Freezer Cooking: Burritos

Alright, the second part of my freezer cooking day was spent making lunch burritos. Anything easy to grab and pop in the microwave is a plus in my book. In my opinion, if it's difficult to get to (even the process of making a healthy salad for lunch) then you're more likely to run out and grab something like McDonald's or Wendy's or any other quick unhealthy fast-food. And let us be honest with ourselves...if we run to McDonald's for an easy meal, even if a salad is a possibility, we're not getting a salad, now are we?

So, burritos. Not the healthiest lunch, but these are rather portioned and smaller. Grab a piece of fruit with it and lunch isn't so bad.

Again, I got this recipe from www.moneysavingmom.com and it was relatively tasty and really easy to make!

LUNCH BURRITOS:

Makes 20 burritos

• 2 pounds ground beef
• 2 cans refried beans
• 2 cans enchilada sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/3 cup diced onion (you can also use dried or minced onion)
• 1 taco seasoning packet
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 20 burrito-sized flour tortillas

Brown ground beef with onions. Drain and add all remaining ingredients except tortillas (and cheese, if you want to sprinkle the cheese on instead).

Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20-30 minutes.
Spoon 1/4-cup of the meat mixture onto a tortilla, sprinkle with cheese (if you didn’t melt cheese into the mixture when you simmered it). Fold sides in and roll up tightly.

To freeze: Wrap each burrito in a paper towel and then in a foil square. Put burritos in two airtight ziptop freezer bags and store in the freezer for 2-3 months.

To serve: Pull out desired number of burritos. Remove foil  and heat a single burrito in the microwave for about a minute or leave the foil on and heat one or more burritos in a preheated 350-degree oven for 30 minutes or until heated through.

These can be eaten plain or served with lettuce, cheese, salsa, and/or sour cream.

 Again, I started by separating all of my ingredients. I had left over cheese (some cheddar and some four cheese Mexican mix), so I made sure to to use that up. This is where I also had ground turkey in my freezer, so I used that instead of ground beef. I only had 1.3 lbs of ground turkey, but it turned out fine.

 See? Yum!

 Recommendation: Use a bigger pan. This was the biggest frying pan I had, but it was near to overflowing. Next time, I might use my wok. However, be careful with wok cooking as it heats up rather quickly and you don't want your food to burn. When simmering, the bottom of the meat did burn a bit, so don't overheat. It was still delicious.

 Next step: 1/4 C of mix and sprinkle with cheese. I used extra cheese, but if you don't have it on hand, just portion. Don't overfill the burrito tortilla. It makes it easier to wrap.

 I wrapped each burrito in a paper towel and then in foil. I placed 6 in a freezer bag and labeled with the name and date. They can supposedly last for 2-3 months, though I think they won't last us that long. If baking in the oven, make sure to remove the paper towel! If in the microwave, take off the foil!


Alright, kiddos. To be continued...