Let's make a deal

I made 32 sweet potato and black bean burritos tonight.  It all started rather innocently, when a friend posted a recipe to her facebook site.  Some googling led to the conclusion that these burritos would be good, and that I'd want to have leftovers.  Thus, I decided to double to the recipe.  And while I was boiling, peeling and mashing, why not try a second recipe with similar ingredients?  It all sounded like a great idea at the time, but I started to have second thoughts when my kitchen looked like this:

So, here's what I made:

Moosewood Sweet Potato and Black Bean Burritos (I made these more or less as written)

                       and

Addictive Sweet Potato Burritos  (I left out the water, subbed black beans for kidney and increased the cheese)

Also, I made corn and tomato quinoa as a side dish.  (I subbed corn for the black beans, and cooked the quinoa the easy way.)

A few tips:  

- Sweet potatoes are hard to peel, due to their strange shapes.  Case in point:

I didn't notice it at the time, but it appears the two in the top right are getting a little frisky.  Ah, young potato love.

To avoid this, I cut them into chunks and tossed them into a pot of boiling water, cooking until tender.  When they are cooked it is really easy to just pull the skins off.  I did this and chopped the onions last night to make things easier today.  My cooking time is dictated by how long the kids nap, so anything I can do ahead of time is helpful. 

-Canned organic black beans are expensive.  At our grocery store, they were $1.89 a can.  I needed the equivalent of about 8 cans, so this would have added up quickly.  Instead, we buy bulk dried organic black beans.  They are significantly cheaper, plus there is no worry over BPA from the can.  To cook them, I rinse (but don't soak) the beans, put them in the crockpot, fill with water and cook on low until tender.  I started them last night around 10:00 PM, and at 11:30AM they weren't quite done, so I turned it up to high.  By 12:30 they were perfect.  Even though they cook for a long time, the electricity cost is minimal (about $0.01-$0.02 cents/hour).  If you have leftovers, just freeze for later use.  

Before:

and after:

I gave Hadley the extra (uncooked) beans in a large mixing bowl.  She played with them, scooping, stirring and pouring, for about 45 minutes!

- The extra burritos were frozen individually on a cookie sheet, then dropped into freezer bags.  They will make an easy and quick lunch.

 

So, here's the verdict:  We liked both recipes, but the second recipe won 4:0.  The Moosewood recipe tasted earthy and healthy (which it is).  The flavor was very good, and I think the addition of cheese would have made it more popular with everyone.  The allrecipes.com version sounded strange to me (soy sauce and mustard...?) but it worked well.  I did add the spices to the onions near end of the cooking time, as this helps bring out the flavor.  The kids both ate this burrito really well.  This is good, since we now have a freezer FULL of burritos.  

Which brings me to the deal making...

Have you visited Ana-White.com?  While Tyler cleaned the kitchen tonight (thanks Ty!), I wasted time scrutinizing several of her building plans.  I don't have the tools, knowledge or drive to make any of her projects, but I'm thinking maybe I could bribe somebody into doing it for me...

image courtesy ana-white.com

I've wanted to buy a learning tower for a long time, but they are very expensive, and way too big for our little house.  I think Ana has found the perfect solution.  The materials cost about $20 and she has designed it to fold, so we could store it in the laundry room when not in use.  So, who is looking for a fun weekend project?  I'll cover the cost of materials and compensate you in food (burritos, perhaps?  Maybe a chocolate cake?).  Let's make a deal!