"Cowboy and Indian Tacos"

Who ever thought that dress-up is for girls is sadly mistaken. In our house, my boys play dress-up more often than my dolly! We are constantly morphing from pirates to knights, cowboys to indians, skaters to sports members. When they embrace a form they carry through all the way. So, tonight upon hearing we were having Indian Tacos, the boys decided they needed to play cowboys and indians! Thus, leading us to "Cowboy and Indian Tacos" because as my 6 year old says, "chili is for cowboys and fry bread is for indians".

Fry Bread Recipe:

2 cups flour
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 Cup Milk
Approx. 4 Cups oil

In a large bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Then stir in milk until a dough is formed. (FYI- I have also done this with only self-rising flour and milk mixed together into a dough. It cuts out a few of the ingredients) Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead until a soft pliable dough. (Don't over knead as this will result in tough bread.) Let rest for 5 minutes. While dough is resting put oil in a large pot or a large frying pan and heat over medium heat. I know the oil is ready when I splash a small drop of water into the oil and it sizzles. Pinch off small to medium sized portions of the dough and roll out until 1/4 inch thick. Drop your rounds one at a time into the preheated oil. Let brown on one side and then flip and brown on the other. Stay close as this will go very quickly. Once you remove set on a plate lined with paper towels to absorb the extra grease. Brown remaining rounds. This recipe yeilds approx. 6-8, 6" fry bread rounds.


Once all rounds are fried top with chili, onion, cheese, lettuce, tomato, olives and sour cream! These are also very delicious to just put butter with cinnamon and sugar or jam. Yum!!

Enjoy!

The Homestead- The Beginning

Last October the Hubby and I got the keys to our first home. It is exactly what we had been wanting for such a long time and truly was a dream come true. Nothing extravagant just a small house on a little over an acre and a short ways from town. We wanted outbuildings, lots of room for our kids to play and a house that wasn't over the top so we could make it our own.Well, since we had some minor renovations to get done on the inside throughout the winter we are now beginning the outside projects. Spring is in the air!

We have researched until our eyes were practically bleeding, priced out resources and now have mapped out the general plans for our "homestead". Our "homestead" will have designated areas or "zones". For example, we are going to have an inner yard for the kids and dog to roam free but contained with an inner fence. This will be the house, yard, and patio. Basically the areas we would entertain guests.

We are fencing off the entire outer perimeter of the property and will have small sections designed to optimize particular areas and their resources.We will have a playground which will also be fenced to keep critters out and my munchkins in. :) We have already bought a wooden play structure this winter and plan to find more play equipment to add!

My biggest project right now has been the garden and chickens. Thankfully, the previous owners had/left both. We are moving them to a better location to meet our plans but are happy to have the remains of their chicken coop and pen. We will also be fencing off the garden areawith a six foot fence to keep the deer out. This area is going to be about 35'x45', we will talk more about that in another post! Adjacent to the garden will be the chicken coop and run. We want the two close together so that after harvest the chickens can roam free in the garden area to clean and fertilize the ground! We are getting chicks this spring! The existing property has a small "orchard" as I plan to make it and fruit patch. There are two apple trees, two pear trees and a netted strawberry patch. We are keeping all of these and are adding to it. We plan to plant more fruit trees and then are utilizing some empty space to plant raspberries, blueberries,and blackberries. I can't wait to preserve all this food!!

We have some empty space left for future planning and may down the road include small livestock, but we will see! Plenty of jobs to get done and we have begun where we can without breaking us or our budget. I plan to keep track of all our little projects and our journey of living on a one-acre homestead.