How to Be Awesome at Breakfast Burritos

When we started eating more "Real Food" and trying to cut out processed food as much as possible, one of the first things we did was go through the food we ate on a regular basis to see where we needed to make replacements or get rid of stuff.  We got rid of the Pop-Tarts and instant oatmeal packages that Brian had been using as his breakfast, and started trying to find replacements that were easy and affordable, and still tasted good.

For a while, I made homemade instant oatmeal for him.  Then, in an effort to find something with more protein and more "staying power," I thought I would try breakfast burritos.  I could make them ahead of time and freeze them, and then he could just heat them one at a time.

I went through a bunch of recipes on Pinterest, but what I found was, there wasn't really any special "recipe."  It was basically just, "put whatever you like to eat inside a burrito and mostly it will be fine."  After making these over and over, I've pretty much perfected my version, so I thought I'd share it.

My breakfast burritos include:

1 Dozen eggs, scrambled
1 Onion, sauteed
Spinach (or Kale)
1 Bag Tater tots
Half a Package Turkey Bacon
8 ounces Cheddar Cheese
2 8-Count Packages Large Tortillas

One batch makes approximately 16 burritos.

First, you have to prepare all your ingredients.  If you have time, and have no toddler begging for your attention, make the bacon first, so that you can make the veggies and eggs in the skillet using the grease from the bacon.  It makes it taste really good!

But if you do have time constraints, make the bacon ahead of time and put it in the fridge or even the freezer until you need it.  That way you have less to do all at once.

Also, you can slice the cheese ahead of time.  I use 8 ounces of cheddar cheese, and cut the block in half horizontally first, and then into long rectangles.  However you do it, you just want to end up with sixteen pieces, so you have one for each burrito.  I guess you could shred it, too, but I hate shredding cheese, so...

The first thing to do is get your tater tots in the oven.  I started off using hash browns, but they usually have to be cooked in a skillet, which takes extra time, and plus, I am horrible and flipping those stupid things.  Tater tots are the way to go.  Put them in the oven to cook while you work on the rest of the stuff.

(And yes, I realize that tater tots don't count as "Real Food," but I learned the hard way that if you don't use a potato product, the burritos don't stretch nearly as far and don't fill Brian up as well.  And since there is no way I'm making enough hash browns by hand to do burritos, tater tots it is!)

Then make your eggs with veggies.  I chop and saute an onion first, and then add a dozen eggs and scramble.  Right at the end, I throw in a couple of handfuls of spinach or kale, whichever one I have.  I usually have some in the freezer so I can just crush it with my hands while it's frozen in the bag and not have to chop it.  Saves time.

Oh, and don't put salt on your eggs until the end.  It makes them tougher and chewier if you put salt on while they're cooking, so I've read.

Once everything is ready, make an assembly line, like so.

In each burrito, put on a tortilla a scoop of the eggs/veggie mixture, like, four tater tots, a piece of cheese, and crumble one piece of bacon on top.  (NOTE:  Get the name brand tortillas.  Trust me.  I tried using Aldi ones and they were not soft enough, so they kept tearing when I would try to roll them up.  Splurge on the good ones at Wal-Mart!)

Roll them up so they are closed on both ends, wrap them in plastic wrap, and lay them in a single layer on a cookie sheet.

Stick them in the freezer overnight.  Then you can transfer them, still wrapped, to a Ziplock, and just pull one out as you need it.

Now, here's the trick.  You have to take the burrito out the night before and let it thaw in the fridge overnight.  Otherwise, you're gonna pull a Hot Pocket and have a half-frozen, half-boiling breakfast.  Let it thaw overnight and then heat it up in the microwave for about a minute.  Eat, enjoy, and have a great day!

Husband approved!

How to Be Awesome at Making Pasta

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience.  I am not otherwise compensated for my opinions.

For my birthday, I asked for a pasta maker.  Nothing fancy.  Just a simple hand-crank model that I can use to make basic pasta.  I mean, I know you can make really simple pasta without any kind of machine, and I've actually done it before, but it's a lot easier with a pasta maker.  This is the machine I got.

Of course, once I got my pasta maker, I couldn't wait to try it out.  Here's how it went.

Step 1: Enlist an Assistant

While it is not strictly necessary to have an assistant in order to make pasta, it does make the process far more interesting.  Plus, it's nice to have someone to catch the pasta as it comes out of the machine.  Bonus if they are tall enough to catch it without dropping it on the floor first!

Step 2:  Mix the Ingredients

I used this recipe from the Pioneer Woman.  She uses a ratio of 2:1 eggs to cups of flour.  I ended up having to add some water to mine because it was too dry.

