Eat Your Veggies - In a Wrap

A great way to eat some more vegetables is in some sort of wrap.

We have enjoyed sauteing peppers, onions, and zucchini then scramble in some eggs. If the veggies are chopped the night before, it makes a quick breakfast. Spoon into a tortilla, sprinkle on some cheese or add some diced tomatoes or salsa and you have a breakfast burrito that can't be beat.

The same veggies can be added to beef or chicken fajitas.

I'm been experimenting with making my own tortillas. I have no idea how to get them round, as mine are lopsided ovals, hearts and anything but circular! But the flavor of homemade (like usual) beats commercial hands down. The most recent recipe I used was Amy's whole wheat tortillas and it was the best attempt yet.

It takes more time to make things from scratch, but sometimes I'm surprised when I actually watch the clock and find how little time it actually takes. For me, who does not live real close to a grocery store, sometimes it faster just to make something myself then pack up four children and go shopping! I generally avoid stores like the plague!

The other week, I had decided to make tortillas. I got a late start (I laid down with the children at quiet time and fell asleep myself!) and only had the ingredients measured in the bowl when a plumber showed up to fix a leak in our basement. By the time he finished, and I got back to the kitchen, I only had one hour before Ed would be home.

I quickly finished stirring the tortilla dough. The recipe said to allow it to rest ten minutes.  While we were waiting, my daughter and I ran out to the garden to pick some onions, peppers, and carrots. We added these veggies with some zucchini from a friend. As soon as the tortilla's rest time was over we divided the dough in small balls. Then it needed to rest for another ten minutes, giving us time to cut our veggies up and get them frying in a pan with a little oil.

My daughter likes to help roll out the tortillas. She pats them with her hands then I finish with a rolling pin. It doesn't take long to fry them in a skillet and we soon had an assembly line going rolling and cooking tortillas. My children have difficulty holding and eating a fajita so I turned them into enchiladas. I spread the still warm tortillas with re-fried beans. I stirred some cooked chicken into the veggies and spooned it over the beans. Once rolled, the filled tortillas were placed in a baking pan. I spooned some tomato sauce over the top and sprinkled on some cheddar cheese. The whole pan was slid into the oven to bake for 20 minutes.

Whew! We made it! Now we had time to set the table and wake the younger still napping children. We didn't have time to take any pictures but the whole meal was made in less then an hour, including the oven time, and it was completely from scratch. Of course, it helped that my re-fried beans and chicken were already cooked. I always cook up a large batch and freeze the extras. I'm convinced that with just a little bit of  planning, cooking from scratch is possible even for busy moms.

But there are two things to keep in mind when attempting to cook from scratch. First, it will always take longer when you are first learning. It takes me twice as long when I'm trying a new recipe then when I've made it numerous times. Second, you may choose NOT to make something yourself. Just because I can make tortillas, enjoy making tortillas, and believe my whole wheat tortillas taste better and are healthier - doesn't mean that I'm not going to pick up some tortillas at the store. I think I have some bought tortillas in the freezer right now and I'm sure they will be handy some night when I have something better to spend my time at then rolling tortillas.

I hesitate sometimes to share "from scratch" recipes because the last thing I want to do is heap a burden on an already busy mom. Some of us do this for fun (believe it or not)! Just because my hobby is cooking - doesn't mean you need to copy me, in fact, please don't! You will have different goals, dreams, and skills.

I really liked the post on When Homemaking gets in the way of Mothering. Good reminder that relationships need to be first! I have been guilty of thinking (if not saying) "go play something and let me alone so that I can cook you a wonderful meal." I want to be willing to (cough) buy bread if I can better meet the needs of my family. But I'm really hoping I can continue to do both!

I would love to hear how you keep relationships first in your home!