Binders Full of Burritos

About four years ago I attended my first MOPs meeting. It was an awesome little twice a month date with other moms where the kids were off playing with enthusiastic caregivers while we moms spent some time commiserating with, but mostly encouraging, one another. The “valley of the diapers” can be exhausting. I loved MOPs. I miss it.

So at this one meeting, another mom brought some things she was looking to give away, including a huge “Mom binder.” People were fighting over this thing. If there was a comic-strip thought bubble above my head at this meeting, there would have definitely been a big question mark in it. To this day, I really couldn’t tell you what to do with such a binder. Any system of organization that goes beyond lists written on scraps of paper and crumpled napkins is really beyond my scope of expertise. And thank the Lord for Google Calendar (one of these days I’ll change the alerts so that I am notified about something in my calendar before 10 minutes before it is happening). I am not so much poking fun at this binder as demonstrating (and embracing) my Type B organizational “skills.”

When I got my Fall schedule, I almost had a panic attack. There will be several mornings a week where the 5 people that comprise Our Family will have to get to 5 different places. I have been trying to work out the kinks in my mind of how to make this happen, and I have come to the conclusion that I need a turbo-charged mom binder with teleportation capabilities that does light housekeeping and some cooking.

Just kidding. I need to freeze some quick breakfasts, that’s what I need to do. So, the first thing to go into the freezer? Breakfast burritos. Yay!!!

This is extremely easy, and we even sampled one to make sure we weren't going to lead anyone astray. You can put whatever your little heart desires in these babies. I will make another batch this week with swiss chard and ham, but here is the "recipe" for black bean breakfast burritos:

8 flour tortillas (I like Trader Joe's whole wheat)

8 eggs

1 cup of black beans, rinsed

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Scramble the eggs in a large pan. When the eggs are almost set, add the black beans and season to taste with salt and pepper. Divide the egg mixture and cheese among the 8 tortillas. Fold the tortillas. Here is a handy graphic for "fold the tortillas":

Wrap each burrito individually in plastic wrap and stick them all in a gallon-size plastic bag. Label, date, freeze. If you cringe at the thought of using all of that plastic wrap, you could also freeze the un-wrapped burritos first on a cookie sheet, then pop them off the cookie sheet and into the plastic bag or other container. There may be more freezer-burn issues with this method, but if you plan to use them up quickly, it'll do. When you're ready to eat your delicious breakfast: un-wrap it, put it on a microwave-safe plate, nuke for 60-90 seconds, flipping it over half-way through. We discussed toasting it in the toaster oven after thawing in the microwave to get a little crunch on the tortilla. However, we thought it was delicious straight from the microwave. 

Kid tested. Mother approved.

I even figured out the nutrition info for you!

Per burrito: Calories - 293, Total fat - 12.1g, Cholesterol - 200 mg, Sodium - 400 mg, Protein - 15.4g, Fiber - 5.9g, Sugars - 0g, Calcium - 14.6%, Iron - 10.5%