Breakfast Burritos

My family leads a very busy life, with most mornings (especially Sundays) permitting only a brief time to prepare breakfast. I really wanted something that could be prepared ahead of time, but available over the long term.

That's when I discovered breakfast burritos! I picked up the recipe from a friend and have slightly adapted it to our tastes.

Breakfast Burritos
Serves 16

Ingredients:

1) Package of flour tortillas (whole wheat in packages of 16 work best. The WW stretch further than the white or corn)
2) 1-dozen eggs
3) 1-package of freezer hash-browns (for those who like peppers and onions pick up the O'Brien potatoes)
4) 1lb loose breakfast sausage [OPTIONAL}
5) 1lb Shredded Cheddar Cheese
6) 16 oz of taco Sauce (I prefer Ortega Mild Original Thick and Smooth) [OPTIONAL]

Directions:
1. Bring tortillas to room temperature.
2. Meanwhile cook breakfast sausage. Then remove to large bowl.
3. Cook hash-browns per package directions. (I sometimes add taco seasoning to the hash-browns, especially if I do not use the O'Brien potatoes). Then remove to large bowl stir together with sausage.
4. Scramble the eggs. Then remove to large bowl and mix with sausage and hash-browns.
5. Add cheese and taco sauce to egg/sausage/potato mix.
6. Stir together.
7. Scoop spoonful of mix into each open tortilla.
8. Roll tortilla and wrap in parchment paper, wax paper or freezer paper. Seal in freezer paper or foil. Store in Ziploc bag in freezer.

Once frozen they can be served individually after 1-2 minutes in the microwave.

**Notes:

- I have discovered that while the burritos microwave well in parchment paper they do NOT in wax paper or freezer paper. If you wish to use one of the latter two then be sure to remove burrito from the paper and place on a plate before microwaving.

- I've adapted the recipe to add fresh cilantro, black olives, beans, pretty much anything you'd serve in tacos or burritos.

Freezer Cooking from Kraft

Wanting to try some freezer cooking recipes? Kraft has a page devoted to this. Check it out and give freezer cooking a try.

Hamburger Stew

This is hands down one of my husbands favorite meals. It is also a freezer meal. I love having a hearty meal I can grab from my freezer and have ready to eat in a fairly short amount of time.

Ingredients:
2lbs. ground beef
2 medium onions, chopped
4 (14.5oz.) cans stewed tomatoes
8 medium carrots, thinly sliced. I use the pre-sliced carrots fresh carrots in the produce section to save time.
4 celery ribs, thinly sliced
2 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced
2 c. water
1/2 c. uncooked long grain rice
2 T. salt
2 t. pepper

ADDITIONAL INGREDIENT when thawing and serving: 1 & 1/2 c. water.

In frying pan or dutch oven, cook hamburger and onions until meat is no longer pink; drain. Transfer to large stock pot. Add tomatoes, carrots, celery, potatoes, water, rice, salt and pepper; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until vegetables and rice are tender.

Uncover; simmer an additional 20-30 minutes or until thickened. Stir often, mixture can stick to the bottom of the pot very easily. Let cool a bit. Transfer to freezer tupperwear in 3 cup portions. Freeze. Yields 5 batches. Each batch serves 2, with second helpings.

To serve: Thaw in fridge for 24 hours. Transfer to sauce pan; add water. Heat until hot. OR You can skip thawing and put frozen block of stew directly in the sauce pan with water and heat covered on low to medium heat until thawed and stew is hot. I use the later method.

Late-Summer Vegetable Soup

Recipe courtesy of 2008 Super Fresh Monthly Savings Magazine
Serves 6

Prep time/Total time: 35Min
(per serving: 182 cal; 5.6 g fat 9.8 g sat fat; 6 g protein; 31.1 g carb; 4.7 g fiber)

"The produce-packed soup is cooked quickly to preserve the fresh flavor of the vegetables. the orzo simmers right in the pot."

Ingredients:
- 4 ears corn, husks and silks removed (if fresh corn is not available use frozen or canned, but be sure to rinse before putting in the pot)
- 2 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- Coarse salt and ground pepper
- 2 cans (14.5 oz each) reduced-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
- 2 large zucchini, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
- 8 oz. fresh green beans (stem ends removed), cut into thirds (again, frozen can be substituted if fresh is not available)
- 1 can (14.5) oz diced tomatoes in juice (or substitute 4 fresh medium tomatoes)
- 1/2 cup orzo pasta
- water

Directions:
1. Cut off tip of each ear of corn. One at a time, stand ears in a wide bowl. With a sharp knife, carefully slice downward to release kernels. Discard cobs; set kernels aside.

2. In a Dutch oven or 5qt pot, heat oil over medium. Add onion; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until onion is translucent, 3 to 5 minutes.

3. Add broth and 2 cups water; bring to a boil. Add zucchini, green beans, corn, tomatoes (with juice), and orzo; cook, uncovered, until orzo is tender, 8 to 11 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

To FREEZE: Ladle 1 1/2 cups into each of six resealable plastic bags. Store flat in freezer, up to 3 months. Before reheating, thaw in refrigerator.

