexican to cook again last night!  Woo-hoo!  I love when he cooks.  I convinced him to make some albondigas, or Mexican meatball soup, for us!  If you've never had albondigas, you are in for a treat!  It's perfect for chilly nights!  Serve with warm corn tortillas and you have an authentic Mexican dinner!

 

Albondigas

Meatballs:

 

2lbs ground beef

1/2 cup uncooked rice

1/3 cup chopped onion

1 cup chopped, fresh mint

4 chopped Roma tomatoes (or any tomato...probably 2 large or 4 small tomatoes)

1 cup bread crumbs (when I make homemade bread and don't eat all of it, I process it in the blender/food processor and then put the crumbs in a freezer bag in the freezer for recipes like this!)

1 egg

1tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp garlic powder

 

Sauce/Broth:

 

8 Roma tomatoes

1/4 of an onion

2 garlic cloves

4 cups water

1 can tomato sauce

1 tbsp butter

1 handful of fresh cilantro

2 tbsp chicken base (more for flavor if needed)

Pinch of salt, pepper, and garlic powder

 

 

There are going to be lots of pictures to help you with making these yummy albondigas.  However, they really aren't hard.  You basically make the broth/sauce and meatballs...then add them together to cook.  It's not hard, promise!

 

 

Gather up all your ingredients for the albondigas.  (if you see the two eggs in the pic, ignore it...we ended up only using one).  Get out a big mixing bowl and add the ground beef, rice, and salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  Mix it all up.  You will need to chop your mint, onions, and tomatoes.  I used some of the fresh mint I am growing in the garden...there is nothing like fresh mint!  If you aren't growing any herbs, I would definitely recommend it! 

 

Add the chopped mint, tomatoes and onion, along with the bread crumbs and eggs.  Mix well (you can use your hands if you need to...just make sure everything is mixed well). 

 

Once the meat is all mixed up, start shaping golf-ball sized meatballs.  This makes quite a few meatballs...nothing my family of 4 can't finish off in 24hrs, but if you decide it's too many for you, go ahead and freeze the meatballs at this point.  Later, you can take them out and just whip up the broth, add the albondigas, and have a quick, easy meal!

 

For the sauce, you will need to boil the tomatoes, onion, and garlic with just enough water to cover the tomatoes.  Boil until soft (you can see the skin peeling off the tomatoes...don't boil until you have spaghetti sauce, just until everything is soft).  Add the tomatoes, onion, garlic and a handful of fresh cilantro (also from my herb garden), along with some of the water, into the blender.  Blend until smooth, adding more water if necessary.  Don't toss the water from the boiling session!  We'll add it back in later.  Set aside the pureed tomatoes.

 

In a large pot, add the butter and melt.  Once melted, add a can of tomato sauce, along with a pinch of salt, pepper, and garlic.  Saute for a few minutes.  You want it to cook so that the canned tomato taste disappears. 

 

 

Add the blended tomatoes into the pot along with the left over water from boiling the tomatoes.  Add an additional 3-4 cups of water (you don't want this to be so thin it's like a clear broth...you want it to be like a thin salsa...thick enough to coat the albondigas, yet thin enough to be a soup...clear as mud?  We ended up added about 4 cups of water total.)  Bring the broth/sauce to a boil.

 

Once the broth is boiling, turn the heat down to med-low and add the albondigas (meatballs).  Cover with a lid but leave it somewhat open to vent (otherwise it will boil over and make a huge mess).  Cook for about 20 minutes.  To make sure the albondigas are ready, take one out and cut open...if the rice is cooked, they are done...if not, put them back in and cook for a few more minutes.  If the rice is cooked, the albondigas are ready! 

 

Heat up some fresh corn tortillas and enjoy a yummy bowl of Authentic Mexican Albondigas!  Enjoy!

 

 

Happily Homemade

Sandra