How To Make 38 Frozen Burritos for Lunches

This post is for my friend Maria.  We were talking the other day about how I make  freezer burritos and I thought I would put it in a post for her.  And you.  Whoever else is reading this.

This is one of my favorite projects because these burritos taste soooo good.  The hubby likes to take them in his lunches.  I like them when mac & cheese and dino chicken nuggets are on the menu and would prefer something else.

You can also use these for a quick dinner.  Place 4-6 burritos in an oven safe dish.  Cover with a can of green enchilada sauce and cheese.  Bake until warmed through.  Yum.

There are two main parts to my freezer burritos: homemade refried beans and sweet pulled pork.  They are both made in the crock pot and are both very easy.

THE BEANS.  Homemade refried beans taste vastly better than canned stuff and they are super easy to make.  I use this recipe I posted for the beans.  There are only two changes I make since that first post.  I add bacon grease from 1/2 to 1 pound of cooked bacon and I no longer remove any water.  I just cook them down after blending.

THE PULLED PORK.  I wish I had two crock pots.  Then I could made the pork in one and beans in the other.  Since I don't.  I will make the pork one day and beans the next.  Or the other way around.  Here is what I throw in for the pork.

3 lbs. pork roast

1 16 oz. jar of green salsa

1 c. brown sugar

I cook on low for 8-10 hours and then shred it.

Once the beans and pork are done you can assemble your burritos.  I use flour tortillas.

First a little beans . . .

Next a little pork . . .

Then some shredded cheese . . .

Roll them up and freeze them on a cookie sheet.  This will prevent them from sticking together when you put them in a bag.  You can also wrap them individually, but I usually don't bother.  This makes a lot, but it depends on how much of the ingredients you put inside.

Jelly Beans for Dinner?

One of the things I have thought about doing with this second round of the Self Reliance Experiment is having one meal a week that is meatless and based on beans.  Beans are good for you, right?  This is a good idea, right?  Well, I'm feeling a bit discouraged.

This last week I planned a meal of beans and rice.  I thought that if I could make the beans sweet and yummy they would be as delicious as a Chinese stir fry.  Perfect over rice.

I made the beans in the crock pot using some of the beans I canned with Fiona as part of our rice-a-roni canning day.  Basically it was a pound of white beans, 2 T. dried celery, 1/4 c. dried onion, 1 t. garlic powder, 2 T. chicken bouillon and 6 c. water thrown into my crock pot.  They cooked beautifully and only needed some salt.  For a sauce I added some "Desert Glaze"  which is basically a prickly pear cactus syrup with some spices including chilies.  I thought the sweet and spicy would be a great sauce for beans.  And it was!  I thought it was delicious.

So the problem?  Neither of my kids would eat the beans and rice.  No shocker there!  But Hubby informs me he doesn't think beans and rice is a meal.  Oh.  Well, good thing I had some taco pockets on hand to throw into the mix.  No one went hungry.

Now, to my husband's credit he said that he would eat beans once a week because they are inexpensive and I am doing my food storage thing.  But I have to confess that I've lost a little wind out of my sails.  It makes me feel like I am cooking frumpy meals.  No one likes to feel frumpy.

So, I am considering feeding my family jelly beans for dinner.  At least I know they will enjoy them.

I'm only kidding.  Sort of.

Taco Pizza or What to do with a Mountain of Refried Beans

After making the refried beans this week I went looking for something to do with them.  I found this recipe and modified it based on what I had on hand.  It was so delicious I think I'll be making tacos this way again!

First I boiled and shredded two chicken breasts.  Then I softened an onion in some olive oil.  I added the chicken to the pan along with some fajita seasoning and a little water.  (I would have used taco seasoning if I had had any).

In the blender I mixed a can of Rotel tomatoes and a cup of homemade green tomato salsa.

We like to cook our pizza crust a little before topping it.  Bryce hates doughy crust.

After the crust was a bit browned I added my refried beans, some of the blender sauce, the chicken and some mozzarella cheese.  Then it was back in the oven to melt the cheese and we ended up with this.

I added some shredded lettuce on top.  We could have added additional tomatoes, olives, sour cream, etc.  But it really didn't need it.

Since there was plenty of chicken, beans and sauce, I used the extra to make pizza pockets for easy lunches.

Fat Free Refried Beans in the Crock Pot

When I first saw this recipes for fat free refried beans I was skeptical because there was no presoaking nor boiling.  You just throw the dry beans in the crock pot with the seasonings.  I was worried that the beans would be crunchy (which I can't stand), but I was pleasantly surprised.

Here is what I put in my crockpot:

2 lbs dry pinto beans

1 small onion rough chopped

2 T. minced garlic

3 T. cumin

1/2 T. oregano

sprinkle of chipotle pepper

4 t. salt 

12 c. water

 Cook on high for 6 hours.  Remove 3 c. liquid and mash.  I didn't have a potato masher so I used my immersion blender.  It worked well.

The only real problem with this recipe is that it makes a TON!  So I am freezing some to make this soup.  Any other ideas for what I can do with refried beans?

Food Storage Six Bean Salad

It probably won't surprise you to know that I have been craving salad.  Without the purchase of fresh fruits and vegetables, anything green sounds delicious.  I found this Bean Salad recipe over at--you guessed it--Allrecipes.com.  Here is what I threw in a reusable storage container:

1 can green beans, drained
1 can great northern beans, drained
1 can garbanzo beans, drained
1 can black beans, drained
1 can kidney beans, drained
Approx. 1/4 c. frozen green bell pepper (it was all I had)
1/4 c. dehydrated onion
1/4 c. dehydrated celery
1/2 c. water
1/2 c. salad oil
1/2 c. white vinegar
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper

I made this yesterday.  It says to refrigerate for 8 hours, so I waited until today to try it.  I have say, it really hit the spot.

