Monterrey Jack and Green Chili Tamales

I grew up making tamales with my mom and aunts every year.  We usually made a MASSIVE batch of beef, chili and cheese, and cheese with black olives.  It was always a family time filled with love and tradition.  My dad's side of the family are Mexican, and my mom's side of the family are Irish, French, and German.  It's funny because although my dad's family makes tamales annually, my caucasian mom and aunt make them as well, and I grew up making tamales with them every Fall.  I have amazing memories that were made with both sides of my family centered around a simple tamale.  To me tamales are a simple culinary delight!  They are so easy and cheap to make, but they can often overwhelm those that haven't ever made them.  There are a lot of steps in the process, but once you've made your first batch it will feel like you've been making them your whole life.  I will warn you ahead of time, if you decide to make them be sure to set aside at least your whole morning or evening if you plan on making a medium size batch.  If you make a large batch, you'll need to set aside the majority of your day.  A medium batch generally produces a couple dozen tamales, and a large batch produces several dozen.  This may seem overwhelming as well, but once you're finished with your tamales, you can pack them up into Ziploc baggies, label them, and toss them into the freezer for an easy dinner or lunch.  You can even fry a tamale with an egg and make an AMAZING breakfast!

I made the chili and cheese tamales because they're kid friendly, and my family loves them.  Start by taking a 2lb. block of Monterrey Jack cheese and cut it into small pieces.  

Open your can of chili's and pour them into a wide mouthed bowl, or whatever is convenient for you.

Next you're going to grab your corn husks (the bag on the left), and your masa (the bag on the right).  Open your bag of corn husks, pull them out and begin to pull them apart.

Place the corn husks into a sink filled with warm water.  Let the husks soak for 30 minutes.  After soaking, place the husks on a towel and allow them to air dry.  

Next mix your masa in a large bowl.  Make sure to mix the masa according to the directions listed on the bag.  

My masa directions called for water, so I poured in the water and mixed until smooth.

I added a lil' veggie oil because I always saw my mom do it.  I think it makes the masa just a lil' smoother, and yummier once it's cooked.

Once you're corn husks are dry, and your masa is thoroughly mixed and smooth, you're ready to begin putting your tamales together.

Start by taking your corn husk and feeling each side.  There will be a smooth side and a rough side.  Lay the smooth side down, and place a large spoon full of masa on the rough side.  Smooth the masa down toward the bottom of the corn husk, while also making sure not to spread the masa too high up.

When spreading your masa, try to make sure that it's not too thin, and not too thick.

Once your masa is spread smoothly, place a few pieces of cheese and a small amount of chili's in the middle of the corn husk.  

Next take the left side of the corn husk and roll it toward the right side like a burrito.

Once you've rolled your corn husk like a burrito, take the top point and fold it down tucking it under nicely.

The front of your tamale should look like this.

 This is what the back of your tamale should look like by this step.

 Now that you've prepared your first batch of tamales, your ready to steam them.  Fill a stock pot of water and place a steamer basket inside.  Unfortunately I cannot find my stock pot since moving from California to North Carolina, so I was forced to use a small pot and had to steam mine lying down.

 When you place your tamales in your stock pot to steam, stand them up until the are packed around each other, and place the lid over them.  Steam your tamales for approximately 30 minutes. 

 Once your tamales are done steaming, remove them using tongs and place them on a cooling rack until they're cool enough to handle.  Once they've cooled, place them in labeled Ziploc bags and toss them in the freezer or refrigerator.  I love to make a massive amount of tamales and freeze them.  They're so easy to just pull out of the freezer, toss them into the microwave for 1-2 minutes, peel the husk off, and you're ready to eat.

 If you freeze and reheat your tamales, make sure to remove your husk after you've reheated.

Whether you eat your tamales right out of the stock pot, or you reheat them out of the freezer, tamales are a true delight!!!

Recipe:

1 4.4 lb. bag of Masa

1 bag of corn husks

2 lb. block of Monterrey Jack cheese

2-3 cans diced green chili's

You should be able to find all of these ingredients at your local Walmart.  Depending on the time of year, it can be a little more difficult to find the corn husks.  If you don't find them at Walmart, simply Google "Mexican Food Store" followed by the name of your town, and you should have no problem finding them there.  Most mexican food stores carry corn husks and masa year around.  

