Homemade Freezer Breakfast Burritos

Since I’ve been working toward a healthy lifestyle, I’ve been eating a lot of frozen breakfast sandwiches or wraps for breakfast (although I’m not doing Weight Watchers, I really like their Smart Ones frozen breakfast options). However, those meals aren’t the cheapest breakfast option, and the variety of the sandwiches or wraps are limited. I had seen several recipes (methods) for making homemade freezer breakfast burritos on Pinterest, so I decided to give it a whirl. I used this method as a starting point, but made it my own. My goal was to make these breakfast burritos low calorie – mine ended up being about 190 calories per burrito.  Calories will vary based on filling choices as well as the tortillas used. Oh, and these burritos cost about $0.44 per burrito, not bad!

Ingredients (will vary based on desired fillings):

12 large eggs

20 tortillas (depending on tortilla size you may need more or less)

20 tablespoons of shredded cheese (I used mozzarella). Note – the burritos I made are not very cheesy. I’m not that big on cheese, plus I was trying to keep the calories down.

1 package turkey sausage (or other breakfast meat)

1 bell pepper

1 onion

Start by chopping the onion and bell pepper. Cook the sausage, onion and bell pepper (I cooked this in the pan after removing the sausage), and scramble the eggs. The onion and bell pepper add a nice bit of freshness to the burritos. I think next time I might add some jalapeño for a little extra kick.

Once everything is cooked, it is time to assemble the burritos. I started by adding the cheese, then adding the onion and bell pepper, sausage, and finally eggs. I would then do a slight “mix” of the fillings before wrapping the burritos up (I didn’t do this, and I wish I had).

Fold the burritos up and place seam side down in a dish that you can transfer to the freezer. Place the pan(s) of burritos in the freezer for one hour. After one hour, remove, and individually wrap each burrito in plastic wrap or press n’ seal wrap. Store the burritos in a freezer bag or container.

Although heating times will vary, I reheat my burritos by unwrapping from the plastic wrap, wrapping in a paper towel, and heating for approximately 2 1/2 minutes at 50% power in the microwave.

Menu Planning Monday

(Quesadilla made with leftover grilled sirloin steak. Yum!)

This week is going to be a little light on meals because we’ve got leftovers, and we have something going on at the end of the week so I won’t be cooking as much this week.

• Leftover BBQ (from one of our favorite local places) with homemade black-eyed peas. This recipe was great, and it made a ton. I plan to use these black-eyed peas for two meals this week, and freeze the remaining batch for the future. I’ve never frozen black-eyed peas before, but I figure it is worth a shot!
• Sausage, cornbread, and black-eyed peas.
• Chicken with Pioneer Woman’s pasta in a tomato cream sauce. (Can you tell I like to try out PW’s recipes?) I’m going to try a goat’s milk thing instead of the heavy cream, as well as omit the butter, so that Ella can eat the pasta (she’s allergic to milk).
• Grilled chicken with couscous and steamed broccoli.  I love these Ziplock steam bags for steaming veggies. So easy to use!

Last week we also ate leftover lasagna from this lasagna I made. It made SO much . . . we ate it for dinner and for lunch leftovers, and that was only HALF of the entire lasagna. I froze the remaining half, and reheated it at 350 degrees for about an hour. It was nice to already have it prepared and ready to pop in the oven!

Did you plan your meals? Link 'em up!

Menu Planning Monday

Ah, it felt so good to cook at home so many meals last week! Adjusting to life with two kids under two years old  made it hard to cook at home sometimes. It still isn't easy, but I'm figuring ways out, and I realized how much I really do miss cooking at home. With that said, here's what I'm thinking for this week:

• Chicken and sausage jambalaya.
• PW's Beef with snowpeas.
• Bacon and parmesan pasta from PW's Tasty Kitchen with a salad.
• Paula Deen's Hurry Up Chicken Pot Pie.
• Beef Fajita Quesadillas with guacamole.

Our Thanksgiving Meal

I've certainly always enjoyed eating our Thanksgiving meal, but as I've gotten older I've found that I also greatly enjoying preparing the meal as well. This year we have the privilege of hosting Thanksgiving at our home, so I'm busy preparing the menu, making sure to include everyone's favorites. Here's our typical Thanksgiving menu:

• Turkey
• Ham
• Cornbread dressing - my favorite dish of the meal!
• Mashed potatoes. I'm thinking I might try Pioneer Woman's recipe and make them a day ahead of time.
• Sweet potatoes. I use this Tyler Florence recipe, minus the bananas and I substitute marshmallows for the crumb topping.
• Crescent rolls
• Fruit salad
• Green Beans
• Corn
• Gravy
• Cranberry sauce
• Dessert
• Our desserts vary from year to year. I think I might try this pumpkin cheesecake recipe this year.

