One of the recipes I get asked for the most is the one for the burritos we made. So rather than constantly retyping it I am just going to post it here so I have somewhere to direct people to! I believe the tortilla recipe is originally from my friend Annie and the yam and bean burritos are from another friend who does not have a blog. The refried bean burritos I believe we just got the recipe off the internet. I have them written down in Evernote now and didn’t think to write the sources for them. We quadrupled (or maybe even more) the recipes, so we would have lots. It was a lot of work but with two of us working on it it didn’t take too long and they are so worth it. The tortillas are amazing.

• 360 ml (1.5 c) unbleached flour
• 120 ml (.5 c) whole wheat flour
• 5 ml (1 tsp) sugar
• 7.5 ml (1.5 tsp) baking powder
• 5 ml (1 tsp) salt
• 75 ml (5 tbsp) shortening, lard, or unsalted butter (shortening/lard is better and butter will make it “poof”)
• 180 ml (.75 c) hot water

In a large bowl mix together flours, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut in shortening or butter until pea sized balls form. Slowly add hot water while mixing with wooden spoon. Knead with hands for a couple minutes  when dough is stiff and hard to mix. Shape with a ball and put in a bowl covered and let rest 1 hour.

Line a baking tray with parchment and set aside. Pinch off a bit bigger than golf ball sized balls of dough and roll in hands. Dust lightly with flour and set on sheet. Finish with rest of dough. Let sit for another hour.

Lightly sprinkle flour on counter and roll out ball of dough into a thin circle. You can put these aside with parchment stacked in between but I usually cook and roll out at the same time. To cook heat an oiled cast iron pan (or non stick skillet) over medium heat. Turn tortilla when you see bubbles form underneath and finish the second side when it’s golden. Keep warm until serving.

Makes 10-12 smaller tortillas

Yam and Bean Burritos

2 medium sweet potatoes
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 19 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed (or use dried beans that have been soaked and cooked)
1 cup stock
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 tbsp chili powder
2 tsp ground mustard
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
4 large flour tortillas
1/4 cup of salsa

Boil sweet potatoes in large pot. While potatoes are cooking saute onions in medium sauce pan until translucent. Add black beans, stock, garlic, chili powder, mustard, cumin and salt; simmer, uncovered over med-high heat for 15 min. Drain water from sweet potatoes, return to pot and mash with potato masher. Set aside. Once bean mixture is done, mash with potato masher and set aside. Spread tortillas on counter. On each tortilla put: 1 tbsp of salsa, 1/4 of the sweet potatoes and 1/4 of the beans. Roll up each burrito and serve as is, or bake in oven until crisp.

Refried beans

To make bean and beef burritos, we browned some ground beef and added garlic, onions, taco seasoning, tomatoes, and chili peppers before rolling them into burritos.

We wrapped all the burritos in pairs in tin foil, labeled which kind of burrito was in each, and froze. When we wanted to eat them we put them in the oven with the foil loose until they were warm all through.

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• 2 tbsp tamari
• 1/3 cup all natural peanut butter
• 1/4 maple syrup or honey (we prefer maple syrup)
• 1/4 cup hot water or stock (I boil mine as it helps to “melt” the pb)
• 1 1/2 tsp rice vinegar

• 1 tbsp coconut oil (or sesame oil)
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 1 large red pepper, diced
• 1 broccoli crown
• 1/2 pound thin rice noodles, cooked (or spaghettini or angel hair)
• 1/4 cup chopped green onions or chives
• sea salt and pepper to taste

Combine tamari, peanut butter, maple syrup and vinegar and water. set aside.

Heat oil in saute pan. Lightly brown garlic for a minute or two. Add veggies and saute for a minute or so. (You want them to stay kind of crunchy.)

Add half the sauce and allow it to get hot (again…just a minute or so.) Add the cooked pasta to the sauce. Add the rest of the sauce and chives or green onions. YUM.

We normally put a chicken in the crock pot in the morning and add chicken at the end. (And then usually have enough chicken left to have something else with it the next day too.) We mix up the veggies a lot too depending on what’s on hand and/or in season. Also, we often double the sauce and veggies part and just dish half over the noodles and then save the rest of the sauce to have another day.

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2. Taco Seasoning
3. Burritos (Good for Freezing)

Bottom Layer

• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cocoa
• 1 egg
• 2 cups dairy-free graham cracker crumbs
• 1 cup coconut

Combine oil, sugar, and cocoa in a double boiler. Cook over simmering water until oil melts. Lightly beat the egg, then stir in and cook until thickened, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and blend in cracker crumbs and coconut. Press into an 8×8 or 9×9 pan.

Filling

• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 3 Tbsp rice milk
• 2 cups icing sugar
• 1 package of dairy-free vanilla pudding or pie mix (one day maybe I will experiment with making this part completely from scratch)

Beat until fluffy and spread over the bottom layer.

