Freezer Breakfast Burritos

My husband takes his lunch to work with him every day.  He usually takes leftovers or sandwiches.  Between the two, having a turkey sandwich every other day for weeks on end can be kind of boring.

I decided I'd try to let him branch out and spent the other morning making 24 breakfast burritos, half ham, half sausage.  He LOVES them!  Best yet, they are easy to freeze and grab as a quick to-go meal.

I had no idea how much this was going to make, so I will put the ingredients I used and you can portion them to how much you want to make.

*Note:  I am interested in trying hash browns in the mixture, but read bad things about trying to put them in burritos that you don't intend to eat immediately, or especially freeze. If anyone is brave enough to try it...let me know how it goes!

RECIPE----

Ingredients:
24 flour tortillas
1 pound hot Jimmy Dean sausage, ground
3/4 pound diced ham
1 1/4 cups cheddar cheese
18 Large eggs
2/3 cup milk
1/2 bag of frozen sautee mix (green pepper, red pepper, onions)
3 Roma Tomatoes
1 bunch fresh cilantro
salt to taste
pepper to taste

Aluminum foil
Freezer-safe zip-bags
Permanent marker

Brown the sausage in with the frozen vegetables.  Drain well.  Scramble 18 large eggs with milk, adding salt and pepper as desired.  While they cook, dice up the tomatoes.  Once eggs are fully cooked, throw in and mix tomatoes into the eggs.

Set up your station!  Tear out 24 pieces of aluminum foil that are just large enough to wrap each burrito in. Tortillas, meats, eggs, cheese, cilantro.  Trick for soft tortillas:  Place on a plate with damp paper towels inbetween each 2-3 tortillas.  Heat in the microwave for 30 seconds.  Only heat 8-9 at a time so they stay soft until you fold the burritos....don't want them to split!

The way I did mine was to do 12 sausage and 12 ham.  Place a large spoonful of each ingredient into center of tortilla, and then top with a few leaves of cilantro.  Wrap up tightly into a burrito on a piece of foil, wrap, mark what type of meat is in it with a marker....and place in a zip bag for easy freezing.

To Heat:

by oven:  keep burritos in alluminum and heat in a 350 oven for about 20 minutes.
by microwave: Microwave on high for approximately 1 minute 15 seconds- 1 minute 30 seconds per burrito.

Serve with fresh salsa or taco sauce

Peanut Butter Fudge

This is super easy and is a nice variety of fudge from your traditional chocolate!

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup milk
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup peanut butter
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
3 cups confectioner's/powdered sugar

Measure out confectioner's sugar (sifted, not packed) into a large bowl.  Melt the butter most the way in a medium sized saucepan over medium heat. Add the milk and stir.  When hot, add brown sugar and stir well.  Bring to a hard boil and boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter and vanilla until well mixed. Pour mixture into bowl of confectioners' sugar and beat until smooth.  Press smoothly into a 9x13 pan and refrigerate until hard.

Potato Soup Shortcut

When it's the end of the "grocery" week but I didn't have time to make it to the store, I improved this soup.  It is a great use for leftover produce.  The additions I would make would be some peeled chopped potatoes and pieces of ham if I had them on hand, but it turned out fine without them.  We ate ours over sourdough bread.  There's probably enough to feed about 4 people here.

Throw the following into a crock-pot on High for a few hours:

1 1/4 cup potato flakes
3 chicken bouillon cubes
1 cup milk
4 cups water (I'm not sure on this amount, but you can adjust to the thickness you like.  Mine was pretty thin, but I was scared it would taste more like mashed potatoes instead of soup.)
1 cup chopped celery
2/3 cup chopped carrots
2/3 cup chopped brocolli
1/2 cup diced onion
1/3 cup cheddar cheese
1 tsp onion salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp black ground pepper
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp chives
a few dashes of bacon bits. (If I had ham I would use it instead)

Gourmet Cooking tonight

Confession:

Sometimes menus need to be redone.
Tonight was frozen pizza. We're leaving town tomorrow and are about to move....but something tells me that's not the only reason ;)


I am looking to compile lots recipe ideas that are yummy and thrifty. The most bang for your buck, if you will. If you have lots of inexpensive meal ideas, let me know!

