Grain free quinoa tortillas

So, it's been awhile, I know. Sorry about that. Someday I will have free time enough to blog again...or so they say ;) Right now, I'm soaking up every moment of mommyhood that I can (and trying to sleep when we're not running a hundred miles an hour). 

Life's pretty good. But I definitely miss my blogging buddies and having fun recipes to share. 

However, I have to take a minute to talk about my new favorite food. Hopefully my little guy will keep content long enough for me to do that.

My little helper in the kitchen.

 This recipe caught my eye a couple weeks ago. I added it to my growing list of to-try recipes. But then I had a friend who is on a medical elimination diet ask me about alternative flour tortillas. So I shared it with her. And the recipe made its way to the top of my list. I prefer to share recipes with people that I can say I've tried personally. 

The finished product. Tastier than they look, I promise!

Well, I made these tortillas. Wow! It's been quite awhile since I had flour tortillas, so I'm not going to be able to make a good comparison. And I eat corn occasionally, but I don't like it (and it doesn't like me...). These are definitely better than corn tortillas in my book. And they are leaps and bounds above other gluten free tortillas I've tried (the store-bought kind). The texture is wonderfully chewy, but tears easily like a real tortilla, and the flavor is mild, almost a non-flavor...

I have learned that there is an art to making tortillas. And I definitely don't know it yet. But give me a few more tries with this recipe and I'm sure I'll be better. 

Mmm. Real tacos...gluten free style.

Grain Free Quinoa Tortillas

Toasted Quinoa Flour

Recipes by Brittany at Real Sustenance

 

I followed the recipe exactly (I used palm shortening, and no I didn't measure by weight), but I will add my two cents to the process, because I learned a bit as I made the tortillas.

- I used red quinoa, and just ground it up in my spice grinder. There were a few bigger pieces still, but nothing really detrimental to the tortillas. 

- I baked the quinoa flour for 2 hours and 45 minutes. I then kept the flour in the fridge for a few days until I was able to make the tortilla recipe.

 - This recipe made about a dozen tortillas, bigger than a corn tortilla but smaller than a medium flour tortilla. I am estimating on the amount, because I ate them as I made them...and I ate quite a few before I ran out of dough to cook ;)

- I used two sheets of waxed paper to roll the tortillas out, and no flour. The method that worked best for me was to roll the dough out, peel back the first paper, then flip the tortilla onto it and peel back the second paper (careful: the dough tears very easily!). I then flipped the tortilla onto my spatula, and turned it into the pan. It's not fail-proof, but it seemed the easiest way to keep the dough from tearing apart too much.

- I set my stove-top to about 7 1/2 out of 10 on the heat dial (the directions are a little vague on the temp). That seemed to work well.

- The longer these were in the pan, the crispier they got around the edges. Everything softened a bit as they cooled, but for softer shells, watch your clock especially closely. 

- These reheat wonderfully, and hold up so great for tacos!

Yum!

 

A Proud Sister

I know I have not been following the most Paleo diet of late (although I really have improved things as I've progressed through my second trimester and into the third). However, I am still a firm believer. Over the past couple years, my younger brother has dabbled with different diets to see what helps him feel best. We've talked a lot about the different things we've tried, and what bothers us and how. It's kind of a common topic among certain of my family members :)

I'm pretty sure he's Celiac, as well as intolerant to a few other foods. He and I have talked Paleo for awhile, and I know he's been giving it a try this last summer/fall.

He made this post on facebook a couple days ago, and I just beamed. I'm so happy he's found something that works for him, and that he's feeling so much better! Extra proud because he's a barista at Starbucks! I would not have the discipline to work there and not partake of all that goodness ;)

So happy for him! P.S. I think he meant to write "Have to write a testimonial."

Changes...

My dear friends,

I know, yet again I have been absent for quite awhile. I have a very good excuse, with two sub-excuses to back it up. Ready for it?

Family picture 2003

Our little family is growing...

Yep, come January, we will be having a baby!

Now, as to my sub-excuses. This is a food blog. A gluten free, largely grain free, relatively healthy recipe containing food blog. Right. Well, for the past four months, I have not been feeling my best. Or even my average... I have not been eating grain free or even relatively healthy most of the time. Do I have good reason? Absolutely! And no, I haven't completely gone off the deep end. I am still trying to eat as healthy as possible under the circumstances. But, overall, my diet the past few months has been very high in carbs and grains...not something I'm necessarily proud of, and not something I would condone for *myself,* given any other circumstances. However, given the choice between the only food that doesn't make me want to lose my lunch, and not eating...I will always choose eating. Even if that food happens to consist of rice krispies, french bread from my favorite local gluten free bakery, or half a bag of salsa verde doritos (that one I regretted quickly).

I have been dealing with severe morning sickness, as well as very intense aversions to almost all meat (making a Paleo diet extremely difficult to maintain). However, I have tried to eat as healthfully as possible despite these setbacks.

Maybe one of these days, I will be able to post about all of the great, healthy foods I am enjoying. Right now though, I'm just trying to survive.

So no, this is not one of those awesome blogs talking about how great I felt while pregnant and Paleo. Believe me, I would LOVE to be there right now. But I'm not. So, things may be a little quiet around here for awhile longer. Give me a year though, and I have great plans for documenting our transition into a fully gluten free household (yes, hubby has more bread and tortillas than ever in the house right now...he's pretty much fending for himself these days). I am also very excited to create nutritious, real-food based baby food for my little guy/girl to enjoy, and share my creations here.

In the meantime, send positive vibes my way, and sit tight. I do have a couple delicious garden-fresh recipes to share soon!

Much love,
Stephanie

If you care to, you can drop by my personal blog for more baby-related updates.