Oh my goodness… It goes without saying that our lives were totally turned upside down last November when our sweet Sam surprised us with his arrival 27 weeks into my pregnancy. We were absolutely blindsided and not the least bit prepared {hello, nursery that was still being used as a catchall room after our move home from the Middle East}. Add onto that a long NICU stay for Baby Bubba, us discovering that my appendix had ruptured {therefore causing the premature birth} a couple of weeks after his arrival, a 10-day hospital stay for me, us eventually bringing home a teeny tiny boy who screamed for several months, surgery for Sam, and then a pretty low-key summer with Brad at home, and to say that we’re just now starting to get into a groove as a family of four wouldn’t at all be an exaggeration. 10 months later, I’m still figuring out this mama of two gig. Wheeew.
Oh my goodness… I’ve been so bad about planning and preparing meals this summer. I swear 5 o’clock just pops up out of nowhere and suddenly I find myself in the kitchen scrounging around like a mad woman trying to find something that I can throw together in 20 minutes and call a meal. As a result, there’s been a whole lot of quinoa salad and other one bowl dinners happening around here this summer…
I love making this meal. It’s filled with veggies, it’s got lots of protein despite not containing meat, and Miss G absolutely gobbles it up. Not to mention that it makes enough to feed us all both lunch and dinner for a few days… Yay for being able to take a little cooking break!
Each month my little sous chef and I team up with our good friends Tairalyn over at Little Miss Mama and Hillary over at Hillary with two Ls (please) for some friendly bake-off fun. Though I feel badly about it every round, Tairalyn takes on the recipes as we find them – full of butter, sugar, white grains, and processed ingredients {bless her heart}. Hillary, on the other hand, takes the original recipes and healthifies them somewhat, adding fruits, veggies, and her homemade touch where she can, while hanging onto just a little bit of the naughty deliciousness. And our task over here in the desert? Taking the ridiculously unhealthy recipes we find and full-on hipifying them {yup, hipifying… I said it}. That means we do our very best to use homemade / wholewheat / organic ingredients, we skip the sugar all together, and we add fresh produce and other nutrient-packed ingredients when possible. Fun, right?
Tonight Gracen and I whipped up one of our easy family favourites for dinner. I’ve been asked for a detailed recipe for these baked burritos time and time again, but to be honest, they’re so easy, a recipe isn’t really required. There are tons of different possibilities, but we keep ours very simple…
First off, our usual list of ingredients… Wholewheat tortillas, shredded chicken breast, refried beans (you can easily make your own or look for the can with the lowest sodium – some are though the roof with salt), cheese (in this case an all-natural vintage white cheddar, but colby, jalapeño jack, and mozzarella work well too), and salsa verde (or ‘green sauce’ – I always pick the one with a short list of wholesome ingredients).
All it really takes is layering up the ingredients on the tortillas. First up – the refried beans. We use a heaping scoop per tortilla and spread it out across the centre of a tortilla using the back of a spoon.
Next, we take a little bit of shredded chicken breast and distribute it over the beans. Be sure not to over fill the tortillas – you want them to roll easily at the end.
Next, add a tiny sprinkle of cheese.
And if desired, add a couple of jalapeño peppers to each shell (we leave a couple without for Miss G).
That’s it. Now gently roll up the tortillas and place them in a glass baking dish, lining them up tightly, one next to the other.
Eight burritos should fit perfectly in your dish.
With the burritos finished, pour the salsa verde evenly on top.
How much salsa you use just depends on how saucy you want the dish. We normally use between 1/2 and 3/4 of a jar so that all of the burritos have some salsa on top, but are not fully covered.
Last step – sprinkle a small amount of cheese on top of the salsa.
Ready for the oven!
Bake until the filling is piping hot and the cheese is melty, then allow the burritos to broil for a couple of minutes so that the cheese becomes golden and the tortilla edges begin to get crispy.
Top with avocado chunks, green onions, or fresh cilantro (or better yet – all 3) and serve with a side of sautéed veggies and/or rice.
Baked Chicken & Bean Burritos
8 small wholewheat tortillas
1 can of refried beans
2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
1 cup of cheese (cheddar, colby, jalapeño jack, or mozzarella)
1/4 cup of jalapeño peppers, if desired
1/2 to 3/4 of a jar of salsa verde or green sauce
burrito toppings (avocado, green onions, fresh cilantro, sour cream, etc.)
Lay out the tortilla shells and add a strip of refried beans to the centre of each shell. Top the beans with some shredded chicken and a big pinch of cheese. Add jalapeño peppers if desired.
Carefully roll the tortillas and place them in a glass baking pan close to one another.
Top with the desired amount of salsa verde and the remaining cheese.
Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes, then switch the oven over to broil and let the burritos crisp up for another couple of minutes.
Add toppings and enjoy!
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