Kitchen Mysteries

One of my favorite foods to experiment with are tortillas. You can buy them in bulk for super cheap, so if you mess up a couple, it's no big deal.

Soapapillas ~ I'm not sure how they really make these in the Mexican restaurants, but I like to simmer a little butter/margarine/oil (whatever you've got laying around) on the stove top at a medium heat. Toss in a tortilla when it's nice and sizzling. Some people like these really crispy, and others like them a little thick and chewy. Both are good, and it's totally up to you. When I take mine out of the pan, I lay them on a plate lined with cloth so the grease can be absorbed. But while they're still hot and wet from the butter, sprinkle cinnamon and sugar all over them. I flip mine over and cover both sides. Now, you can premix your cinnamon and sugar. You can put it all in a bag or container and shake it up. Or you can sprinkle both ingredients on separately. Captain's choice. After they cool, I use a pizza cutter to make little tortilla chip triangles. When they're on the plate and ready to eat, I drizzle just a little bit of honey over them. They are sooooo good. A few times I've been out of sugar, and used only honey. But I've also used apple and strawberry preserves on top, and those were delicious too. We even love these with peanut butter and syrup!

Random Quesadillas ~ What do you have in your refrigerator? You'd be surprised at what tastes great in these tortillas, seriously. Last night I was determined to get rid of leftovers. So after heating up my oil as I mentioned above, I threw in the tortilla with some cheese, some random salsa from a Taco Dinner Kit, and I used BBQ chicken that we'd had the night before. I took the chicken off of the bone, and kind of shredded it up. I put all of the ingredients in while they're still in the pan, so they all heat up nicely. They were so good! I've also made breakfast tortillas, with scrambled eggs, cheese, and an assortment of peppers that were going to go bad if I didn't hurry and use them. If you like pork or red meat, cheeseburger tortillas and bacon tortillas are pretty good, too.

Don't just think inside of the box. Don't think you can't make a dish because you're reading a list of ingredients and may be missing something. One night, I made my sister and I some pretty awesome sundaes out of Little Debbie Fudge Rounds, milk, and ice cream. And let me tell you, those things were awesome (deadly fattening and artery clogging, sure, but AWESOME). Half of the time that I'm in the kitchen, I'm missing some random ingredient. Just take a step back, ask yourself what would be similar in flavor, and mentally scour the contents of those dark, scary kitchen cabinets. We waste so much in today's time. I'm all about getting extra mileage out of leftovers and using stuff that's about to expire or hiding in the back of the fridge.

Be creative in the kitchen! Have fun!