Romero's Snack Size Flour Tortillas

Romero's flour tortillas are the softest-to-touch tortillas my fingers have ever had the experience of feeling. They are like 3000-count sheets, the tortillas are so pillow-soft.

As with any tortillas, it's easy to warm them by throwing a couple in a hot skillet, flipping them occasionally over 30 seconds or so, alternating which one is on top for even warming (and browning if you choose to do so).


And look, one of the tortillas actually ballooned up like a little pillow!

Romero's super soft, snack size* flour tortillas available in a resealable pack of 12 at Stater Bros. for $1.99.

 

*snack size is pretty big, about the size of a regular taco-sized tortilla

El Pinto Chipotle Salsa

Planning to do a revisit on an older recipe, I hunted for chipotle salsa. The brand I used last time, Herdez, was unavailable at two stores.

I picked this El Pinto brand up because it was one of the only chipotle salsas available and because the brand, according to the label, has won over 21 Scovie awards. El Pinto must be doing something right when it comes to the spicy heat.

I was also intrigued by how "El Pinto adds flavor to any cuisine".

Those hints would be handy since, right under the "refrigerate after opening" print, El Pinto suggests the salsa is used within 7 days.

FYI, the ingredients: tomatoes (peeled tomatoes with juice, calcium chloride, citric acid), roasted anaheim green chiles, salt, jalapeno pepper, chipotle chili powder, garlic, natural flavor.

Available at Ralph's in a 16 oz jar for $3.50.

Stater Bros. Frozen Ready to Eat Shrimp

Frozen shrimp, especially when prepared "ready to eat" is so convenient. Note this is different than "cooked, ready to eat". Technically, if you want the freshest shrimp, you want it shell-on as it is flash frozen without any handling. But when there are 71-90 shrimp in a pound, going for ease isn't shameful. At least when my time is concerned. Buying it ready to eat means that the shrimp shells and even deveining is already finished.

While it's recommended that you thaw throw the bag in the fridge and let it thaw over a couple days, shrimp is flexible. You can thaw it in a colander under cold water. I try to utilize the thawing-in-the-fridge method as it saves on resources, but sometimes push comes to shove.

Stater Bros. frozen Ready to Eat shrimp, 71-90/lb available at Stater Bros for $8.99/lb. And if you catch the sale deal, you can get buy one get one free!

Following and Print Options

I recently discovered that Smells has a follower. How the heck Hot Mess Housewife was able to follow Smells Like Food in Here, I have no idea. I goofed around trying to figure it out and came up with nothing. To make it easier on anyone else interested, I've added the Follower do-hickey down there under the Labels. Seems I'd omitted it when I did the last face-lift.

As for printing, I've realized that I've always checked the link while signed into Blogger/Google, so it always worked for me. Tonight I tried the print links before signing in and was shocked to find they didn't work! That's been rectified, so give it a try and let me know what you think.

If you are into a one-pot meal with Moroccan flavor, give this dish a spin. Now you can even print the recipe, no foolin'.

Albers Corn Bread

Tortilla chips go great with chili. Add enough cheese it's like eating chili nachos and who doesn't love nachos? But if you are in the pickle of lacking chips you can pinch hit with corn bread.

Albers Corn Bread
from Albers

1 c Albers® White or Yellow Corn Meal
1 c all-purpose flour
1/4 c granulated sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 c milk
1/3 c vegetable oil
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease 8-inch square baking pan.

Combine meal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in medium bowl.

Combine milk, oil and egg in small bowl; mix well.

Add milk mixture to flour mixture; stir just until blended.

Pour into prepared pan.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Serve warm.

The last time I made corn bread I made Albers Sweet Corn Bread and it was good and sweet, very much like the stuff in the baby blue box. This recipe has a texture very similar to the sweeter recipe. While still just slightly sweet, it turns out I prefer this recipe to accompany my chili. Next time though, I'm going to look for a recipe that isn't quite so cake-like in texture.

Cost:

• corn meal: $0.57
• milk: $0.50
• egg: $0.37

Total: $1.44 plus a 56 SWAG for flour, sugar, powder and oil makes it $2 total. That's 17 cents per each of 12 servings.

Click Albers Corn Bread to get a printable from their site

Smoky Beef and Black Bean Chili

You know, I like chili. I like it a lot. And thus, I am willing to try new chilis, like this one from my Feb/March 2007 copy of Cooking Pleasures. I like that the recipe doesn't call for insanely lengthy cooking time and the ingredients are minimal. It doesn't hurt that I have a pound of ground beef found during my recent freezer clean-out.

FYI, the original recipe was for two but because chili freezes so well I doubled it. And I had a full pound of beef.

Smoky Beef and Black Bean Chili

adapted from Cooking Club of America

1 lb. ground beef chuck (80% lean)
1 large onion, chopped

1 large yellow bell pepper, finely chopped
2 chipotle chile in adobo sauce, finely chopped
4 tsp chile powder
2-4 tsp adobo sauce
2 tsp ground cumin
2 (15-oz.) can black beans, rinsed, drained
2 (14.5-oz.) Mexican-style diced tomatoes
1 1/2 c water

4 tbsp chopped cilantro

Cook beef, onion and bell pepper in medium saucepan over medium-high heat 5 minutes or until beef is browned and vegetables are softened, stirring frequently.

Drain off any excess fat.


Stir in chile, chile powder, adobo sauce and cumin; cook and stir 2 minutes.


Stir in beans, tomatoes and water; bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and simmer 10 to 15 minutes to blend flavors, stirring occasionally.

Stir in cilantro.



A cinch to put together, the chili turned out to be pretty mild when it came to spicy-heat, but the smoky chipotle flavor was very nice. Next time, I'll maybe add a jalapeno pepper to crank up the heat a little bit.

Cost:

• ground beef: $1.99
• onion: $0.23
• bell pepper: $0.92
• chipotle chiles: $0.25
• black beans: $1.40
• Mexican-style diced tomatoes: $1.76
• cilantro: $0.20

Total: $6.75, or about $1.69 for each of four servings.

Click for the printable

San Marcos Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce

I just now realized the label says "chilpotle" peppers.

San Marcos brand was my selection of the day as it had the least amount of ingredients. No extra junk, just ripened jalapenos...and some other stuff. Kick me, I forgot to image the statement!

What I can tell you is that 7.5-oz cans seem to be the only size available and it doesn't matter if you are shopping at El Supermercado or El Gringo Groceria. Such a small can contains quite a few peppers, enough for a few dishes, and it's possible the leftovers from a single can will go to waste, which is a bummer.

And thus, I'm adding a new label to the list of labels. Let's utilize those peppers while we've got 'em, eh?

I've read that you can freeze the leftover peppers in their tangy adobo sauce by popping them into freezer trays but I haven't tried it myself.

Another thing I can tell you for certain is that this is what a couple of the peppers from the can looks like chopped, seeds and all.

While I'm calling this a new ingredient, I have used it before, in Chocolate Chipotle Cupcakes and Diablo Shrimp.

Available at Stater Bros. for $0.99.