Breakfast Burritos is the Way We Go.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It gets your metabolism rolling. To be honest, I went many years rarely, if ever, eating breakfast. I love breakfast foods- pretty much all of them but, used to, I would get up, drink a coke and smoke a cigarette and begin my day. But, (sometimes sadly) those days are over. These days, I eat breakfast every morning and I try to eat a protein and fiber heavy one at that.

One of my favorite genres of food is Mexican. Enter the Breakfast Burrito! They show up in our breakfast rotation fairly regularly. Normally, we make them and eat them. But then, I saw a couple pins on Pinterest where cooks were making a big batch and freezing them. Awesome! When it is just me in the morning, I like easy breakfasts- when Bub is at home, we usually make a big breakfast. And then, also, I try to keep things on hand for him when he had to be at work at ungodly hours. So, freezing breakfast burritos have turned out to be just the ticket. 

The way I was taught to cook breakfast burritos, eggs are the base and then you can add whatever you want to make them tasty to you. You can use anything- mushrooms, spinach, hot peppers, tomatoes, and number of herbs- you can even use leftovers. This is what I put in these burritos:

• 6 eggs plus 1 cup egg whites
• 1 pound of sausage
• 1/2 red onion
• 1/2 green bell pepper
• 1 bag of hash browns (shredded)
• Cheese!
• flour tortillas, fajita size

First, brown your sausage and cook your hash browns separately and then combine them.

And while this is cooking, saute the onion and bell pepper.

And while everything is cooking combine your eggs and egg whites.

Pour the onion and bell pepper in with the sausage and hash browns and then pour the eggs over the whole of it and scramble it all together until the eggs are cooked and put the cooked mixture into a mixing bowl.

*It was at this point that I realized that I had forgotten about cheese- better late than never- so, I covered the  heaping mound of burrito innards with cheese

and mixed it.

Now, it's time to roll 'em up!

I like phattys, so I put about a cup of the mixture on the tortilla and folded in the sides:

and rolled it forward:

and BAM! you've got a breakfast burrito! Garnish with Salsa and Sour Cream and call it a day!

Admittedly, I did stop at this point in the process and have one. It was great- I really hoped that the tastiness would survive the freezer. It does but, I get ahead of myself. I wrapped them individually in saran wrap and then put them in a Zip Loc bag with the warming instructions written on them: 45 seconds in the microwave then flip it over and 30 seconds more in the microwave. 

They do survive the freezer well. I told Bub, these would probably be a part of our lives forever- I can just see these being a God-send when Baby Bub starts school. Yeah, he's not even 6 months old and I'm planning school-day breakfasts. Bub, likes these- he says they stick to your bones. 

Here's the recipe:

• 6 eggs plus 1 cup egg whites
• 1 pound of sausage
• 1/2 red onion
• 1/2 green bell pepper
• 1 bag of hash browns (shredded)
• Cheese!
• flour tortillas, fajita size

Brown and drain the sausage. Cook the hash browns. Saute the onion and bell pepper. Combine eggs and egg whites. Add everything together and scramble until eggs are cooked. Remove from heat and add cheese. Roll this mixture in the tortillas. Wrap individually and freeze.

Soups On- Southwestern Beef Style!

Baby, it's cold outside! And when it's cold outside, it's the perfect time to make soup. Living on the Gulf Coast, I have to take advantage of what cold weather we have to make cold weather fare. Seeing the weather report last week calling for lows in the 30s got me thinking about soup- I love soup. I love my Moma's soups in particular. This is my Moma's recipe for Southwesten Beef Soup and I have had it many times but this is the first time I have made it. It is super easy and super delish! (It is in her cookbook).

You begin by collecting all your ingredients.

• 2 pounds of ground beef (I use 93/7- trim the fat where ever you can- you do not miss it in this recipe)
• 1 packet of ranch dressing mix
• 2 (29oz) cans of diced tomatoes
• 1 (16 oz) can black beans (I didn't rinse nor did I drain)
• 1 small onion chopped
• 1 packet of taco seasoning (I make my own)
• 1 (16 oz) can of whole kernel corn (I used fresh frozen from my freezer)
• 1 (4oz) can of green chilies
• 1 (16 oz) can beef broth

After you have gotten everything together, you need to brown your ground beef and then drain it. I usually brown it on medium to medium-high heat. (My Moma sometimes uses chicken instead of beef and it is equally as tasty.)

And while you meat is browning, go ahead and open all those cans and empty them into your soup pot.

Chop your onion and I had to cut the corn off the cob.

I kept my eyes on the meat and by the time I got all the other ingredients opened, chopped and off the cob, it was ready.

 What is that in that little tin-foil lined bowl you ask. It is a little trick I use to deal with grease. The grease cannot be poured down the drain or out in the yard, so- I put it in a tin-foil lined bowl and let it cool and when it is cooled and solidified, I pull the tin-foil with the grease out of the bowl and throw it away in the trash- grease conundrum solved.

Add the beef to the soup pot and let it all come to a boil and then turn it down and let it simmer for an hour and call it a day.

It's ready! And oh so good. I have it on first hand knowledge that it is delightful with cornbread... or saltines... or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich... or a grilled cheese... or anything else you can think of! This soup is very user-friendly and very hard to mess up. Supper was great tonight and I am so looking forward to lunch tomorrow and the day after!