Alive and cooking!

 Hello everyone!  I hope this finds everyone well and that y'all have been cooking your hearts out!  I promise I have been cooking, just haven't been blogging! Ha!

Quick update on me: I graduated college, work full time as a project manager for a small company that builds custom homes and I still find time (but not enough) to cook as much from scratch as possible.  Ray cooks a lot more these days and it really is a shared kitchen for us, which is definitely not a complaint.

I think the most exciting news in my kitchen is the life long dream come true (ok, maybe life long is a bit dramatic, but it feels like forever) of me owning a Bosch universal mixer.  You guys.... it's LIFE CHANGING and I am over the moon in love with it!  Now don't get me wrong, my trusty Kitchen Aide is still plugging along and is a great mixer that will stand the test of time.  In fact, I am happily handing it down to my 18 year old daughter Cambria that is venturing off to college in a few weeks.  The biggest change for me is the ability to make multiple loaves of wheat bread at the same time.  My Kitchen Aide mixer STRUGGLED to mix 2 loaves at a time and I could never kneed it as long as I felt it was necessary because the motor would get hot.  My Bosch can mix up to 8 loaves!!! Now, I haven't mixed that many, BUT I'm certainly not afraid to and I've seen videos and reviews of people that have done it.  I have mixed 6 loaves and it handles like it's no big deal!  I'll post my whole wheat bread recipe that I have tweaked and is the best bread and everyone I ever make it for just raves, so it's definitely a winner in my kitchen and beyond!  So, be looking for that!

The other thing that will be happening very soon is some posts for my daughter that is going away to college.  Cambria loves to eat good and enjoys cooking, but we all know how college is, never enough time to do either!  With that in mind I have set out to provide some shopping tips, cooking strategies and yummy recipes just for her, but of course y'all will benefit too! Feel free to send me your favorite recipes that are easy and inexpensive but taste great! I'll post them here, give you the credit and then all your favorite recipes will be in easy spot to find as well!

Spices over Yanda: If you traveled here by way of our spices website spicesoveryanda.com then welcome and thank you for visiting.  We still have plans to expand that website and the goal is to provide easy ways to get bulk spices and seasonings out to everyone and link yummy recipes for you to use them in.  Let us know in the comments what your favorite spices and seasonings are and if you find it easy or hard to buy them.  We definitely want to hear!

Now to share with you what I've been cooking lately:

I absolutely love Chili and this family recipe of mine has been a favorite go to during these cold months in Texas.  This is my maternal grandmother's recipe and both my sister and I still make it often.  The link will take you to my sister's recipe blog which has some great recipes as well.  Go take a look!

Janey Gibson's Chili

Ingredients 
2 pounds ground beef
1 bell pepper (diced)
1 small onion (diced)
2-3 cans diced tomatoes
2 cans red kidney beans (drained and rinsed)
Vegetable Juice
Chili powder
Brown hamburger with onions and bell peppers.  Drain. In stock or crock-pot, add all ingredients.  Pour vegetable juice in last to desired consistency.  Sprinkle entire top with chili powder.  Stir.
Stockpot:  Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer.
Crockpot: In early morning, turn on low and cook all day...or cook on high for 2 hours.

Fresh flour tortillas

Ingredients

2 cups of flour 
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/3 cup oil (I use vegetable oil, olive oil, avacado oil, all work well)
2/3 cup hot water

Bosch mixer: I put dry ingredients in and flip it to level "2" and as it's mixing, I slowly add the water and oil at the same time.  Let it mix a couple minutes longer and that's it!

I take the dough out, stick it in a greased bowl and throw a towel over it to let it rest.  Anywhere from 10-30 minutes is plenty of time.

Note: You can definitely mix these in any mixer, just telling you my experience.

Heat up a flat cast iron griddle (you could definitely improvise here).  I usually get 8-10 tortillas out of this recipe.  Divide the dough up into even amounts and make a ball using your hands.  Lightly flour your surface and roll out with a rolling pin, remember to turn often to keep the circle shape, but don't go for perfection, they are better when they are imperfect! I like to make these as thin as possible and then just stick it on the griddle and turn when puffed up (maybe 30 seconds on each side).  I tend to roll out as I'm going so I'm not tempted to leave the stove.  Just stay close by and it goes really quick!

I absolutely LOVE my Pampered Chef tortilla warmer for this process because I cook them all and they are piping hot still once I'm done and ready to eat! Yum!  Also, if you happen by some chance not to eat them all in once sitting, you can easily and quickly heat them up in the warmer.

Cooked and refried beans

Ingredients

2 cups dried beans (any kind, but we like pinto or black best)

6-8 cups water

1 onion

garlic

butter

salt and pepper

I cook my beans in my electric pressure cooker.  Next to my Bosch mixer it is my favorite small appliance and I use it so much! 

Instructions: Place dried beans and water in pressure cooker.  Cook on high pressure for 35-40 minutes and let the steam come down naturally.

At this point you can keep them as cooked beans and flavor with garlic, salt, butter, salt and pepper and eat because they are just so good, you can't go wrong.  You can also keep these unflavored and put in a food processor and use in place of oil in your baking.  Yep, you can!

Refried: In a skillet on the stove heat some butter, diced up onions and garlic.  Add the cooked beans and start mashing with a potato masher.  Add some of the water from the cooked beans until you reach the consistency that you like for your refried beans.  I like to make them a little runnier than I like, because once they cool they will dry up more.  Enjoy!

Well, that's all I have time for right now, but be on the lookout for some of the awesome recipes we are receiving for Cambria for college!