Flacita Burritos

When my beautiful sister was in college in Chicago, she worked for a time at a Mexican restaurant. The cooks there called her Flaca (meaning skinny) because she is tall, skinny and very blond. For Spring Break, our parents let me fly to Chicago for a visit, and I spent quite a bit of time hanging out around the restaurant while she worked. The cooks quickly dubbed me Flacita (or Little Skinny). I decided to called these treats Flacita Burritos, not because they are skinny or healthy, but because calling them that takes some of the guilt out of eating them. Denial is a powerful thing.

I got the idea of these in my head on Friday, and just couldn’t shake it. I wasn’t sure how I was going to pull it off, but by Pete, I was going to figure it out. I ended up spreading out a buffet of warmed corn and flour tortillas, apple butter, peach and apple jam, toothpicks and a pot of hot oil. Okay, really the pot was the end of the buffet line, but I’m guessing you get the idea.

I tried corn tortillas first because I wanted to do a sort of taquito, but since I was using apple butter as opposed to diced apples, they were hard to roll tight enough without ripping them. I tried both rolled and fold ones, and although they fried up well, the crunchy texture and corn taste were a bit more than I wanted.

I tried round 2 with the flour tortillas, which were quite a bit larger. The rolled/taquito style still didn’t work too well, but the burrito-style ones I tried worked perfect! Simply roll them up, and stick a toothpick in somewhere to keep everything nice and compacted once you put it in the fry oil. If you don’t have toothpicks, you can use metal tongs to hold them together for a good 25-35 seconds just to be sure they’ll hold their shape.

Once in the fry oil, the burritos only take about 1 min on each side. or until lightly browned on each side. Remove from the oil, and place on a baking rack to drain. I use a roasting pan with paper towels between the rack and the pan to keep it clean and keep the burritos crispy. As soon as you get them on the cooling rack, sprinkle them generously with a mix of cinnamon and sugar. Trust me, you won’t regret it.

Serve these immediately, preferably while piping hot. Or if you’re like me, bite them the second they cool enough to be picked up, therefore burning your tongue repeatedly in a wanton fashion.

Flacita Burritos

Flour Tortillas
Apple Butter
Cinnamon and Sugar, blended
Toothpicks (optional)
Oil for frying

Heat tortillas in the microwave, covered with a wet paper towel, for 30 seconds or until pliable. Lay flat, and place 3-4 table spoons of apple butter on bottom 1/3 of the tortilla. Roll up, pin with toothpick, and set aside.

Heat 1″ of oil in a pot (I use a dutch oven) to 350*. Place burritos in the pot, with the ‘tortilla flap’ down so the burrito doesn’t expand. Cook for 1 min on each side. Remove from oil unto cooling rack, quickly sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar, then allow to sit for 3-5 minutes to drain off excess fat.

Serve immediately.

What have you done this week to prepare?

I am stealing the idea from the boys. It will at least get me thinking about what I did or what I need to do to get ready for a major disaster. This week, I added to my savings and bought some canned goods to replace those we have recently eaten. Hubby also bought some bullets but that was more for entertainment than storage. I am still trying to find the time and motivation to go to spinning class. I have the wheel, they have the wool, why not, right?
Maggy and Lila, feel free to edit and add any preps you made.

Quote of the Day

"I probably bought too much stuff, but it's all shelf stable so I can just throw it in the food storage"

-Me to Ryan the 3L, and a great example of when you know you've taken prepping into your everyday life without thinking about it.

Homemade Spice Mixes

When I was going through my preps I realized that if SHTF a lot of my cooking would go to hell in a hand basket. Why? Well I'm lazy (I can't believe I have to say that again) and so in some of my recipes I use those stupid little 4 oz packages of pre-mixed spices. Now, I'm not entirely inept so I'm sure I could work around it. But it wouldn't be the same. But really coughing up a buck and some change for insane amounts of little teeny packages isn't realistic or reasonable.

So I ran and found comfort online. I managed to find recipes for many of the things I already use; Montreal Steak Seasoning, Taco Seasoning, Italian Dressing Mix, and Dry Rub for Barbecue. All of these mixes can be easy stored if kept sealed and dry, for at least 6 months if not longer. Some require refrigeration, but it wouldn't be hard to throw a quart can of it on the condiment rack and call it a day.

I'm sure I can get most, if not all, of these spices in bulk, and I am willing to bet dollars to donuts that it'll be a heap cheaper to do it this way also. I mean for $1.00+ for 4 oz of mixed spices, it's hard to get more expensive.

Prepping the Preps: Part 2

I finally finished up with organizing my cabinets, and separating Shelf Stuff vs Preps. I am honestly amazed at just how much canned food I have, and more then that how much canned food I have that I know I've had since early in my marriage, so almost 6 years. Anything I could identify as over 2 years old I herded together and took into my local food bank. Frankly, the fact that I haven't eaten it in the last 5 years tells me chances are I'm not eating it in the next 5.

I'm not a super picky eater, but well... okay, I'm a picky eater. There I said it. So, it's silly for me to have things in my pantry that I KNOW I wouldn't even feed to the dog. I don't eat sauerkraut. I don't like sauerkraut. I don't need a gallon mason jar of it.

One thing I did do in the cleaning crusade was to make a list of every thing that went into my preps storage. I'm going to edit the list a bit (so it doesn't read Crm chkn Sp lrg) and place one copy on the inside of my cupboard door, and probably another in the storage itself. That way instead of buying more (insert canned veggie here) I can snag some out of the food storage, mark the list, and replenish that every other week. Using what I have stored, and saving myself some in the process as I can stock up a bit more on things I need should they be on sale.