Let me go back to the beginning. My son Josiah who is now 5 has had major allergies his whole life. Five years may not sound like a long life but when it is filled with pain, itching, puking, sores, and emotions from not being able to eat much variety, 5 years can feel like an eternity. This little guy of mine has been through a lot and on the way our whole family has experienced a shift in the way we eat. We went from a Top Ramen, Macaroni and Cheese, Milk ,candy , processed foods and antibiotics family to Whole Foods, Essential Oils and Herbs.
One of the things we have had to change is our reliance on wheat, which is where the tortillas come in. One of Josiah's allergies is to wheat, which makes him have itchy bleeding rashes and sometimes it leads to days of puking until we can get him cleansed. Needless to say, we avoid wheat as much as possible. We have found that spelt flour cooks almost like wheat and is not genetically modified. It makes bread possible for our family.
I love making tortillas instead of bread for several reasons.
1. fast and easy
2. cheap
3. no yeast
4. quality control
5. quick cooking so it retains nutrition ( I am toying with the idea of sprouting my spelt berries, drying them, then grinding them for sprouted grain tortillas. I used to do that for bread but got discouraged with the temperatures I was having to cook the bread at and the length of time it had to be in those high temperatures. It seemed redundant to me to take all of the time to sprout, dry, and grind the grain if it was going to be cooked to death! - not so with tortillas!)
Here is the recipe we have been using lately. I hope you enjoy them as much as we do!
2 cups Spelt flour
1/2 cup oil
1 t. salt
3/4 cup water
I mix everything together and let it sit for a few minutes to absorb the water. I do not knead the dough much - just mix until everything is incorporated in. I realize that those reading this may be living in a different climate than my Cheyenne, WY so I would suggest playing with it until you get it right.
After the mixture is the right consistency - not sticky but firm - I make balls that fit in the palm of my hand and place them in a large baggie so they hold their moisture and don't get dried out on the counter waiting their turn to be cooked. When they are all made into balls I heat the skillets on the stove top to a high heat. I then press one of the balls between plastic sheets in the tortilla press, put it onto a dry skillet, and cook it about 30 seconds on each side. I put it in the tortilla holder that will keep it warm until we eat, and DONE! I use a few skillets at a time so there is no waiting time between tortillas.
These tortillas have been wonderful for our family. There is no longer the push to buy rice bread for Josiah when we want to have sandwiches. We have a quick bread within minutes of deciding we want it, and it is so good for us! We love our new tortilla press and warmer!
Happy Healthy,
Elisa