Top Layer

• 300g or 1 cup or 6 oz of chocolate chips or baker’s chocolate (dairy-free, of course)
• 2 Tbsp coconut oil

Melt together over a double boiler. Cool slightly and spread over filling.

Chill in the refrigerator, though I found it easiest to take it out of the fridge for about a half hour before cutting it into squares. Enjoy!

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• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup oats
• 3/4 cup brown sugar, divided
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon, divided
• 1/2 cup chilled butter, cut into small pieces
• 6 cups chopped, peeled Granny Smith apples (about 2.5 lbs and I rarely bother to peel them)
• 1/2 cup raspberries (frozen works well in the winter)

Preheat oven to 375°.

Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, oats, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon in a medium bowl; cut in butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal.

Combine 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, apples, raspberries in a 13 x 9 inch baking dish (coat with cooking spray if you need to, ours are glass so I never do). Sprinkle with oat mixture. Bake at 375° for 30 minutes or until apples are tender.

Yield: About 10 servings.

Tomorrow I plan to do some banana chocolate chip muffins or loaves and cookies, as well as some cranberry, orange, and chocolate chip muffins. Yum!

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• 1/2 cup unsweetened orange juice
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar (I used the full amounts of sugar and honey but would probably reduce them each by about half next time)
• 2 tablespoons liquid honey
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 10 to 12 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (800g)
• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon seasoning (the recipe called for a specific brand but I just threw on what I thought would taste good)
• 1 cup corn flake crumbs (we used bread crumbs)
• 20 to 24 baby potatoes (or 4 large potatoes cut)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Combine orange juice, brown sugar, honey and mustard in small bowl. Stir. Place thighs (unravelled) in a large shallow oven proof pan. Squish them together. Spoon all the sauce evenly over chicken pieces. Sprinkle with spices and corn flake/bread crumbs in that order. Bake in oven for 50 minutes.

Slice potatoes into bite size chunks and add to a different oven-safe pan. Drizzle with olive oil and toss until well coated. Sprinkle with spice. Place in oven beside chicken. When timer rings for chicken all is ready.

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• 1lb salmon filet
• mushrooms (optional, original recipe didn’t call for these but we thought it would be good)
• 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 Tbsp worcestershire sauce
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp prepared mustard
• 1/8 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted (we used olive oil and we didn’t use this much)
• 1/4 tsp paprika (optional)
• 1/2 tsp dried parsley (optional)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Arrange filets in a shallow baking dish and add mushrooms over top of them. Mix together the remaining ingredients and pour half over the fish.

Bake 20 minutes, basting with the remaining sauce throughout. When done, sprinkle with paprika and chopped parsley, if desired.

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2. Butternut Squash with Apples and Maple Syrup
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Beef Stock

Preheat the oven to 400F. Put about 6 pounds of beef bones on a roasting pan and roast until nice and brown, making sure to turn partway through. Keep an eye on them to make sure they don’t burn as that can make the stock taste bitter. Mine took about 25 minutes.

While they are roasting, coarsely chop the vegetables. I had a large onion, two carrots, two stalks of celery, garlic, and a tomato. You can put them in the oven with the bones, or caramalize them on the stove. I didn’t have room on my roasting pan for them so I chose to caramalize them. (Don’t use sugar for them though.) Basically, heat up a tablespoon of oil or butter on the stove top until it’s nice and hot, then add the vegetables, starting with onions and carrots, then once they are starting to turn brown throw in the tomato, and when everything is getting dark, the celery. Keep the heat fairly high and stir constantly.

I do have a compost, but I also keep a baggie in the freezer and put vegetable trimmings into it that I think would be good in stock: potato peels, the ends of carrots, older mushrooms, etc. So in addition to the veggies above, that baggie also got thrown in the crockpot. (I didn’t caramalize those though, they got tossed in frozen.)

Put everything in the crockpot along with a bay leaf, ten whole peppercorns, thyme, rosemary, and parsley, then cover completely with water. I started the crockpot on high until it was nice and hot, then reduced to low and left to simmer overnight. In the morning, I strained the stock into a bowl and put it in the refrigerator. Once cool, the fat settles at the top and can be spooned out fairly easily. I like to pour the stock into my muffin pan: each muffin cup is exactly half a cup. I freeze it in the muffin tray, then once frozen I take the stock out of the tray and put in a baggie or freezable container, separating the layers with wax paper. Then when recipes call for beef stock, I know each little patty is a half a cup and can use them in recipes accordingly. With chicken stock, it normally ends up strong enough that I will use half water and half the broth when recipes call for it; I have yet to see if my beef stock turned out that strong.

If you don’t have a deep freeze or need more freezer room, you can also take the lid off at the end and let the stock reduce a lot. Then rather than freezing in muffin tins, freeze in ice cube trays and save them like that. You’ll just need to add water as well when recipes call for stock.

Beef Dip

Trim a large roast and place in the crockpot.