What will your Thanksgiving meal include?

On a side note, please continue to bare with me as I'm changing the look of my blog a bit. It still isn't looking quite like I want it to look yet!

A few random things on Friday

I'm so thankful it is Friday! I'm ready for a (hopefully) relaxing weekend. It is the first time in a while that I feel like I have the time to relax (at least a little bit). Things will be in full swing again on Monday though, so I need to enjoy it while I can!

I promise to get back to blogging more regularly. October was, uh, a little crazy in our house as we were (and, honestly, still are) getting the hang of having two kids who are both in diapers! Life with two under two is great, but also very tiring especially when one of them doesn't sleep through the night! I'm thankful that I'm having an uneventful weekend so that I can catch up on some blogging. I've got lots of things on my mind to write about, but I just haven't had the time to sit down and type them out. Also, if you notice things out of place on the blog, please excuse the mess. I'm getting an itch to do some revamping of my blog, and I'll probably play with the design some if I find time this weekend.

I'm loving the weather we are having this week! Fall feels like it is really in the air, and we are entering my absolute favorite time of the year - the time of year between Halloween and Christmas! I absolutely love fall, and Thanksgiving and Christmas are my absolute two favorite holidays. I love spending the time with family and friends! We're hosting Thanksgiving at our house this year, and I'm already thinking about what will be on our menu. What are your favorite Thanksgiving dishes? My absolute favorite is homemade cornbread dressing . . . yum! And to think now that when I was a kid I used to tell my mom that I didn't like dressing - I was crazy!

Speaking of food, I've tried a couple of recipes recently from one of my new favorite food blogs, Annie's Eats. I made the Rigatoni de Gregorio (minus the wine and mushrooms) and the Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins.  The pasta dish was super easy and yummy! The muffins were pretty labor intensive to make, but they were also very tasty. Did I mention that another reason I love this time of year is all the pumpkin dishes?

If you are stopping by from New Friend Fridays, thanks for visiting!

Weekly Menu on Monday: August 2nd

Ah, after a few weeks missing my weekly menu posting, I've finally planned a weekly menu again this week (although abbreviated since we have some things going on where I won't be cooking dinner):

1. Migas and Fajitas. Migas are a wonderful scrambled egg mixture generally containing tortilla strips, onions, jalapeños (or Serrano peppers), tomatoes, and sometimes topped with cheese. They are one of my absolute favorite Mexican breakfast (or lunch or dinner!) items. You can eat them alone, inside a tortilla, or even with some fajita meat inside a tortilla. Yum! Another plus side is that this meal is low carb for my gestational diabetes diet- the only carbs come from the tortilla strips in the eggs and the tortillas (if you choose to eat with tortillas).
2. Slow-cooker roast. What is your favorite way to prepare roast? I've tried lots of different ways, but haven't found a favorite yet.
3. Shrimp scampi. I've never made shrimp scampi, but I saw this recipe on one of my new favorite food blogs (Annie's Eats), and thought it looked so simple and yummy!

What are some of your favorite food blogs?? I love new places to seek out recipes!

For more weekly menus, click here!

Gestational Diabetes

You might have noticed that my weekly menu postings have been missing the past couple of weeks. A major reason for this is that I have been diagnosed with gestational diabetes, a type of diabetes that occurs in approximately 5% of pregnancies. There are many degrees of gestational diabetes, but the type I have is generally controlled through diet and exercise. The diet part is why my weekly menu postings have disappeared . . .it is a lot harder to meal plan on the gestational diabetes diet, and I haven't been able to sit down and plan a week's worth of menus at one time (although in the upcoming weeks I will be planning my weekly menus).

I had gestational diabetes with Ella, so I was not surprised to be diagnosed again this pregnancy (women who have it in previous pregnancies have an increased risk to have it in subsequent pregnancies). And, while gestational diabetes is not something to be taken lightly, I'm not too worried about it. If gestational diabetes is properly managed, it is unlikely that me or the baby will have any complications. The big problems with gestational diabetes usually arise when it is uncontrolled. I test my blood sugar at least twice a day (and usually test 3-4 times) to make sure that my fasting number (my blood sugar level when I wake up) and my after meal numbers are being properly controlled through diet and exercise (although I haven't been good at the exercise part yet . . .). In almost all pregnancies gestational diabetes goes away immediately after delivering the baby.

So, what type of diet do I have to follow with gestational diabetes? Different dietitians will recommend slightly different versions of this diet, but generally it is a high protein, low carbohydrate diet where you eat every few hours (rather than just three big meals during the day). The plan specifically lists how many carbs I'm allotted at each meal or snack because carbohydrates (starches and sugars) are what affects blood glucose levels.

