{"id":229,"date":"2014-10-24T07:00:03","date_gmt":"2014-10-24T07:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/betondinner.com\/?p=229"},"modified":"2018-03-23T19:39:53","modified_gmt":"2018-03-23T19:39:53","slug":"cheesy-bean-burritos-stocking-the-freezer-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/betondinner.com\/cheesy-bean-burritos-stocking-the-freezer-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Cheesy Bean Burritos (Stocking the Freezer #1)."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"bean<\/a><\/p>\n

Look! It\u2019s a dinner that doesn\u2019t involve potatoes!<\/em><\/p>\n

I love to cook. And by that I mean I love to make and eat delicious food. But I don\u2019t necessarily love the process of making dinner every night – because, the budget. The unpredictable pickiness of children. The dishes. The juggling of schedules and activities. And – every night<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Enter: meal planning and make-ahead meals! I have a few basic strategies to make dinner easier:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Plan 5 days at a time.<\/strong> I used to plan and shop for a full week, but doesn’t something always come up to throw off the plan?\u00a0Last week it was the best possible something – a friend offered to babysit so Jay and I could go on a date! I was thrilled to bump our planned dinner to the next night. Plus, we can\u2019t seem to go more than 5 days without a grocery store trip, so this works for us.<\/li>\n
  2. Strategic use of leftovers…<\/strong>\u00a0If Jay has the grill going, I love to throw something else on for another night, like chicken for a big salad or to top a pizza.\u00a0Last week I roasted pork tenderloin<\/a>, and we used the leftover meat in stir-fry.<\/li>\n
  3. …and the freezer.\u00a0<\/strong>If I make a big pot of soup or spaghetti sauce<\/a>, I freeze enough for a future meal right away,\u00a0<\/em>so we don\u2019t get burned out trying to finish leftovers (and end up throwing away the last bowl that migrated to the back of the fridge). Making a double batch or just freezing enough for one future meal works better for me\u00a0than prepping a ton of freezer meals at once. And being able to quickly thaw a meal definitely saves us money on nights when I Cannot Face Cooking.<\/li>\n
  4. Schedule at least one freezer meal a week.<\/strong>\u00a0I might be a little bit of a freezer meal hoarder, so I have to actually plan to use them.\u00a0This way, I have a constant cycle of things going in and coming out of the freezer, and if our plans change I can save the freezer meal and still use up our fresh ingredients before things go bad.\u00a0I keep\u00a0a magnetic pad of paper on the fridge with a list of what\u2019s in the freezer so things don’t get lost and I can quickly reference it when I\u2019m planning meals.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \"Untitled\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    Plus, this girl asks hundreds of questions a day, but most frequently: \u201cWill you play with me, Mommy?\u201d And it\u2019s good to able to cook in her kitchen instead of mine!<\/em><\/p>\n

    So: bean burritos for dinner, and bean burritos in the freezer! This recipe is from a blog I enjoy – Mel\u2019s Kitchen Cafe<\/a>. Since we tried them about two years ago, I\u2019ve almost always had a bag of these burritos\u00a0in the freezer!
    \n    \"Untitled\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    Chop up an onion, jalape\u00f1os, and garlic. You might as well buy an avocado and a lime, too, and save some of your veggies for guacamole at dinnertime!<\/p>\n

    \"Untitled\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    The onions and peppers and cumin smell so good as they start cooking! The first can of beans get mashed, and the second can is left whole for texture. Brown rice and corn make these burritos so hearty and filling, and the green onions added at the end are fresh and crunchy.<\/p>\n

    \"Untitled\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    \"Untitled\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    \"Untitled\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    \"Untitled\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    And of course – cheese! I like to use whole wheat tortillas, and mine always overflow\/explode, but I’m also oddly disappointed if they don’t, like I\u00a0could<\/em> have gotten more filling in there….<\/p>\n

    \"Untitled\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    Jay says he could eat these every day. (He’s the opposite of a freezer meal hoarder. We’re good for each other.)<\/p>\nPrint<\/a>

    \n