Related Links:

Fresh/Canned Tomato Conversion Chart

Help for Busy Days

Yesterday I had an unexpected window of time to do some cooking because of a cranky baby needing an extra nap and a toddler happily watching Cars. So I got busy! Here's what I got done:

• Browned a bulk package of hamburger, made chili in the crock pot and froze the extra in meal sized portions for future meals
• Cooked unused chicken breast from the bulk package we bought for my dad's birthday meal (see my menu post) using my George Foreman wannabe grill. Chopped and froze meat for future meals
• Hard boiled eggs for salads and breakfasts/snacks
• Made jello cups for Nathan's lunches
• Sliced up strawberries for quick eating

Nathan was thrilled to come home to a hot meal all ready to eat and I was happy to have some freezer cooking done.

I have learned to stock up on marked down meat from the grocery store and freeze it for future use. My grocery store marks down it's meat 24 hours before the sell by date. The time the meat is packaged is stamped on the label. I didn't know what the process was until I asked. I've also learned how wonderful it is to have meal sized portions of pre-cooked meat in my freezer for quick meals.

What ideas help you plan ahead for quick meals or help save money on packed lunches? I always love getting new ideas.

Freezer Cooking

Review: Freezer Cooking, Taste of Home Style

Earlier this summer, my friend, Jen, and I started freezer cooking. (Yes, that is how tardy I am in writing this post.) Since then, we’ve done it several times using different methods. I’ll try to post a little review of each, plus some pictures.

Since we are new to this freezer cooking thing, we started small. We still have yet to do more than two weeks of meals at a time. If you are scared of freezer cooking or think you have too small of a freezer, be brave and give it a try! You can do it! The afternoon of work is well worth the time and money saved later.

Another method worth trying is to prepare two of a casserole every time you cook. Eat one and freeze the other for another day. After a while, you will have a decent stash of meals in your freezer.

For our first session we used recipes from Taste of Home’s online freezer recipes and created our own “plan”. You can find TOH freezer recipes here.

Our menu

Pizza Pasta Casserole (2-9x13 pans each)
Colorful Chicken Casserole (1-2 qt casserole each)
Mexican Casserole (1-2 qt casserole each)
Hamburger Stew (5- 2 generous serving containers each)

I'll post recipes if anyone is interested.

Time spent

5 hours, including a run to my house to get more pots and cleaning up the kitchen/dishes

Pros, Cons and Tips

*Taste of Home recipes typically have a very low chance of being duds. All of the above recipes we would make again and are husband approved. (You’ll see why I say this in my next review.)

*Using meals with a variety of meats as main ingredients takes more time than doing all of one kind of meat. This saves time because you can cook all of your meat at once. I think if we had to do this session over again we would have skipped the chicken casserole and done all hamburger dishes to save time.

*When creating your own menu, sit down and make a plan. Think about cook times. Does something need to boil or simmer for a while? Do that first. Cook main ingredients together and assemble like dishes together.

*We used a George Foreman grill to cook all of our boneless, skinless chicken breast.. Most once a month cooking methods recommend cooking and processing whole chickens the day before to get your chicken meat. While I’m sure this is probably cheaper, saving time was more important to us, and, in the end, we may have even ended up even cost wise since we bought in bulk.

*Don’t worry about having leftover ingredients. Just freeze them for later use or make a soup.

*Have lots of pots, bowls and measuring cups!

*Cooking with a friend helps you persevere, gets you out of cooking tasks you dislike, and saves prep time. I hate handling meat and Jen hates chopping veggies, so she did meat and I did veggies. We were both happy!

*Freezing your meals insures that you use all your food and that it won’t spoil waiting for you to eat it.

Picture and a tip

I made the Pad Thai again last night so I thought I'd pass along a picture to go with the recipe. My own variation this time was chicken only and no bean sprouts.

Along the lines of Sara's post earlier asking about frozen meal ideas, I have this tip. I hate touching/cutting up raw meat so when we fixed Thai last time I had Nathan chop up enough chicken pieces for two meals and froze the second half of the meat. All I had to do last night was dump my ziploc bag of thawed chicken pieces into the pan, add the other ingredients and I was done. I loved how easy it made my cooking which means Nathan will probably be chopping lots of meat next time I go shopping. :-)

You could also do this for Chicken Fajitas. Freeze your chicken pieces with a dash of lime juice and some spices, with a second bag of frozen green peppers and onions. Dump it all in a skillet and saute until done. Serve in soft shells with taco toppings.

Freezable Recipes

In anticipation of The Bigness of Pregnancy In Summer, not to mention a third child, I'm realizing I'd do well to have meals already on hand. I don't know many freezer-recipes, though. You can eat only so much lasagna, after all.

I'd love some meal recipes, or even just freezable components ("Pasta freezes. Rice doesn't. Jello is a total loss.")

As a completely irrelevent side note, I tried Sarah's Irish Stew recipe. It was marvelous.

-- SJ