Breakfast Burritos

My dear husband leaves for work at 5:30 in the morning. He needs a pretty solid breakfast to start off a long day of cabinet building, moving and installing, but it's not easy to eat a big breakfast at 5:30 a.m.  So I've been buying frozen breakfast burritos at Trader Joe's and he pops one in the microwave when he gets to work. Now, those Trader Joe's burritos are pretty healthy, and pretty friendly to the pocket book, and unfortunately pretty dry.  So I've been meaning to make some from scratch and freeze a batch so he'd have something a little more yummy and a little more homey to start the day.  I tested out the success of freezing homemade breakfast burritos as follows: the last time the little ones did not finish theirs, I wrapped them in plastic wrap and popped them in the freezer in a ziplock bag.  A week or two later, wrapped in a paper towel and about a minute in the microwave, I was happy to find that they were still very tasty.  However, it took me another couple of months to finally set aside the time to make a big batch.

I fried up some potatoes in a little sunflower seed oil.

Added finely chopped garlic.

Salt and pepper.

Sausages (I did everything in one pan for ease of clean-up, and also because it's my favorite pan).

When these were all done, I took them out of the pan and scrambled some eggs with a little cheese, in a generous amount of melted butter.  Oh, how I love butter.

I made sure to only lightly cook them since they'll get microwaved later and hopefully won't toughen up in the process.

I toast the flour tortillas on the open flame (if that makes you uncomfortable, do it in a dry hot pan).

And assembled!

You can of course put in as little or as much as you like of each ingredient.  I wanted them to be pretty hardy.  Also, I cut them in half so if an entire burrito is too much to eat at once, the other half can stay frozen.

Aaron stole my phone and got a picture of the actual action.  They're all off in the freezer ready for a quick meal.  I think they are pretty yummy with a little salsa.  We usually use this one from Trader Joe's, unless my mom or sister stops by Lola's Market and picks up the really good stuff.  That never lasts long enough to make it to the fridge though.  

Now I'm hungry.  Off to scrounge something up before bed.

Visiting the Wood Duckling!

It's been more than a month since I've posted!  Ay yi yi.

Last week we (the little birds and I, with my sister) headed up north to spend a little time with the Wood Duckling.  Hoo boy has he grown, he's Mister Chubby Thighs now. 

 Chickadee could not get enough of him.  All she wanted to do was hold him...

...and kiss him...

... and point at him and talk about him.

Bluejay had a grand time as well, although I think his enjoyment was more tied to the riding lawnmower... 

... the apple trees, the blackberry bushes, the sheds and the little barn and his uncle's immense garage / woodshop area.  He gathered wood for the fireplace, and basically manned the house along with Uncle G.

I do love my brother and sister-in-law's new house.  I could let the kiddos run around inside or out and know that they were basically safe.  

The only dangers were the ones I'm comfortable with exposing them to (within reason), like honey bees, the occasional sharp piece of equipment within toddler reach, and splinters, that kind of thing.  

We made Dragon Bread while we were up there, a traditional Michaelmas activity in my family.  

It's basically a slightly sweet dough, with cardamom in it, that we make in the shape of a dragon, with the assistance of raisins for scales, claws, teeth, whatever the dragon needs for extreme scariness.

Then it goes in the oven and puffs up as it bakes and becomes cute instead of scary.

Finally it gets frosted with green frosting (one of my brothers always made a small amount of red to go on the small piece of flame shaped dough baked to a brown burnt crisp which he would then attach to his dragon's mouth), and slain with a sword-slash-bread knife.  We forgot the frosting ingredients this time.  The best part is always the slightly burnt puffy raisins.

On Monday and Tuesday, the Wood Duckling spent the morning with us, so that his mama could have a little bit of baby-free teaching time.  We brought him to her at her little school after his morning nap and just before he got really hungry.

At last, it was time to go home.  Bye-bye cousins!  We can't wait to see that little pudge-ball again soon.  He is just the sweetest, most mellow little baby.

Six Random Thoughts

1. God Bless the Garbage Men.  Every Monday is garbage day, and it is a wonderful blessing in this house.  Not because we have very much garbage.  We usually only half fill up our small size bin.  It's because the garbage men and the garbage trucks make Bluejay and Chickadee SO HAPPY.  Nothing can pull us out of a funk like the arrival of the garbage truck. Often we run outside to see the first one.  The garbage man waves, and toots his horn for us.  And there are THREE different trucks that come throughout the day, one for garbage, one for recycling and one for clean green, so we never miss them all. Monday is a great day, thanks to the garbage men.

2. Comfort food.  I tend to cook the same "types" of meals all the time.  I am most comfortable with pasta.  If we need to eat vegetables or are fasting, I make some sort of vegetable medley over pasta.  If we need protein, I make some sort of sausage or meat sauce over pasta.  Sometimes I vary it with vegetables or meat over rice or polenta.  I almost always make a salad.  Boy am I creative.  Anyway, my husband really likes traditional American comfort food.  (I've noticed that this kind of comfort food generally has a "cream" component, whether it's cream of mushroom soup or anything that starts out as a roux or just a nice dollop of cream, especially sour cream). Last night I wanted to make something he would really like, so I did chicken fried chicken, mashed potatoes and corn, with, of course, gravy.  And not even a salad in sight.  It was a big hit.  Aaron loved it. I loved it too.  But, I was sweating after all the boiling and frying (there were three pots boiling on the stove in addition to the frying pan full of hot oil, and the oven was on to keep the finished chicken pieces warm).  Also, there was a LOT of butter and oil that went into that meal.  And this is coming from someone who loves butter so much she puts it on her croissants.  So I need to find a nice balance between comfort food and clogged arteries.

3. Restraint.  There was a Friends marathon on TV the other night.  I only watched two episodes!  That is restraint, my friends.  Especially since we're getting rid of TV again this week (we signed up for cable to watch the Olympics).  Why do I love Friends so much?

4. Bacon in the oven! There probably shouldn't be multiple food related points in each post.  But seriously, bacon cooked in the oven? Is one of the best ideas ever.

5. Time away from the kids.  My husband has been trying to give me an evening away from the kids each week.  This is a new thing, and very much needed.  To reciprocate, I told him to stay home the other evening while I took the babes over to a friend's house for dinner.  He used his time away to pick up the house.  I could not possibly be more grateful.  Thank you thank you to my most favorite person.

6. A.S. Byatt.  I mentioned that I'd started a new book, in my last post.  It is Possession.  So far, it is VERY good.  Best book I've read in a long time.  I am a slow reader these days, so bear with me, but if it's decent through to the end, I'll be sure to let you know.  Oh, and it's a "romance" in the literary sense of the term.