Ready for October

Woooo!

Is it too soon to do November's? This is fun!

Sweet Pork Salad

I've received several requests for this one. And by several I mean about 6 requests each from the same 3 people, haha. It is SOOOO good. I do not credit the recipe for the rice, dressing, or black bean goodness. The pork, pico de gallo, and guac are all my fixes which may or may not be different from how other people make it. The rest of this I got from my sister-in-law Maren who got it from HER sister...who got it from????

If you know where this comes from, I would love to give credit where due.

This salad is a copy cat of Cafe Rio and Costa Vida's. IF YOU LIVE NEAR ONE, TRY IT. My mouth is watering just thinkin' about it!

Don't be intimidated by this recipe. There are a lot of little parts, but after you make it a time or two, you get the timing down and can do lots of it ahead of time. It's very simple and there is some room for interpretation. This is probably my favorite homemade meal of all times.


PORK:

3 lbs pork loin. I find the leanest pork roast they have. Size is approximate, you can add or take away ingredients depending on size of roast and taste.

Put roast in crock pot with about an inch of water, with the following ingredients mixed in the water. Spoon the seasoned water over the pork roast.

1 1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp dry ground mustard
1 tsp salt
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper

Cook 4-6 hours or until cooked through. Dump out the seasoned water. Replace with a can of Dr. Pepper soda and about 2-3 cups of brown sugar. Make it a thin sludge (sludge is not an appetizing word, but this will be GOOD!) Shred roast and return to crockpot. Cook on low until ready to eat. The longer you can simmer it, the better it is.




LIME RICE:
1 c. uncooked rice
1 tsp butter
2 cloves minced garlic (1 tsp)
1 tsp lime zest
1 can chicken broth
1 1/4 c. water

Put above ingredients into medium pan and boil covered until the rice is cooked. Just before serving, add

2 tsp fresh squeezed lime juice
2 tsp sugar
3 tbsp chopped cilantro.

Toss, and serve.

BLACK BEAN GOODNESS
1 can black beans, rinse, drain, repeat.
1 small can of tomato juice (or use between 3/4 to 1 cup, to your desires sauciness)
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp cumin
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp fresh chopped cilantro

Mix the above in a saucepan, cook until heated. Serve.

DRESSING-Don't you dare serve this meal without this!

1 envelope hidden valley ranch dressing
1 c. mayonnaise
1 c. milk
1/2 bunch cilantro
2 fresh tomatillos
1 serrano pepper (if you don't like it as spicy, add this in little bits until it's the right spicy level for you)

Throw all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth and delicious.





PICO DE GALLO
2 medium tomatoes, diced pretty
1/2 small onion (red, white, yellow...whatever) diced
2 tbsp chopped cilantro
1 good squeaze of a lime
1/2 tsp salt
dash of cayenne pepper

Mix, enjoy.





GUACAMOLE
2 ripe avocados
2 Tbsp of the pico de gallo
Another pinch of lime

Mash up avocados, add pico, mix, enjoy.




Now for the assembly!

The tortillas make a big difference. In WalMart, they sell these by the cream cheese and pilsbury bread canisters in the cold isle. They are ready-made tortillas. You throw them onto the skillet and heat them on both sides. So fresh. Make it taste so good. The one's I've found look like this:


Take fresh tortilla and place on a large plate or bowl. Add rice, pork, and beans as recipe'd above. Load with lots of chopped romaine, top with pico de gallo and guacamole and a bit of shredded cheddar cheese. Crush tortilla chips over the top, serve with dressing.


I made this a while ago and now I'm really wishing I had the stuff in stock to make it again...I feel a craving coming on....

Corn and Bean Veggie Salsa

Just try it. You won't regret! I am thisclose to a money-back-guarantee.

1 can red beans, rinsed and drained
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
2 medium tomatoes, diced into small pieces
1 green pepper, diced into small pieces
1 green onion, diced
1/8 cup yellow onion, diced into small pieces
1 ripe avocado, diced into small pieces
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, diced
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 cup Italian dressing

Throw it all into a bowl and toss. Add salt and Italian dressing to taste. Serve with tortilla chips.