Red Velvet Peppermint Cookies

So here's how this cookie began.  I had planned all morning to make sugar cookies so that the twins and I could decorate them after their nap.  After I'd gotten the girls all comfy in their beds, I rushed downstairs to mix the sugar cookie dough.  I opened the pantry door and reached for what looked like a 1/2 full bag of flour.  Unfortunately, what I found was that I had maybe 1/2 cup of flour.  I was a little sad because I had my heart set on making cookies.  I decided to google what I could use to substitute the flour.  I found that you can use cake mix as a base for cookies.  My heart leaped with joy when I remembered that I had a box of red velvet cake mix left over from the twins birthday.  My head began to fill with the endless possibilities that could make the red velvet cookie the most amazing Christmas cookie ever.  Okay, although it will most likely not be the most amazing Christmas cookie ever, a girl can dream right?  Lol!

This is a super easy recipe, so you should definitely try it out.

I started out by setting my oven to 350 degrees F.  I then dumped an 18 oz. box of red velvet cake mix into the beloved mixer.  I then added 1 egg, 1/2 c. butter, and 2 tbsp. of water.  I gave it a good mix, and realized I would definitely need a lil' flour...the dough was still a lil' gooey.  I didn't measure the flour, I just shock a bit in there, but I would say it was approximately 1/4 c.  Feel free to add more if it's needed.

Once it was just right, I spooned the dough onto a greased cookie sheet.  Once the whole cookie sheet was full,  I popped those little lovelies (which actually look kind of like raw hamburger patties in this picture, lol) into the oven for approximately 12 minutes.  After they where done baking, I cooled them on wire racks lined with wax paper.  

While the cookies where cooling, I whipped up some frosting, and added several drops of red food coloring.  While the cookies continued to cool, the frosting chilled in the refrigerator.  

For the peppermint decoration, I broke up several candy canes and placed them in a coffee grinder.  The grinder ground the candy canes into peppermint powder, which is ohhhhh so yummy, and can also be used to spice up your hot cocoa.  I placed the powder in a bowl, and then moved onto make chunkier pieces of peppermint.  I again broke up several candy canes, but this time I placed them in a ziploc bag. 

If you need to get some aggression out, you'll really appreciate this next step.  Make sure to close up your ziploc nice and tight.  Take a hammer and go at the candy cane until it's broken into chunky pieces.

By this point, the twins where up from their naps, and ready to decorate the little beauties.  

Emma was excited to see the decorations, and was ready to dig in.

As it turns out, Emma thought we should decorate all of them, and then eat all of them.  Once she found out that we would not be eating all of them, she ate her 2 cookies and left me to decorate alone.  

To decorate, I spread the frosting on, sprinkled a lil' peppermint powder, and lastly sprinkled some chunky peppermint over the top.  Voila...Red Velvet Peppermint cookies!!!!!

When my husband came home, he lovingly said "These are the best Christmas cookies ever".  No joke, he loved them!!!!  I'm so excited, and will have to make these annually now!  I think they'd also be great with cream cheese frosting!!  

Red Velvet Peppermint Cookie Recipe:

1 18 oz. box of red velvet cake mix (you can use any type of cake mix you'd like).

1/2 c. butter

1 egg

2 tbsp. water

Approximately 1/4 c. all purpose flour

Martha Stewart Whipped Frosting Recipe:

3 large egg whites

3/4 c. sugar

pinch of salt

1/3 c. water

1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

4 or 5 drops of red food coloring

Decorations:

1 box of candy canes

Where's My Espresso IV Stat?!!?

