Freezer Burritos

I finally made my first attempt at freezer burritos.  I can definitely declare them a success!  My family loves them and my girls are reaching for them instead of asking for other less-than-ideal foods for lunch.  They are super easy and super inexpensive to make.

Here are the ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef (I bought a half of a side of beef, or basically a quarter cow, in December.  We have lots of grass-fed, organic beef to use up!)
taco seasoning
long-grain rice
black beans ( I have these cooked, drained, and stored in 1 cup increments in the freezer)
shredded mexican cheese blend or whatever cheese is handy
24 tortillas (buy a big bag cheap at a wholesale club)

First, I cooked the rice according to my spanish rice "recipe".
Meanwhile, I cooked, rinsed, and drained the ground beef.  I added a half-packet of taco seasoning and somewhere between 1/4 cup-1/2 cup of water.  I eyeballed it.  Basically I just wanted the meat to be moist, but not swimming.
After the rice and meat were ready, I warmed a few tortillas in the microwave for a few seconds to soften them up.  I put them between some kitchen towels to keep them warm.    I only took out one at a time to work with.

 Just off-center I laid a heaping spoonful of rice in a strip. 











 Be sure you don't go all the way to the edges of the tortilla!

Then I added a spoonful of beans.

And a spoonful of taco meat.

I didn't want to dip my spoon into the cheese bag, so I took two big pinches of cheese and sprinkled it across the pile.

Then I folded the burritos like an envelope.  (You really can't tell by the angle of the pictures, but the ingredients are a little more towards me on the tortilla, rather than right in the center).  I folded the tortilla away from me, then folded the ends in, and rolled it the rest of the way.  I made sure the flap was on the bottom so that the tortilla wouldn't flop open on the pan.

Here are the burritos all ready to go in the freezer.  I made 23 burritos and ended up with leftover rice and beans.  I estimated that I spent about 40 cents per burrito.  After the burritos were frozen (I pushed the "quick freeze" button on my freezer to mimic flash-freezing), I put them in a resealable bag in the freezer.  We take out as many as we need and nuke them in the microwave for a couple of minutes (depends on how many we're reheating, though).

My girls rave about these and love the convenience of having a reasonably nutritious snack or lunch in a matter of minutes.  My DD 10 needed a quick snack on-the-go one day and this was mess-free for the car ride.  I can't argue with that!