You just put the flour on your counter or board or whatever, add the eggs into a hole in the middle and then start kneading.  It's a little messy, but this is apparently the super traditional way to do it, and who am I to mess with tradition?

Step 3:  Knead for a Long Time

You just keep kneading and kneading until the dough is smooth and not sticky.  If it's too sticky, add a little extra flour.  If it's too dry, add a few drops of water.  It's a very imprecise recipe, which bugs me as a perfectionist.  You'd think surely after literally thousands of years, someone would have figured out the exact measurements, but whatever.

Once it is a nice smooth consistency, let it rest for a few minutes.

Step 4:  Roll it Out

The great thing about a pasta maker is, not only does it cut the pasta into perfect noodles for you, it also rolls it out for you!  You just take a chunk of the dough and feed it through the rollers over and over, adjusting the setting to be a little smaller each time until it's really thin.

My helper was very good at this part.

Step 5:  Cut your Pasta

Once you've gotten it thin enough, you just roll your sheet through the cutting attachment to make your noodles.  The pasta maker I got came with an attachment that makes fettucini fetuccini flat spaghetti and vermichelli vermicelle worm pasta.  (Italian is hard!)  You can get additional attachments for other noodles, too.

Again, the machine makes this super easy.  Instead of stressing that my noodles aren't all the same width (don't even tell me that wouldn't stress you out), you just turn the handle and you're done!  

It is a bit of a challenge to figure out what to do with the pasta as it's coming out, because it's kinda fragile, so you don't want it to just crumple into a pile there on the table.  If you have an assistant, this is where they come in handy to catch the pasta as it comes out.

But you might have to convince them not to eat it.

Step 6:  Cook or Dry Pasta

At this point, if you are ready for dinner, you can totally just throw it in some boiling water for a minute or two and it will be ready.  Super easy!  

If you want to save it for later, though, you need to dry it.  The last time I made pasta myself, I literally had it hanging on all the cabinet doors and knobs in our apartment.  It looked a little silly.  I was more prepared for this go-around because I bought an actual pasta drying rack.

There is nothing magical about having a dedicated pasta drying rack.  It is just dowels, but it does work really well for getting all those noodles out of the way, even if it does bend them in half.

Also, it takes -f o r e v e r- to carefully place each individual noodle on the dowels.  That's probably the most time-consuming part of the whole thing.  Still, when it's dry, it turns a lovely golden color and it looks totally legit.

Then you can store your pasta in plastic bags and whenever your ready, move on to the best step...

Step 7:  Eat Pasta

If your pasta is dried, just boil it a couple of extra minutes, but still not as long as commercial pasta.  I made Alfredo sauce to go with mine, and it was amazing!  Just check out these pictures if you don't believe me!

So there you go.  Homemade pasta is totally a doable thing!  I think it would make a great gift, too, so if we're friends, don't be surprised if you open a fettuccine-shaped package on Christmas morning. 

How to Be Awesome at Tailgating: The Snackadium

From what I have learned in my studies, a very important part of football culture is tailgating.  Eating lots of snack-type foods while hanging out before and during the game is probably the most fun part of the whole thing, especially for someone like me who isn't really that into the game itself.   Traditionally, tailgating should happen at the game, like, you know, sitting on the tailgate of your truck, but still, you can do it from home.

My fantasy football league decided to get together to spend a Sunday afternoon watching multiple games and eating foods, and because I am obsessed with Pinterest and like to go overboard on just about everything, I suggested the Snackadium, which I found here.  (Check it out.  They do a great job of explaining it and theirs is really big!)

We assigned everyone different things to bring ahead of time, and then just assembled it when we got there. 

To make the Snackadium, you will need the following:

• A foil pan
• A sheet of Rice Krispies Treats
• Various Chips
• Small Sandwiches
• Three dips of your choice (We did nacho cheese, salsa, and guacamole.)
• String cheese (or sour cream)
• Foil
• Plastic bendy straws
• Black construction paper
• Tape
• Sliced cheddar cheese (optional)

First you build a wall around the foil pan with your Rice Krispies Treats.  (We just kind of eyeballed how wide we thought the strips should be and then mashed them together a little so they would stick.)  Then we set the sandwiches around the "wall" leaving room for the chips.  That way, the chips are held in by the sandwiches and the Rice Krispies.  (The chips are supposed to be the fans, I think.)

Then we added the dipping sauces.  We used foil cheese to make barriers so they didn't all blend together.  Then we used string cheese to make yard lines.  (The original post used sour cream, but we had someone who is lactose intolerant, so the string cheese was easier for her to maneuver around.)