Well, I should start by explaining that I had all intentions on hitting the hay last night by 10pm.  My goal every night is to get to bed by 9pm, but that rarely happens.  I was up doing homework across the couch from the hubs, while he was also pumping out the homework.  I finally drug my exhausted self upstairs (Mt. Everest), and could not for the life of me fall asleep.  I kept hearing things downstairs that turned out to be my imagination.  I laid in bed until 1:30am, and finally I gave into the idea that I would never sleep.  I grabbed my pillow, and my huge zip up fleece I stole from my husband (I wear it every night, even though I look like the bag lady) and I walked back down the stairs, absolutely defeated by the fact that I had lost the sleep battle.  I threw myself across the chase lounge and contemplated making a pot of coffee, but decided that that would not help things at all, and I would wait until morning.  Just when I thought I was alone in my inability to sleep, down walked the hubs with a pillow under one arm, and a blanket under the other.  Since I couldn't sleep, he had come down to sleep on the couch and at least be down here with me.  It's the small things right!

With every minute that passed I could just feel how exhausted I was going to be when the wee ones where up making their demands for food and entertainment the next morning.  I am happy to announce that I did FINALLY fall asleep at 2:30am.  Unfortunately, my exhaustion led us to oversleep.  I woke up in a panic at 6:50am, shaking Matt to wake him up.  Matt usually leaves for work around 7:15am, so waking up at 6:50 is a no no.  Matt ran upstairs to get ready, and I laid there seriously considering staying on the chase lounge and sleeping all day.  I had a quick flash of what a wreck the house would be within even one hour of the girls being down here while I was sleeping, and on that note I shot up and literally ran into the kitchen to get the much needed coffee a brewin'.

The morning definitely started off on a bad foot, and by the time I put the girls down for a nap at noon, I had absolutely run out of gas.  I realized that I hadn't eaten and that must have been why I felt like my stomach was eating itself.  I mixed up a tbsp. of trusty peanut butter and 1 tbsp. of grape jelly, and stirred it up.  No, I didn't put it on bread, that's my version of a pb&j sandwich.  I like to eat it right out of the bowl, with a side of Propel water.  I do this every day, sometimes late at night.
After I ate my sandwich in a bowl, I shockingly allowed myself to lay down on the couch (I don't usually let myself take a nap, because I'm always too afraid of getting behind on things) and fell asleep for 45 minutes.  When I woke up, my mind instantly went to coffee!  I needed it, I was desperate for the stuff, and I made a b line for the freezer where I keep my Espresso Roast.  It was a little warm outside today, so I wasn't really in the mood for hot coffee.  I decided I'd make an iced coffee.  I used to think that iced coffees where better when made at a coffee shop, but that is just so not true.  Not only do they taste better when made in your own kitchen, but they are WAY better for you.

I like to use Starbucks Espresso Roast for my iced coffee (and my coffee iv, which I hook up to and carry around all day long, lol...I wish).  I make 6 cups, and use 2 tbsp. of coffee plus a little extra dash for that extra punch.  

The mug on the left is my fav.  It says "Go away, Beat it, Leave me alone, Get lost, Scram", which is how I feel before I've had my morning coffee.  Notice I call it my "morning coffee", because I have morning, afternoon, and evening coffee.  My confession is that I drink WAY too much coffee for just one person.  You're probably wondering what the mason jar is for.  Once I mix the hot coffee in my mug, I pour it into the mason jar over ice.

I LOVE coffee so much, I even find beauty in pouring it, lol!

Ahhh, the rich, carmel, and bold beauty of Espresso Roast.  Now it's time for me to stir in 2 tbsp. of creamer, and 2 tbsp. of Sugar in the Raw (I like sugar).  With the holidays approaching, you could also put Coffee Mates Pumpkin Spice creamer in, giving it the taste of Fall.

I've got my ice in my jar, and I'm about to pour my mug of love over the cold ice.  By the way, I've come to the conclusion that my ice maker is not friends with the coffee that lives on the shelf next to it.  The ice maker doesn't seem to want to keep up with my ice needs.  I often find that I've run out of ice and have to wait a full 24 hours before it has replenished itself.  Do you think the ice is jealous of the coffee?

A yummy treat to pair with an iced coffee is a dark chocolate Pirouline.  I will not be enjoying this light chocolate wafer, because I've already eaten all of them =(

That's okay though, this jar of glorious goodness is all I need for now....until tonight when I am in need of yet another caffeinated rendezvous.

Feel free to leave your tired mommy or daddy confessions in the comments box below...I would love to hear them, and maybe not feel so ridiculous over my affair with Espresso Roast.

