The Healthy Beehive

I mentioned here that I have started soaking my grains before baking them. It may seem like a difficult and time consuming process, but it really is so easy! I love it because it makes the bread easier to digest.

I have been making these tortillas for a few months now, and I LOVE them! They are so soft and chewy, and they store well in the fridge. I usually start them the night before, and finish them up the next day.

I hope you enjoy them too!

Soaked Whole Wheat Tortillas

Print this recipe!

3 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup warm water

1/2 cup kefir or yogurt

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, water, kefir and melted coconut oil. Stir well to combine. You should have a soft dough. Cover bowl with a towel and let sit at room temperature overnight, or at least 12 hours.

After it has been sitting a while, the flour will soak in more, and it will become smooth.

The next day, mix in the baking powder and salt. I just place it in the dough and knead it to mix in.

Divide the dough into the number of tortillas you want to make, depending on size. I usually make about 12-14 medium size tortillas.

Preheat a skillet over medium high heat. I use our cast iron skillet. Roll out the dough your desired shape.

Cook for about 30 seconds on each side. Continue rolling out and cooking the tortillas until they are all cooked.

Store in an airtight container, and they will keep a couple weeks in the fridge, or freeze for longer term storage!

My favorite way to use these tortillas is in a quesadilla! It is the perfect snack when I come home from work at the end of the day, and is my “go to” snack. I warm it up in our cast iron skillet, add some sliced cheese and then fold over. This time, I put some salsa in there as well. Delicious!

It is healthier and less processed than buying tortillas, and I know all the ingredients that are in it. Win win!

A while back, I mentioned I would write a post on setting up a cheese cave. So sorry it took me so long!!

What exactly is a cheese cave?

A cave is usually a cool place with a consistent humidity. It is a good place to store cheese, and have it age properly. Your “cheese cave” can be anywhere in your house where you can keep the temp and humidity controlled. Even with limited resources, you have options on how to store the cheese that you took the time to make yourself!

The things you want to keep in mind are that you want:

1. The temperature should be controlled and on the cool side (35-50 degrees F)

2. Moisture (aka humidity) should be as high as you can get it – preferably 80-90% humidity)

3. Fresh circulating air

What are my options?

1. You can use part of your existing fridge

However, a fridge is going to be a little cooler than the optimal temperature for aging cheese. Also, as I’m sure you know, a fridge does not have fresh air circulating, and has the tendency to suck out the moisture of everything, which is why you cover your food, and don’t just leave it on the shelf unprotected. If the moisture gets sucked out of your cheese, you are just going to be left with a hard brick.

You could place the cheese in an airtight container, and place a wet towel in the container to help with the moisture. I didn’t choose this option, because at any time I might have 6-10 different cheeses aging, and I just don’t have room in my fridge for that!

2. You can re-use an old fridge (if you have one available)

You would then have the space to lay our the cheese, and you can control the humidity by placing a pan of water in the bottom shelf of the fridge. You still would be kind of guessing how much humidity IS actually in the fridge, unless you had a hygometer, and you could adjust the temperature lower than a normal fridge would be to control the temperature.

I didn’t have an extra fridge lying around that I wasn’t using, and I didn’t have the funds to go get one just for cheesemaking, so I didn’t choose this option either.

3. Find a cold space in your house (cellar or crawl space)

This is the option I chose! We have a crawl space under our house that is used mainly for storage. It isn’t pretty, but there was space, and I really didn’t have any other options!

It basically it a whole in our closet floor that leads to the space under the house. My husband installed some stairs to make it easier to get down, and lights to make it easier to see!

This is what it looks like going back up.

We put some shelves down there, and I just put the cheese directly on the shelf.

I always put a note with the cheese so that I know what kind of cheese it is, when it was made, and when it will be ready to eat!

We keep a thermometer down there so I can keep an eye on the temperature. It varies, depending on the temperature outside. Only one time that I am aware of did the temperature down there go below freezing, so I am ok with that.

One thing I do not measure is the humidity. I live in one of the most driest environments where our humidity hardly gets above 10%. And I’m ok with that! My cheese probably isn’t as moist as someone who controls the humidity, but it still tastes good! I think one rule of cheesemaking that I would want to pass on is that it is ok if it isn’t perfect! My cheese is just for my own use, and I might take it over to a friend’s house, or to work. If you don’t have the perfect environment, that doesn’t mean you still can’t make a yummy and delicious cheese.