Breakfast: 30g of carbohydrates

Mid-morning snack: 15-30g of carbohydrates

Lunch: 45g of carbohydrates

Mid-afternoon snack: 15-30g of carbohydrates

Dinner: 45g of carbohydrates

Evening snack: 15-30g of carbohydrates

Now, 30g or 45g of carbs might sound like a lot of carbs - but it isn't, at  least not to me. Consider that it is almost impossible to eat a serving size of cereal for less than 30g of carbs (and that is without milk). Or, that one cup of cooked pasta (depending on the pasta) has more than 30g of carbs, and that doesn't count the carbs that would be in a tomato or cream sauce.

Although the diet is strict, and certainly isn't fun to follow, it isn't the end of the world. And, I think there is a bright side this time around . . . I don't have to go through the holidays on the diet! When I was pregnant with Ella, I was diagnosed right before Thanksgiving and I had to follow the diet through Thanksgiving and Christmas. Can you imagine a Thanksgiving meal where you have to count carbs?? :)

Weekly Menu on Monday: July 12

I know it has been a couple of weeks since I've posted a weekly menu, but that is because we've been busy running here and there (away from home), and thus, I had no need to post a weekly menu for myself. Here's this week's menu:

1. Grilled flatiron steaks with summer corn fettuccine. The recipes from this Rachael Ray episode look so yummy! I can't wait to try them.
2. Crockpot Broccoli Beef. I've never tried this before either, but it looks very easy and yummy! Would be perfect for Wednesday night's meal when I'm always rushed.
3. Grilled chicken with pasta with jalapeño pesto. I make a variation on the link I posted - I use pine nuts instead of walnuts, all spinach (no arugula), plus more jalapeño than the recipe calls for.
4. Baked chicken (probably bone-in so it will good and juicy) with sautéed green bean (with pine nuts - so yummy!) and couscous.
5. Grilled chicken salad.

To check out other weekly menus, click here!

Weekly Menu on Monday: June 21st

Here's this week's menu:

1. Hobo dinners - If you've never had a hobo dinner, or don't know what I'm talking about, let me introduce you to a super easy meal! In a foil packet (one per person), form a hamburger-like patty of ground beef (or you could use ground turkey). Season the meat (both sides!) with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, seasoned salt, etc. (whatever flavors you want really, but be sure to salt and pepper the patty if you don't add any other seasonings). On top of the patty, layer potato slices, onion slices, and carrot slices (or any other veggies you'd like - these are my favorites to use). Be sure to season all the veggies as you did with the meat. Once you've got all your veggies in the packet, seal the packet up, and cook in a 350° oven until the meat is cooked to your liking. These are a great camping/cookout meal - just throw them in the fire or on the grill. Hobo dinners are also a great way to get the kids involved - they can create their own packets.
2. Red fish with cajun rice and a green vegetable
3. Slow-cooker chicken tacos with mexican rice and charro beans
4. Breakfast for dinner - Eggs, turkey bacon, and french toast
5. Grilled steak, roasted corn-on-the-cob, and a green vegetable

For previous menus, click HERE!

Weekly Menu on Monday: June 14th

Last week, I made my first attempt at completing a weekly menu (and sticking with it when it actually came time to make dinner!). I must say, I'm pretty proud of my first attempt. I made three of the dishes on my list. Now, only completing three meals doesn't sound like a big accomplishment, but last week was an odd week (we were out of town a couple of days, and had company in) so I didn't cook at home as much as I would like to in a normal week. So, now for this week's menu - two of the meals are repeats from last week because I still have everything I need to make those meals!

1. Chicken Pasta Bake with a green vegetable
2. "Quick" Lasagna with a green vegetable
3. Pioneeer Woman's Crispy Yogurt Chicken with a green vegetable and potatoes- This recipe is SO good and easy! I usually just use chicken breasts instead of bone-in chicken.
4. Ginger Garlic Pork with Sizzling Rice - This is a Guy Fieri recipe that I haven't tried yet, but looks delicious.
5. Quesadillas with chips and homemade guacamole - I'm not sure what meat I'll use in my quesadillas yet (depends on what I can find at a good price at the store), but it will likely be chicken, beef skirt steak, or ground beef (cooked like taco meat). I'll also include sauteed onions and green peppers in my quesadillas.

Weekly Menu on Monday er Wednesday

In an effort to be more organized and better prepared, I'm going to start trying to plan my weekly dinner menu on Mondays (We had some company the past couple of days, so I'm a little late this week, but I haven't had to cook at home yet!).

