3 Cook-Ahead Tortilla Meals

What's Schoolin'?

I simply cannot keep my olders from doing school, lol!  Even on the weekends!  So, in the context of Montessori, I really don't actually try to keep them from school - I'm simply amazed and give them those choices.  Both are eager to work on Math (one finishing Geometry and another starting Geometry).  Not because they love Math so much that they can't stay away; but rather, they are motivated to just plain finish it. :)

They are also feverishly trying to finish Chemistry so we can do Physics so we can do the 4-H Vet Tech program, which is what they really want to do.

The Vet Tech materials can be found here:
https://agrilifebookstore.org/publications_search.cfm

What's Cookin'?

I made 3 different meals one afternoon based on tortillas that I thought I would share.  Since we are showing the house and can't do complicated cooking in case someone comes on short notice, I've been trying to cook make-ahead meals on Sundays when we are relatively safe from showings.

It all started because I wanted to make taquitos to have handy in the freezer for a quick lunch.  However, the blue corn tortillas (organic, treated with lime) I was using starting falling apart when I heated them in butter in a pan like I normally heat tortillas when I want to roll them.  So... I did the next best thing and layered them with the taquito ingredients.

Taquito Casserole:

1. Lightly grease the bottom of the baking dish (or spread a little salsa on the bottom).

2. Layer the tortillas in a single layer.

3.  Spread out your taquito filling.  Mine was rice, chicken, and some cooked squash from the garden.

4.  Realize that you have no salsa (not necessary for the actual taquitos) and that it might be a little dry, so... squeeze a little organic ketchup over it all.  If you have salsa, even better!

5. Sprinkle a layer of grated cheese.  [I had some Tillamook cheddar cheese that was buy 1 get 1 free at Albertsons.]

6. Repeat with the tortillas, taquito filling, and cheese.  I also sprinkled a bit of pre-cooked beef from the freezer on the top layer because I had been rather skimpy on the chicken.

7.  Cover with foil and freeze or bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

The layer of ketchup is a little weird.  Next time I will mix some salsa (or even ketchup) in with the filling.  The kids loved it.

 

Taquitos:

Ingredients:

~ 1 Pack of organic, lime-treated corn tortillas.  Organic, sprouted would also be a good choice.  I like Buenatural brand from Azure Standard.  Otherwise, I use Food for Life sprouted corn tortillas.  I make my own flour tortillas but can never get my corn ones to come out well.  I'm hoping to try some Salvadorean style ones but that would be another post!

~ Filling of your choice.  What works best for me is mainly rice with meat and veggies depending on availability.  This time we used white rice (no time/space for soaking brown rice), precooked chicken, and sautéed veggies from our garden.  I usually mix in some shredded cheese at the end.  Sharp cheddar adds good flavor with less cheese if you are stretching your budget as I am.  This is not a soupy filling.  You want your filling to stay inside and the end product is crisp and crunchy.

Directions:

1. I like to heat the corn tortillas in a little butter on each side to help them be pliable.

2. Put about a tablespoon of filling across the center and roll it up.

3. Place it seam down in a lightly greased/oiled baking dish.  Repeat.  If you leave a little space between each taquito they will crisp up better.

4. Bake at 350F for about 20-30 minutes or until crispy but not burned :).

5. Cool and freeze. [Or eat right away!]

6. To reheat:  I take as many as needed straight from the freezer, pop them in the oven, and bake for about 20 minutes at 350F.  This doesn't give them time to get soggy.  I don't know if they would, but do it this way just in case.  My children like them served with organic ketchup or sour cream.  Wait, that would be me... they like them plain.

The cooked taquitos are in the pan on the left:

Breakfast Burritos:

Ingredients:

~  1 package of sprouted grain tortillas.  We like Food For Life Sprouted Grain Tortillas You could also use flour tortillas.  We used the burrito size but taco size would work great also.

~  1 dozen eggs, scrambled to taste.  This would be a great time to add some veggies if you want to sauté some onion, bell pepper, garden squash, whatever, before adding the egg to the pan.  YUM!

~  8 oz cheese block, shredded. [Note: You may want to make sure that it doesn't have the new 'mold inhibitor']

Directions:

1.  Cook the eggs.

2.  Quickly heat the tortillas in a little butter to help them be pliable.  Plus the butter adds a little extra yum.  Coconut oil would be good for this step as well.

3.  Let the eggs cool enough to handle so you don't get burned as you roll them.  Trust me on this one!

4.  Same as the taquitos, you put your egg filling in the center of the tortilla.  We were very generous with these.  Unlike the taquitos that are wrapped tightly, the burritos can manage with the ends overlapping as if the tortilla were folded into thirds.  So, it can handle a larger filling.  Make sense??

5.  Sprinkle shredded cheese and wrap it.

6.  Eat immediately or freeze for later.  I made these to freeze.  I'm not a fan of aluminum at all but I needed these to be able to go from the freezer to the oven to the car for on-the-road breakfast so I wrapped them in foil.  A healthier option would be to wrap them in parchment paper and then in a container in the freezer.

The breakfast burritos are in the packages on the right in the picture:

 



These recipes are part of Read Food Wednesday. and Fat Tuesday and Allergy Free Wednesdays .

Shopping through any affiliate link helps to support our homeschool.  Thanks!