Colour is like food for the spirit – plus it’s not addictive or Fattening.
Isaac Mizrahi
This year, HBear described one of her teachers as beige.
We speak in colours.
This week was grey.
I had to deal with people that ONLY think in black and white. People that don’t know how to colour outside the lines.
I read that this Monday is known as Blue Monday, the most depressing day of the year. I guess everybody else has a PAC meeting too 😂.
I get it though. This week was rough. It was raining and dirty outside. I had NO motivation to get up and do anything out there under the grey skies. The Girls went back to school and I truly felt the after holidays letdown. The house was clean. Dinners got made and everybody got to their activities. However, that was it. For the most part I stayed in the house under my new soft blue blanket and prepped myself for another year. I did however take a good look at my craft area. For the past 6 months I have been stacking the Girl’s artwork, school work and other memory items for “filing” at a later date. This was as good as time as any I suppose 😉.
As I was filing away I thought, “hmmmmm I should really go through my pictures and drafts for the blog.” You see, sometimes I make lots of different recipes in a week. I only publish 1 though. The other ones sit there until I need inspiration. Oh boy… did I need it this week!
As I was going through drafts and old pictures I came across a post from at least 2 years ago. My mouth watered when I remembered how good the dish was! Yes! This is exactly the motivation I need! I need to stop seeing in black and white and shades of grey and start looking at 2018 in vivid colour! Colours like I saw on a trip I made when I was 19 years old to, New Mexico!
When I was fresh out of high school and just before I began University I met a boy. We became awesome friends! He was arty and creative and FUNNY! He was older than me and he seemed very worldly although I don’t think he had ever been out of Manitoba. 1 night I came over and he made me dinner. He made steak and mushrooms. At that point my palette was very limited and mushrooms were YUCKY. I didn’t want to be a baby though so after a glass of wine (I had never really drank wine up until that point) and to the soft but beautiful sounds of an artist he had introduced me to (Ella Fitzgerald) I popped a mushroom into my mouth. It was heaven! It was like a party in my mouth! I was hooked! He had sautéed them in butter, garlic and beer. The flavours were incredible! I thought to myself, “I am missing out! What else is out there that I didn’t know about?” Just in 1 night I had been introduced to Ella, wine and adult food! I wanted more!
As we sat eating and chatting he mentioned that his grandparents lived in Roswell, New Mexico. Now this was during the X Files time so I had definitely heard stories of Roswell and it got me thinking… we needed to go! So, a few days later, we did! We took a Greyhound bus 52 hours to Roswell, New Mexico.
It was an amazing trip and it opened my eyes to so many things! His Grandparents were the BEST and took us everywhere! Who knew there was so much to do in New Mexico? We saw the Carlsbad Caverns, the White Sands National Monument, the Bottomless Lakes State Park, we went to Lincoln and saw where Billy the Kid spent his days, we saw where Geronimo hid during his last stand, the origin museum of Smokey the Bear, an ostrich farm, and of course we went to every alien and Area 51 museum in Roswell 😜.
The history!
The beauty!
The food!!!!!!!!!
We went to Texas for dinner 1 night and had a Texas cow dinner. I mean this wasn’t a steak… it was a side of cow! So good! It was in New Mexico that I fell in love…
With sopapillas, cilantro and pico de gallo 😜.
I gained so much weight on that trip. Although I didn’t come back with a boyfriend(a 104 hour Greyhound trip took it’s toll 😂) I did come back with a cookbook and a love for all types of Mexican food. I loved the colours! I loved the fresh taste and I loved ooeey gooey honey soaked sopapillas! We went to this one authentic Mexican restaurant that blew my freaking mind! They rolled a table up to your table with homemade tortilla chips, fresh pico, and ALL the other toppings like sour cream, cheese, guacamole, and veggies. You ate yourself silly while perusing the menu! I got a chimichanga that to this day STILL makes my mouth water! It was on a fry bread or sopapilla. it was covered with taco meat and veggies. It was HUGE and I ate every last bite! At the end of the meal they brought you more hot sopapillas and you drenched it in honey, closed your eyes and ate… slowly, to make sure every bite was tasted and committed to memory.