I will start this out by saying that I like flexibility and variety when it comes to dinner, and I doubt I'll ever be one of those folks that plans out exactly what we will be eating for dinner on every particular night of the week. Rather, I'm going to plan out 5-7 meals per week, and then make whatever sounds good each night! :) I'm planning on trying out lots of new recipes, so I'll have to report back on how they turn out.

1. Chicken Enchiladas (casserole)
• Layer corn tortillas, green chile enchilada sauce, cooked chicken, and Mexican shredded cheese twice. Top with an additional layer of corn tortillas, sauce, and cheese. Bake at 350° for about 30 minutes or until cheese is melted. Serve with tortilla chips. Super easy!
2. Chicken Pasta Bake with a green vegetable (either salad, green beans, or broccoli) - I'm not sure where this recipe came from so I can't give credit. I've never tried this recipe, but it looks good. I'll be substituting an Italian shredded cheese mix for the Monterey Jack cheese.
• 8 oz cooked bow tie pasta; 1 small onion, chopped; 1 Tbsp. butter; 2 eggs; 1-1/4 cups milk; 1 tsp. dried Italian seasoning, 1/4-1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper; 2 cups cooked chicken; 2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese; 1/4 grated Parmesan cheese; 1/2 cup bread crumbs; 1/2 tsp. paprika, 1 Tbsp. butter.
• Preheat oven to 350°. In a medium skillet cook onion in butter and garlic over medium heat until tender. Remove from heat and set aside. In a bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, seasoning, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper. Stir in chicken Monterey Jack cheese, half of the grated Parmesan, cooked pasta, and onion. Transfer mixture to a baking dish. Bake, covered, 20 minutes. In a small bowl, combine remaining Parmesan, bread crumbs, paprika, and melted butter. Sprinkle mixture over pasta. Bake, uncovered, 10 minutes more until golden.
3. Chicken and Sausage with cornbread and black-eyed peas
4. "Quick" Lasagna - This is a Rachael Ray recipe, but I tweak it some (for instance, I use whatever pasta I have on hand, use all beef stock instead of red wine, and eliminate the panchetta or use bacon instead). I also plan to use ground turkey instead of ground beef.
5. Grilled chicken, potatoes (not sure how I'll cook them yet), and fried yellow squash

We don't normally eat that much chicken every week (I like variety in the proteins we use) but we got a lot of chicken at the store, so we're eating more chicken this week. I plan to start stockpiling more on my meats, but because we've been out of town so much lately most of my supply has completely diminished.

On a side note, due to Ella's milk allergy, I often have to prepare her alternative dinners or pull parts of our dinner out before I add anything with milk in it.

Food Inventory List

One of the many things I plan to do this year is to keep an inventory of the items I have in my pantry, fridge, and freezer. This inventory will serve at least two main purposes: first, it will allow me to always know what I have on hand, and second, it will help me in my effort to stockpile.

Sadly, many times I don't have a good grasp on the groceries I have on hand. We have a decent sized pantry, but the pantry is difficult to see in, and items easily get lost in there. To top it off, I really haven't taken the time lately to properly organize it, so it is even harder to locate the items. Although I plan to complete a pantry reorganization during this inventory process, the inventory list will still be helpful because it is difficult to quickly assess what is in the pantry because of how it is built. I also have a difficult time easily assessing what is in my freezer, so the inventory list will certainly help keep up with what I have. It is easy to see everything in my fridge, but I'm still going to include those items on my inventory (although, I feel like it is less important to keep an inventory for these items because I replace them often since they usually don't last for a long time). Knowing what food I have available will not only be useful in meal planning, but also in preventing headaches when I start making something only to realize I'm missing a key ingredient!

The second purpose of my food inventory list is to use that information to help me stockpile. This purpose is really what prompted me to want to complete an inventory in the first place. What do I mean by stockpiling? When I talk about stockpiling, I'm talking about purchasing multiples of items I commonly use when they are at a low price, I have a coupon for them, or, ideally, they are at a low price AND I have a coupon for them. Before I really started paying attention to how I grocery shopped, I naively assumed that the prices on most items remained relatively the same from week to week. I was very wrong in my assumption. One week a box of cereal might be $4.00, and the next week it might be $2.50. Rather than buying a new box each week, if I buy multiple boxes the week the cereal is at the lower price, I save money in the end. My food inventory list will help me focus on the items that we use most often, and therefore identify those items that would be good targets for stockpiling. (I first read about stockpiling through Coupon Mom. Tons of great information on that site!)

I plan to keep my inventory list on the fridge, so that I can easily update it as I use or restock items. Once I get my inventory list together, I'll be sure to post it.