Cinnamon Apple Pie

I had a request earlier this afternoon for an apple pie recipe.  I gladly agreed to make one and post it, because I have this BIG box of apples sitting in my kitchen just begging to be used.

I'm sure my husband's co workers will be thrilled to find out that they're having apple pie for breakfast tomorrow, lol!  My kids will be equally thrilled when they see the mini apple crescents I made for them out of the left over pie dough.  Even if you've never made pie dough from scratch, this recipe is very simple!  You can do it, I'll even show you how ;)  Follow me, we'll do this together...

Grab your sea salt, all purpose flour, butter, and fill a cup with iced water.  

Grab 1/2 c. of butter (1 stick of butter) and cut it up into piece.  Make sure that your butter is chilled, the colder the butter, the better.  

Toss 1 1/2 c. all purpose flour, and 1/4 tsp. sea salt into a mixing bowl.  

Start mixing your flour and salt, 1 piece at a time start mixing in your cold butter.  

Mix your ingredients until it resembles loose sand.  

Measure your ice cold water that's been sitting in the cup into 1/4 c.  Don't put any ice into the measuring cup.  Slowly add your water into your mixing bowl, 1 tsp. at a time.  Mix your dough until it forms a ball.  Immediately stop mixing, place in plastic wrap, and allow to chill in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 hours.  Overworking your dough will cause your crust to be hard once you bake it, and putting too much water will cause a chain reaction of having to add more flour, water, flour...you get the picture.

I made 2 balls of dough, because I wanted to also place lattice on top of my pie.  If you want  to make more then 1 ball of dough, I would recommend repeating the steps above instead of doubling the recipe. While doubling recipes is a great and easy way to multiply the amount of food you make, baking is an exact science.  Pies are straight forward and easy to make, but they are also very easy to mess up.  

Once your dough is ready to go, place a sheet of wax paper down on your counter.  A sweet lil' tip for keeping your wax paper from sliding all over the place while your rolling out your dough, is to sprinkle a few drops of water underneath the wax paper.  The water will keep the paper on the counter.  Sprinkle a dusting of flour on your wax paper, and place your dough on the flour.  Lightly sprinkle flour on the top of your dough and begin to roll out your dough.  Quickly roll in a 1/4 in. flat circle.  

Once you have your pie crust all rolled out, gently place it in the pie pan.  If you're only using 1 pie crust, fold the areas of the dough that are hanging over the sides of the pie pan, and fold the dough under itself.  Place your pie pan in the refrigerator to chill while you move onto prepping your apples.

Moving onto our pie filling, grab 8 Fuji apples, wash, peel, and core them.  

Cut your apples into small pieces and set aside.

Meanwhile preheat your oven for 425 degrees F.  Next, melt 1/2 c. butter in a sauce pan over low heat.  

When your butter is completely melted turn heat to medium, place 3 tbsp. all purpose flour into your sauce pan, and mix to make a paste.  

Pour in 1/4 c. water, 1/2 tsp. nutmeg, 1/2 c. white sugar, and 1/2 c. brown sugar.  Bring to a boil, and then reduce to lowest heat setting to simmer.

While your sauce is simmering, place your apples in the pie crust.  

If you're going to use a 2nd crust to make lattice do that step while your sauce is simmering.  Once the sauce has simmered for 5 minutes (stir occasionally), gently pour sauce over the entire pie.  Brush an egg wash (1 egg beaten and applied with a pastry brush) over the edges of your crust.  Place your pie in the oven for 35 minutes, placing a loose foil tent over the pie during the last 10 minutes to avoid overly cooked crust edges.

Sprinkle with cinnamon, and allow to cool for 1 hour.  Well, you did it!  Good job!  Now go eat that beautiful pie with your family, friends, or give it away to someone you love =)

Pie Crust Ingredients:

1 1/2 C. All purpose flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 c. ice water

1/2 c. butter

Apple Pie Filling Ingredients:

Pie crust

8 Fuji apples 

1/2 c. unsalted butter

3 tbsp. all purpose flour

1/4 c. water

1/2 c. white sugar

1/2 c. packed brown sugar

1 tbsp. cinnamon 

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Egg Wash:

1 egg