Tomato Powder in place of Tomato Paste

One of the nice things about this experiment is that I have had the chance to use a lot of powdered products.  We are especially lucky because Bryce's parents have gifted us these so we didn't have to spend the money on them.  As I use them, I am trying to figure out if they are something I would like to keep as part of my long term storage. 

The Tomato Powder is something I am still trying to figure out.  I have to say that I was not really impressed with the tomato sauce it made.  My next attempt was to use it as a substitute for tomato paste.  This was much more successful.

I made a bean skillet meal that I have made before, only I substituted dried onions and tomato powder.

1/2 c. dehydrated onions, reconstituted in water with water reserved
3-4 cloves garlic
1 T. tomato powder
1 t. cumin
1/4 t. salt
3 cans black beans, drained
1 can corn

I sauted the onions and garlic and then added the tomato powder, cumin and salt.  Once incorporated I added the beans and corn.  Then I used the onion water to keep things moist.  It tasted pretty much the same as when I have made it with tomato paste.

I used the last of my tortillas with brown rice to make some burritos for Bryce's lunches.  Those went into the freezer for later use.

I also had a bowl myself with some cheese on top.  That's real cheese, my friends, and I don't have much left. This recipe makes a ton.  Even after 9 burritos and a bowl for myself, I froze a quart sized freezer bag more.

What We Ate for Dinner: Beans

Thanks to my friend Chef Tess, I was able to make a meatless meal that was delicious: Polynesian Style Sweet and Sour White Beans.  The only changes I made: I used 3 cans of great northern beans, I used frozen green bell pepper and some red bell pepper left over from a salad, I used 1/4 cup jalapeño jelly (thanks, Jill) and 1/4 c. peach jam and I used 1/2 can pineapple chunks (Kimball had the other half for a snack).  Oh, and I didn't have any fresh cilantro or cabbage for the top.  Shocker.  Instead I found a can of chow mein noodles in my mom's basement.  I helped myself.  Bryce liked the added crunch.

I include one of Chef Tess's pictures because her's are prettier than mine.

What We Ate for Dinner: Dehydrated Vegetables

I got this great casserole book from the library a while ago.  It has a recipe that I have been dying to try called "White Bean Casserole with Herbs and Pork Sausage."  I even bought the jar of roasted red peppers it called for.  But I was waiting to make it.  What was I waiting for?  The price of celery to drop.  Lame I know.

So, with our new food storage experiment, I set out to make the recipe with dehydrated veggies.  Thanks to Bryce's grandma, we have carrots and celery.  The onions we already had.

I soaked 1/4 c. celery, 1/2 c. carrots, and 1/4 c. onion in water for most of the day.  Here is the rest of the preparation:

1.  Brown 1 lb. of Italian sausage (I only had about 3/4 lb. and it's my last.), then drain on a paper towel.
2.  In same pan saute drained veggies (but save broth).
3.  Add, 1 jar roasted red bell pepper, diced; 2-3 T. dried parsley; 1/4 t. dried rosemary, crushed; 1/4 t. dried thyme; 1 c. of remaining broth; 1 t. chicken bullion; 1 1/2 t. salt; pepper to taste.
4.  Drain and rinse 2 cans of great northern beans.  Pour into greased casserole dish.  Smash some of the beans.
5.  Stir in sausage and veggie mixture.
6.  Top with 3/4 c. bread crumbs and 1/4 c. Parmesan cheese.  Drizzle with olive oil.
7.  Bake 40 minutes at 400.

I am sure that this would have been a much different dish with fresh veggies, but I loved it.  It has so much flavor.  Kimball even declared, "Yummy beans!"  But Bryce was less impressed.  Oh well, Kimball and I don't have to share the leftovers.

Self Reliance Experiment: More Recipes

Yesterday was a day of trying new recipes.  I have been looking for a chance to make this bread recipe, which has beans in it.  It turned out delicious!  Bryce said he liked it more than the whole wheat bread I make (which is saying a lot).  I used half white flour and half wheat flour with the bean puree.  I didn't bother grinding any beans for bean flour because my grinder is in storage, but I just may try that some day.

We also had a carrot soup for dinner, which probably would have been better if I had stuck to the recipe.  I made it in the crock pot and about half way through the day I thought it tasted bland so I spiced it up by adding Derek's jalapeño elk salami.  And spice it up it did!  Good thing we had some sour cream to cool it off.  It turned out ok, but I won't be jumping on that recipe again.  Especially since I am almost out of carrots. (I wonder if you could make a whole soup out of dehydrated carrots . . . )

Today we are having a pantry staple: taco soup.  Here is what I threw in the crock pot this morning:

1 onion and 2 cloves garlic cooked until softened
1 lb. elk (You can use beef) browned
1 can black beans, drained
1 can great northern beans, drained
1 can corn, drained
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can (15 oz) can tomato sauce
1 can diced green chilies
2 cans beef broth (omit these and it will be thicker like a chili)
2 Tb. Emeril's Essence (You can use one pkg of taco seasoning.  I just happened to have some Essence to use up and I have to say, it's quite delicious.)

Heat in the crock pot on low all day.  Top with shredded cheese, sour cream, sliced black olives, Fritos, etc.

I am sure all of this will get more interesting when I start running out of things.