Easy Peasy Burritos

I am a firm believer in getting a good dinner on the table for my family, however there are some nights when after a long day at work, you simply don't want to spend a whole lot of time standing over the stove.  As you know if you follow along my blog ... I do my best to spend Sunday's preparing meals for the week in advance, (as much as I can).  Some weekends however just don't give me that luxury; this past weekend was one.  So, instead of having my meals started in advance and with the holiday, I created my weekly menu based around quick and easy meals that my family would love. 

After the 4th of July and grilling out, swimming in the pool I wanted something a little more 'homemade' tonight.  So, tonight was burrito night in my home.  Normally burritos would take quite some time to prepare and get on the table.  This was a 30 minute meal that only cost me $13 to make.  This batch made 8 burritos, so ... my college education is really kicking into gear on this one - total per burrito: $1.63.  Can you get that at any restaurant?!

Let's start with the ingredients:

Flour tortillas, cilantro, shredded cheese, a rotisserie chicken, 1 red bell pepper, 1 white onion, low-fat sour cream and 4 slices of bacon. 

To start I cut the bacon into small pieces and tossed into my skillet and fried up until crisp.  Let's be honest here ... any recipe is kicked up a notch with a little bacon.

Next I finely diced my red bell pepper, white onion and 2 cloves of garlic - then added a diced handful of cilantro.  Season with a little sea salt and pepper and red pepper flakes.  Saute slightly - I prefer a little bite to my veggies.

So let both of those sit and rest and then take your chicken and simple shred off the bone.  Rotisserie chickens are already seasoned and very easy to simply pull off the bone.  I shredded the chicken and placed in a large mixing bowl.

Now for the easy part ... piling everything in and mixing together.  Add your cooked bacon, veggies and one handful of shredded cheese.  I also added in 2 tablespoons of the low-fat sour cream to give it a smooth texture.  Mix until well combined.

At this point it takes a lot of self constraint to NOT stick a fork in and simply eat the mixture.  I held back.  (except for one small bite - you know, checking to make sure the flavors were right ..... )

I then placed my flour tortillas in the microwave for 30 seconds just to make them pliable.  The last thing you want when assembling your burritos is for the flour tortilla to break. 

Place 2 spoonfuls in the middle of a tortilla, tuck in the sides and then roll up.  Continue until you use all the mixture.  (If you happen to have some left over, or only want to make a few burritos with this batch, allow this mixture to cool and place in the fridge.  Use the next night for quesadillas or even nachos.)

Keep creating your burritos and place in a lightly greased baking dish.  Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.  Create all your burritos and then sprinkle with your shredded cheese.  At this point you can get creative.  Add salsa instead of cheese on top to save on calories, add cheese sauce if you want a really cheese burrito ... the possibilities are ENDLESS!!

Now you are ready to bake.  Remember ... all your ingredients are already cooked inside ... at this point you are simply heating through and melting your cheese.  I baked these for about 10 minutes, just until my cheese was melted.  Then ... pull out and serve.  I garnished with a little more cilantro, but again, feel free to garnish with salsa, pico de gallo, etc.

And there you go.  A quick, easy weeknight meal that your family will love.  It only took you 30 minutes and only cost you about $13.  Easy peasy.  Use those store short cuts when you can ... time savers are there for that reason ... so after a long day you can relax and spend time with your family rather than cooking all evening.  That's my motto anyway. 

~Cheers!