To complete the look, Brian made goal posts out of bendy straws and black construction paper, and Bekah put cute little pennant flags on the sandwiches that said things like, "Go Ham," and "Yay, chicken!" so we could tell which sandwiches were which.  As a last minute inspiration, they also made some "stadium lights" out of cheddar cheese and more bendy straws, but they didn't stay up very well.  (Rice Krispies aren't as good of a glue as you would imagine...)

Finish with a cute football tablecloth and plates and some sandwich fixin's, and you've got a pretty awesome snack spread!

We used a smaller foil pan than what the original post said, and we did a pretty good job of eating it, but even with all six of us pretty hungry, we still couldn't eat all of it, so it was the perfect size.

Go team Snackadium!

Awesome Tips for Flying with Toddlers: Part 2

(This post contains affiliate links for your convenience.)

In Part One of this series, I talked about entertainment stuff to bring with you when you have to fly with a toddler.  Now, we're on to the second most important aspect:  Food.

1)  Empty Sippy Cup

Apparently, TSA is supposed to let you bring water through security for children, but I just didn't want to push my luck.  I brought an empty sippy cup, the kind she was used to, and then just bought a bottle of water for myself when we got through security, and poured some of it in.

2)  Applesauce Pouches

You know the ones.  They're everywhere now.  I'm not actually a huge fan because they are more expensive, wasteful in their packaging, and they don't teach kids the same good eating habits as handing them an actual piece of fruit.  However, on the go, they're pretty awesome.

A word of warning though:  Don't use these to try to calm an upset child.  I gave one to Cricket when she was upset, and she angrily squeezed it, resulting in an applesauce eruption all over my clothes and hers.  Not cool.  Also, make sure to pack these in such a way that they don't get squashed in your bag.  I put a bunch in Gladware or somethings similar.  It's a trick we use when we're camping and it works great for crushable things.

3)  Pretzels/Crackers

I packed these in Ziplocks and put them in the Gladware boxes, too.  I brought several different kinds of crackers, just for variety, and actually she didn't eat that much.  Still, they are light and good to have around, and she ate some while we were at our destination, too.

4)  Suckers

I didn't bring these, but the lady next to me on the plane did, and they were great.  She got them at Trader Joe's, and they didn't have any artificial dyes/etc. in them.  (I told her at that point, I didn't care if they had actual drugs in them, but still...)  Cricket had never really had candy before, so the novelty of a sucker kept her occupied for a while.  Suckers are also great for takeoff and landing if your child doesn't use a pacifier but isn't ready for gum.  Giving them something to suck on helps them swallow and equalize the pressure in their ears.

5)  Cereal

There is something about cereal that just captivates most toddlers.  I don't know what it is.  What I do know is that I brought a divided container (the kind you use to pre-measure your formula when they're babies) and filled it with Cheerio's, rice puffs, and Chex, and Cricket drained that entire thing at least twice on our trip.  She can eat Cheerio's for days.  Plus, she loved having the compartments to sort her cereal back and forth. Downside is obviously that this is messier, but I am perfectly happy to clean up the floor if it means she is content for 20 minutes!

Food to Buy En Route

1)  Snack Packs

A couple of the flights we took actually sold snack packs and meal packs.  Mom got one that had a couple of cheeses, crackers, grapes, and apples in it, and Cricket at that entire thing!   If your airplane doesn't have them, lots of the food stands in the airport sell similar packages, and Starbucks even sells them sometimes.   It was good to know that she was getting some actual nutrition in the middle of all the chaos, and it was a pretty big meal for her!

2)  Milk

Starbucks sells cups of just plain milk, and a lot of the airport stands have milk, too.  Most airplanes don't, though, so if you want some for your toddler while you're in the air, you'll have to bring it with you or just get juice.  Again, from what I read, you can bring it through security if it's for your child, but I just wanted to get through that mess ASAP, so I didn't risk it.

3)  Meals

If you do an all-day flying adventure like we did, you're going to have to get a meal at some point.  Just about every restaurant will have a kids' menu, so I just trying to find the healthiest option on there that Cricket will eat.  Usually that means some kind of grilled cheese or quesadilla, and maybe a fruit plate.  Of course, you could just use the snack pack that I talked about earlier as a meal, which did work for us at one point.  It kinda depends on how much time you have.


In Part 3, I will finish this series by going over survival tactics.

The No Junk Food Challenge

Last year, I did The No Junk Food Challenge, and it went really well.  It was a good exercise in self-control and gave me a reason to say no, when I would have said, "Why not?"  I even lost like four pounds, just by cutting out junk for three weeks!  Not bad!  It was especially nice just before the holidays, when I knew I would be eating a lot more junk than usual.  

So I'm doing it again this year, from November 1-November 21, which is the week before Thanksgiving.  Anyone care to join me?  If you do, let me know how it goes!