a better breakfast burrito

If I have not properly expressed this previously, let me tell you that I am not a morning person. I'm the girl rolling into work at the crack of 9 am, still putting on makeup, and eating oatmeal out of a coffee mug. For these reasons and many more, I rely heavily on late night planning, and frozen, homemade breakfast burritos. A while ago, I made my first batch of breakfast burritos, and since then, I think they've just gotten better. In fact, this last round has been the best yet!

Stuff you need: 1. Whole wheat tortillas 2. 1 block firm tofu 3. Morningstar sausage patties 4. Roasted green chiles 5. Your favorite salsa

Begin by squeezing your tofu like you would for any other recipe- I like to wrap mine in a paper towel, and set something heavy on top of it while I prepare everything else. Meanwhile, you can chop your chiles and defrost your faux-sausage.

When the tofu is ready, crumble it into a skillet with a little olive oil, the Morngingstar sausage, green chiles, and some spices until everything is warmed through. In my tofu/faux-meat mixture, I like to add hot sauce, garlic salt, and cumin. Yumm.

When your burrito stuffing is tasting the way you'd like it to, grab a tortilla, spoon a healthy helping of the tofu mixture into the middle, add a bit of salsa, and then wrap the whole thing up in a square of foil.

Keep wrapping burritos until you're out of filling and tortillas, and then pop them into the freezer for future use. For me, 1 block of firm tofu made about 6 burritos.

When you're ready to devour your breakfast burrito, wrap it in a paper towel, and microwave it on high for 1 minute on each side. The tofu is difficult to heat all the way through, so it may need a little extra time as well. This not-so-fabulous picture is taken inside the microwave at my office. While not super aesthetically appealing, it was absolutely scrumptious, and the perfect way to start off a long day at work.

The combination of the fake sausage, chiles, and salsa, are the perfect mix of texture, heat, and flavor. They're fast and easy to make, they're absolutely delicious, and they're a total life saver first thing in the morning. You better believe I'll be making more of these very soon :)

chipotle sausage cous cous bowl

Ever since I made those fantastic faux-rizo and Anaheim enchiladas a few weeks ago, I've had the rest of the Field Roast chipotle sausages sitting in my fridge. I kept thinking I'd save them for something special, but tonight they called to me, and I threw them together with some fresh produce for a cous cous bowl with a south-of-the-border zing.

Stuff you need: 1. Cous cous- or rice 2. Meatless chorizo 3. Fresh veggies 4. Salsa 5. Spices

Start off by placing a pot of water on the stove for the cous cous- this grain works best with a 1:1 ratio of water, so measure accordingly. When the water is boiling, throw in the cous cous, give it a stir, pull it off the heat, and put the lid on.

While the cous cous is sitting, chop up your chipotle sausage and fresh veggies into bite sized pieces- tonight I found spinach, tomato, and orange cauliflower- oh yes. Orange. Throw the cauliflower and sausage into a warmed skilled with a little olive oil, and sauté the mixture for about 5 minutes. Next, throw in the spinach and tomato, and season everything with your favorite flavors- salt, pepper, cumin, and hot sauce!

When your faux-rizo/veggie concoction is heated through and smelling amazing, fluff the cous cous with a fork, place it into a nice deep bowl, and then top it with your veggies and meat. Slather a little salsa on top, mix everything together, and dig in! A little spicy, super fresh, and pretty hearty- the perfect combination for my Thursday night meal.

I like the juxtaposition between the light, fluffy cous cous, and the thick, chunky sausage- it's a hearty meal, that still feels like it's on the lighter side. I also love the little kick from the Field Roast chorizo, and the bright colors of the spinach and cauliflower. Tonight was definitely a "throw-everything-you-can-find-into-a-skillet" kind of night, but the outcome was successful. I even whipped up a vegan BLT wrap for tomorrow's lunch! What a tasty, productive evening :)

lettuce wraps

Driving home tonight, I had a mad craving for Morningstar Farms' sausage patties. Omg if you've never tried them, stop everything you're doing and go buy a box right now. The taste is phenomenal, the texture is dead on,and they're good in everything- quiche, burritos, scrambles, breakfast sandwiches, and now apparently lettuce wraps. I definitely wanted some veggie sausage tonight, but I was in the mood for something light. Enter, lettuce wraps! Kind of like the ones you find at PF Chang's, but way better :)

Stuff you need: 1. Onion 2. Bell Pepper 3. 2 Veggie sausage patties 4. Lettuce- iceberg or romaine, either will do

First and foremost, gently defrost the sausage patties in the microwave, just enough so you can cut them up into bite-sized pieces. Meanwhile, dice the bell pepper and onion, and throw them into a skillet for a minute or two. When the sausage is ready, add it to the skillet as well, with some garlic salt and any other spice of your choosing.

When the veggies and sausage are warmed through, and spiced to your liking, take a piece of lettuce and spoon some of the mixture into the middle. Continue filling lettuce leaves until you're out of the veggie/sausage mix. Grab. Wrap. Consume.

Voila! That's all there is to it. The entire process took me less than 20 minutes, and the outcome was spectacular. It was exactly what I was craving, but better! Not only does this make a nice light meal, but I'm positive it'll be an awesome appetizer or snack too. Vegetarian lettuce wraps- total success.