Saturday, April 30, 2011

Homemade Tortilla Chips Recipe

What goes better with homemade guacamole than tortilla chips? This Cinco de Mayo, make them both from scratch!

Homemade tortilla chips by SweeterThanSweets

If you've never had homemade tortilla chips, they are so yummy but taste very different than the store-bought kind. A little more chewy and a lot less salty (but you won't miss the sodium!)

Ingredients:

Tortillas by cbertel
Image: cbertel

corn tortillas
olive oil
sea salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Brush tops of tortillas lightly with olive oil. Layer 4-5 tortillas, oiled side up. Cut into eighths with a pizza cutter or sharp knife.


Arrange on a baking sheet in a single layer. Sprinkle a bit of freshly ground sea salt on top. Cook for 12 minutes.


Pour the chips onto some paper towels to cool (if you can wait that long). If you're not going to eat them immediately, store in a zip-top bag. When you're ready to dig into that guacamole, crisp them up again by putting them back into the 350 degree oven for a few minutes.

Guacamole and Tortilla Chips by SweeterThanSweets

Friday, April 29, 2011

A Royal Celebration

Are you celebrating with the Royal family today? Here's my tribute to the wedding: a treasury full of "royal" blue finds on Etsy.



View my other treasuries

 Congratulations to Prince William and Princess Catherine!

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Guacamole Recipe

Whether for Cinco de Mayo or any day, I like to indulge in some homemade guacamole with my homemade tortilla chips! Want to make some like they do at your favorite Mexican restaurant? Here you go!

Ingredients:

Guacamole by SweeterThanSweets

3 avocados
1-2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1/2 lime, juiced
1/4 red onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
handful of cilantro, chopped
salt and garlic salt, to taste

(Note the conspicuous lack of anything spicy. This guacamole is very mild, so even the kiddos will like it!)
 
Pit the avocado and scoop halves into a bowl.  Mash it up slightly but don't obliterate it into a soupy mess. (If you've never cooked with avocado before, there is a great tutorial on pitting and cutting them at Our Best Bites.)

A tip on ripening avocados: Put hard avocados into a paper bag and store in a warm place until they're soft when you squeeze them and almost black in color. If they're ripe but you're not using them right away, put them in the fridge and they'll stay at this stage of ripeness for a few days. (This same method holds true for a lot of fruits.)

Stir in tomatoes, lime juice, onion, garlic and cilantro. The citrus in the lime juice will delay the browning process. If you don't have any lime juice, you can use lemon juice or just save the pits and put them back in with the guacamole to delay browning.

Add garlic salt and salt to taste I use about 1/8 of a teaspoon of each, but start with a little and keep adding it until it tastes good to you. If you're enjoying this guacamole with homemade tortilla chips, you may need more salt since they're lower in sodium.

Guacamole by SweeterThanSweets

Enjoy with homemade tortilla chips or your favorite Mexican dish!

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Hope is rising

I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.
-Matthew 28:5-6

New Orlenas Ladies Hope by tuyl
New Orleans Ladies Hope by tuyl

In his great mercy, he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
-1 Peter 1:3

And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.
-John 12:32

Hope for Resurrection by AmandaRaeK
Hope for Resurrection by AmandaRaeK
Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?"
-John 11:25-26

Friday, April 22, 2011

It's Friday but Sunday is coming

Today is Good Friday.

"The worst and the best day of all."
-Beth Moore in Jesus the One and Only
Graveyard by Evgeni Dinev
Image: Evgeni Dinev

We are "celebrating" the worst imaginable thing happening to Jesus Christ. We are celebrating it because God's design was that sin could only be forgiven through sacrifice, and Jesus' life was that sacrifice once and for all of us. Despite our mistakes, despite our selfishness, and despite our continuing sinfulness, he died for us.

When you were dead in your sins...He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.
-Colossians 2:13-14

He was forgiving us even while we were killing him:

Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."
-Luke 23:34
Golgotha by bela_kiefer
Image: bela_kiefer

But his death was painful, physically and spiritually.

Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" (which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?").
-Matthew 27:46

At this moment in history, Jesus took on all of the sins of mankind, including my own. This was according to prophesies from many years earlier, such as Deuteronomy 21:23 and Amos 8:10. But the most striking of all the prophesies that came true on the first "Good Friday" is this:

Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering...the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed... he was led like a lamb to the slaughter... the Lord makes his life an offering for sin...For he bore the sin of many...
-Isaiah 53:4-5, 7, 10, 12

It is incomprehensible and somewhat disturbing to think about what we are celebrating on Good Friday. But we know that the story doesn't end there...

It's Friday but Sunday is coming.
-Sunday by Tree63
Cathedral by Simon Howden
Image: Simon Howden

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Places Every Kid Should See

Grand Canyon by Liz Noffsinger
The Grand Canyon
Image: Liz Noffsinger

I've been working on a 4-part series for my blog on Tips for Traveling with Toddlers and Babies and I came across this article and this article on places in America that every kid should see. Here's a list of some of the places they recommended:

  • Grand Canyon, AZ
  • Redwood National Park, CA
  • Monticello, VA
  • The Freedom Trail, MA
  • Niagara Falls, NY
  • The National Mall, D.C.
  • Colonial Williamsburg, VA
  • Walt Disney World, FL
  • Ellis Island, NY
  • Yellowstone National Park, WY/ID/MT
  • San Diego Zoo, CA
  • Fenway Park, MA
  • Craters of the Moon National Monument & Preserve, ID
  • Alcatraz Island, CA
  • Independence Hall, PA

    Alcatraz Island by Paul Martin Eldridge
    Alcatraz Island
    Image: Paul Martin Eldridge

    I caught the travel bug when I was 20, so just reading this list makes me want to pack a suitcase or two! But I couldn't believe they forgot to include a few of my favorite family-friendly travel spots. Here are my suggestions to add to the list:

    • Yosemite National Park, CA
    • Route 66, CA/AZ/NM/TX/OK/KS/MO/IL
    • Hoover Dam, AZ/NV
    • Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, HI
    • Space Needle, WA
    • Plymouth Rock, MA

        2002 hawaii fast lava flow
        Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
        Image: schizoform

        What do you think? Any other places that need to be on the list of must-see locales for family travel?


        Do you have travel-related questions that you want me to answer in my Tips for Traveling with Toddlers and Babies series? 
        Comment on this post or send me an email.