When I got home I promised myself I would try to make them. I did once but then University started and my fascination was taken elsewhere and the thought of cooking seemed like time wasted in the grand scheme of things.
Flash forward 15 years. I still love Mexican food and 1 day I thought, I NEED to try to find that recipe! I looked and looked and nothing came up. I didn’t see anything that resembled what I remembered about my favourite dish of all time. I started reading about Navajo fry bread. Hmmm that made sense. New Mexico is special in its cuisine because it is right next to Texas and definitely has a Tex Mex flair to it’s food. It is also deeply rooted in it’s Native American history. Food has a way of taking the best parts from different cultures and making something tasty and new. I think this is what happened in my case. I fell in love with a Tex/Mexican/Native American dish! I had no interest in food at the time so I didn’t take pictures, ask questions or try to remember specific flavours. To be honest, it wasn’t until years later I realized cilantro and parsley were different 😂.
So we tried it. It was just like I remembered it! The bread was perfect! Crispy enough to withstand the wetness of the beef and sauces but still soft and chewy on the inside. It is the BEST damn taco I have ever had, save for the original.
I hope you enjoy the taste, texture and the beautiful colours as much as I did do. Fry Bread Tacos
Adapted from Love Bakes Good Cakes
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
4 cups oil for frying, or as needed
1 ½ lb. taco seasoned meat (I used beef)
2 cups shredded lettuce
1 cup shredded cheese
1 large tomato, chopped
½ red onion, chopped
¼ cup cilantro, chopped
Toppings: pico de gallo, sour cream, guacamole, taco sauce
In your electric mixer, mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
Mix in milk and mix until the dough comes together.
Change to your dough hook and knead the dough until smooth, at least 5 minutes.
Let the dough rest for 5 minutes.
Heat oil in a large, deep heavy skillet to 375°F. Oil should be about 1 1/2 inches deep.
Divide dough into 4 to 6 pieces,
and use a rolling pin to shape dough into ¼-inch thickness circles.
Fry breads in the hot oil until golden on both sides, turning only once.
Drain on paper towels on a cookie rack.
Top fry bread with your choice of taco seasoned meat, lettuce, cheese, onions, cilantro and tomatoes. Top with your choice of additional ingredients, such as salsa, sour cream, guacamole or taco sauce.
Like I said, we didn’t do much this week. SBean started a new swim class and is officially a Crocodile! She is working very hard at her swimming because she really really wants to join the swim team next year… so she can beat her big Sister 😂.
HBear also started something new this week! Curling! Now, it’s not a sport that I have ever played but my In-Laws love it and HBear is very curious so I signed her up for beginners lessons! She had a great time!
This weekend was super chill. Dad went to Cochrane for CabbagePatch’s 1st birthday so it was just us. HBear went to a Vees game with her KBesty and then had a sleepover at her house.
We took SBean to BP for dinner and she was super excited to try her new earphones! We let her bring her LeapPad and Ninja and I had an adult conversation, while drinking a beer and eating food someone else had prepared! Sometimes you have to ease up on yourself and let them wear headphones and play video games so you can have an adult dinner with your HOT husband… Score 😍!
When we got home from dinner Ninja and I continued date night with an all new episode of HWYWH! I “borrowed” SBean’s headphones and we had tons of laughs while recorded Ep. #48: Slip into Something More Comfortable
Have a wonderfully Colourful week and remember to like, share and comment if you like this post, enjoy a recipe or just want to share a similar experience! 😊
Having Multiple Sclerosis is like trying to drive a car with a broken steering wheel and faulty brakes. You never know what’s going to happen next — Jamie-Lynn Sigler