In a bowl, add half a cup of soy sauce or tamari sauce, or a combination of soy sauce/tamari and worcestershire, depending on your preferences. Add a bay leaf, three whole peppercorns, garlic, and about a teaspoon each of rosemary and thyme. Pour this mixture over roast and fill with enough beef stock and water to almost cover the roast. Leave the crockpot on low for 8-12 hours.

I’ve read this tastes best if made ahead of time and put in the refrigerator to let the flavours meld a bit, so I left it overnight and put it in the refrigerator during the day. Then I just stuck it back in the crockpot and turned it on to heat it back up in the evening. Take the roast out and shred it with a fork and use the sauce for dipping. Extra sauce could be used as a base for French onion soup or something similar.

Crusty French Rolls

I made these in a breadmaker, so adjust the recipe accordingly if you do it by hand. Add 1 1/4 cups of water, 2 teaspoons sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, 3 1/2 cups bread flour (I actually used 1 cup whole grain flour and 2 1/2 cups bread flour, and would experiment with more whole grain in the future), and 1 1/4 teaspoons yeast to the breadmaker and turn on dough setting. When done, turn dough to a lightly floured surface and shape into nice roll shapes for sandwiches. Cover and let rise until doubled in size, about 30-45 minutes. Mix 1 egg with 1 tablespoon of water and brush over tops of bread. Bake at 375F for 25 minutes, brushing once partway through with glaze again if wanted. I actually under cook these just a tad, because we don’t like them to be too crispy. I do throw some water in the bottom of the oven at the beginning which will crisp up the outside a little bit though. If you like them crispy, you could also cut them open when they’re done cooking and broil the inside for a short time too.

For serving sizes, there are leftovers when it’s just the three of us. With another (hungry) adult around and only a small side, it was the perfect amount. It would probably be great for four adults too, with more sides. Any more than that and I would double the bread, though there is always lots of beef.

While the buns are in the oven, we sautéed some mushroom and onions to put in the sandwiches, and then topped it with a slice of Havarti cheese. These were absolutely perfect. Once you have beef stock, they’re also deceptively easy. The stock was probably the most time-consuming part of making them the first time. This is a recipe we will most definitely make again and again.

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We had a rough night. She’s sick and coughing and has a sore throat and was up a lot crying. She slept in, and has gone from nursing once or twice a day to nursing almost non-stop this morning. Poor baby, it’s so hard when they’re sick. She seems in good spirits now though, and has decided she wants cookies again. So I dug up this recipe for peanut butter cookies. It’s a good one for sickness I think, because there’s no dairy and I find dairy often make congestion worse (mine anyway). Plus, Kris is still trying to eat minimal dairy so this way he can have some too (if there are any left when he gets home that is). I don’t remember where I originally got it, but the original recipe recommended using Jif or Skippy. We only use 100% peanut butter, and it works just fine, though I usually add a pinch of salt.

1 cup peanut butter (crunchy or smooth, your choice)
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 t. baking soda
pinch of salt if using natural peanut butter
1 t vanilla (optional)
(I’ve also been known to throw in a handful of chopped chocolate from time to time)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Stir all ingredients together until well combined.

Roll teaspoons of dough into balls and arrange about 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets. The dough is far easier to handle if you stick it in the refrigerator for 10 minutes.

Flatten balls with the tines of a fork.

Bake until puffed and pale golden, about 10 minutes.

DO NOT OVERBAKE THEM or they will be dry and crumbly. These cookies should be lovely and chewy. They may fall apart a bit if you try and eat them right out of the oven though. (I speak from experience.)

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I spent this morning going through our cupboards and the flyer for the grocery store and have put together a meal plan for the next week and a half or so. I kept it mostly really simple, so it would be easy to start up again. I have a few recipes for next time that I want to try, but this time I just stuck with things I know we all like and that are simple to make. I haven’t included the veggie with a lot of these recipes, because that will depend on what’s looking good at the store.

Here’s the list, in no particular order:

• BBQ steak with bbq baked potato and mushrooms
• Shepherd’s pie
• Sticky chicken
• BBQ salmon
• Tilapia with homemade fries (sweet potato and regular)
• Pasta with mushrooms and capers in balsamic reduction
• Ham and butternut squash with apples and maple syrup
• Spaghetti with homemade red sauce

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Boil water for the pasta. Put some olive oil in the water to keep it from sticking together. After draining, throw on some olive oil and salt for more of that Italian flavor.

In a medium-large skillet, warm up some olive oil on medium-high heat. Add the chopped garlic and let it fry for about 30 second. Then add the onions and mushrooms. Cook them until the onions are tender and the mushrooms are squishy. Pour in the balsamic vinegar. Good vinegar has lower acidity which helps keep the dish from getting too sour. When the liquid has boiled off, taste it. If it’s too sour now, add a teaspoon or two of honey to sweeten it. We ended up only needing to drizzle just a tiny amount. Throw in the basil and capers and mix them in over heat for just a minute or two.

Serve the sauce over the pasta.

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