DIY "Amy's" Vegan Burritoes

With storms in the forecast, I did my grocery shopping early.  I shop at a small family-owned grocery. It's not tiny; they have an in-house butcher and baker, but it's MUCH small than a chain grocery, probably a sixth of the size.  But I like that I can wander down EACH aisle looking for things marked down that may not be in their flyer.  I can't do that at the little hell on earth that is Jewel-Osco on a Saturday morning where you almost need a Sherpa to find everything as they are constantly moving items so you have to HUNT for them (oh look, while I'm on this aisle spray cheese for $8!).  I have lots of veggie soups and stews in the freezer, so I will cook the roast as my husband will enjoy that with the cooler weather but we have lots of healthy meals to make out of leftovers.

The sourdough starter is on the table as I drained off several cups to make my bread, rolls, and muffins for the week. I trade loaves of bread for fresh produce, milk, cheese or eggs with some hobby farmer folks I know so I always make extra.

Wild Yeast Sourdough Beer Bread

With it being super busy, the last couple of weeks I had been toting an Amy's Organic burrito to the office, as it's quick and nothing around work is cheap to eat at.  That with a  homemade oatmeal and raisin cookie and an apple I'm set as they are very filling.  Then I realized, I was spending about $40 for lunch for two weeks and they are HIGH in sodium, as is most processed food. I can DIY that.

So my goal today was to come up with a healthy, low sodium, high protein frozen burrito that was as tasty and healthy as the Amy ones.  I think I did OK and husband gave them two thumbs up.  

Start with cooking up 3/4 cup of dry rice in 1 and 1/2 cup water.  In the steamer, brown rice needs about an hour, white only 40.  I used some of the liquid from a can of Rotel to replace the water.  I used brown rice.

While that steams, get out your seasoning.  I added a Tablepoon each of Adobo seasoning, cumin (or you could use 2 Tbsp of your favorite Mexican seasoning) and

• Scoville Brothers

Cowboy Crooner Hot Sauce (or your favorite MILD hot sauce, if using a hotter sauce, use just a teaspoon) to 3 cans of drained and rinsed pinto beans which I had simmering with 1/2 cup water, 1/2 a chopped onion and some fresh garlic (optional, use bell peppers if you don't like garlic or onion).  Simmer til the beans are softening and the liquid is gone. On medium heat about 15-20 minutes.

 When the rice was done, I put it in a bowl to cool faster.

And then I added a can of Rotel (tomatoes and green chilis) and a small splash of lime juice.

Using some store brand generic whole wheat tortillas (fajita sized) I started assembling when the rice and beans were cool to the touch (so the tortilla doesn't get soggy) using a generous 1/3 cup each of beans and rice and about 1/4 cup veggie cheddar style cheese. You can add a bit of green or red chili sauce, but I kept mine simple so it didn't drip on my desk while I work.

Don't use so much filling you can't roll it up and tuck the ends under.  You're not going for a Burrito the size of your head but a protein filled, healthy meal or post workout or run snack.

I ran out of tortillas before I ran out of filling so I used a half dozen leftover smaller Sprouted Grain Tortillas from when I made soft tacos one night.

To those, I added scrambled tofu with peppers and some salsa for a breakfast burrito.

In a little over an hour, most of which was rice cooking time, I had eight lunch sized burritos and six smaller breakfast burritos.   The cost was less than $8 and most of that was the tortillas.  Buying the same amount of Amy's burritos would have been  $56 at our nearest health food store price.

The larger burritos are about 400 calories with close to 20 grams of protein and very little sodium since I used low sodium beans and rinsed them thoroughly.

These will go into the freezer.

To serve, unwrap, wrap in a paper towel and nuke from frozen for 3 minutes for the larger burrito and 2 and a half for the smaller (may vary depending on microwave).  You can use less hot sauce if you like yours really tame, add some corn or other veggies, this are endlessly versatile.

DIY - not because you have to, but because it feels good to do something yourself and come up with a cheaper, reduced sodium meal that you love.