Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Let's Talk Freezer Meals: Burritos

You're peeking into the freezer of my 25 year old refrigerator that I keep out in the garage.  My parents bought this old thing back when I was in high school.  It's old and it's loud, but it was made back in the day when companies still valued quality. My husband laughed at me when we moved this old fridge from Ohio to Kentucky.  He told me he'd buy me a pretty new fridge, but I wasn't having it.  That was ten years ago now.  My husband laughs about it now and says I was right about this old fridge.  It's outlasted two pretty-as-can-be stainless steel fridges.  We call it old reliable, put all the kids artwork on it, and cover it in magnets.  It's a little dose of the old days and we just love it.
I recently went through a refrigerator, freezer, and pantry purge getting rid of a few old lingering items and eating up the rest.  Now I'm on a mission to stock my freezer full of freezer ready meals. This is brand new territory for me.    
It's true that I do love to cook but,  I don't love to cook 24/7.  My family doesn't seem to understand this concept.  My kids like to eat 5-7 times a day and let's face it....no one likes to cook and clean up that much.  Here's where the freezer meals come in.  In this case I spent about 20-30 minutes putting together 8 breakfast burritos (I should have made more) that are really going to come in handy for the chaotic mornings we have on school days.  

You could stuff these tortillas with any filling (it doesn't have to be breakfast related).  The idea is to make them ahead, roll them up, wrap them in plastic wrap, and place them in a plastic ziploc bag or a tupperware container.  When you're ready to eat one you simply unwrap the plastic, wrap the burrito in a damp paper towel and reheat in the microwave until it's warmed through.  It's easy, virtually mess-free, and open to whatever fillings you like.

For these burritos I bought eight whole wheat flour tortillas and stuffed them with a mixture of one pound sauteed chorizo, 1/2 cup of bell pepper, 1 cubed and boiled potato, 7 scrambled eggs, 2 sliced green onions, a cup of cheddar cheese, and quite a bit of hot sauce.  I added a heaping 1/2 cup of the mixture to each burrito and folded it up.  Next time I think I'll try a bean, rice and cheese combination to have on hand for lunches, but really the ideas are virtually endless.  What combination would you try?
 Do you store freezer ready meals in your freezer?  If so, what are your favorites?  I'd love to know!

12 comments:

  1. it's so funny that you are doing this now because i JUST started making freezer meals too. if you go to my pinterest "food and drink" i've pinned a ton, and tried quite a few of them. the nice ones have been the crockpot meals that you dump in a gallon bag. and it really is SO nice during the school year when you just don't have it in you to make a big dinner.

    i love the burrito idea, i haven't done any freezer breakfasts, but it's a great idea. i love the fridge! we have a 20 year old freezer that will probably last the rest of our lives. they really did believe in quality back then.

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  2. I really need to start making freezer meals...there are more nights than I'd care to admit that I do not feel like cooking. Burritos are a great idea!

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  3. I used to always keep burritos in the freezer - I need to start again!!

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  4. This is such a great idea...we always have such a tussle going on about breakfast. Some people think they are too good for cold cereal. I'm totally doing this.

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  5. Julie...ha ha! My daughter thinks she's too good for cold cereal too. Drives me crazy!

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  6. All right, Kim. You've done it. I have said for a long time that I'm going to try freezer breakfast burritos. Since we're having leftovers for dinner tonight, which means no fuss, tonight I'm making a batch of burritos for lunch tomorrow and the rest will go in the freezer. I think maybe I am too good for cold cereal ;-)

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  7. This is a really good idea! I love to have a breakfast burrito before work but rarely have enough time to make one. I wind up settling for frozen oatmeal or waffles. I'm trying this asap.

    My food blog: http://eatinandcookin.blogspot.com/

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  8. It is amazing that they used to make stuff that didn't break at the drop of a hat. They used to make things last. I really wonder why they gave that up. I guess it all comes down to money.

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  9. Great tips, Kim! I want a full sized extra freezer fridge in our garage. We only have an extra dormer fridge.

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  10. I never really thought about making burritos in advance and storing them in the freezer, but I think I will now! I like to freeze tofu (it helps with the texture) and rice in the freezer for quick reheating. The frozen rice is a lifesaver when you don't have 20-50 mins to cook up rice. I also freeze peeled bananas for smoothies, which helps them to not get old and gross on the counter, and makes it easy to whip up a quick breakfast.

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  11. One thing I hate is microwaving something frozen and then finding out that in the middle it just isn't warm enough :( How long did you microwave these burritos for? This is a great idea. Keep up with the freezer meals!

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