Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Healthy Freezer-Friendly Breakfast Tacos

We've been making these breakfast tacos for 6 months now after seeing this post of a friend's.  They are easy and delicious, and it's so nice to have something wholesome to eat in the morning.  I'm a girl that needs a breakfast full of protein, and these definitely fit the mark.  They are filling and keep me energized enough to keep up with my small brood until lunch - something very few breakfasts in my world can accomplish.  Here's the recipe with my tips and tricks.

Healthy Breakfast Tacos
1 lb turkey breakfast sausage
1 sweet onion, diced
2 red bell peppers, diced
2 stalks of celery, diced
1 lb bag of frozen hash brown potatoes
1 carton of Egg Beaters egg substitute
shredded cheese of your choice (I've used pepper jack and monterrey jack)
36 fajita-sized carb balance tortillas
salt and pepper to taste

Saute the onion, peppers, and celery in a large pot over medium heat in a spritz of canola oil.  When they are cooked slightly (3-5 minutes), crumble in the breakfast sausage, and cook through.  When the sausage is fully-cooked, stir in the hash browns.  

Meanwhile, in another skillet, cook the Egg Beaters until cooked through.  Season with salt and pepper.  

When the hash browns are fully cooked, add the eggs to the mixture, and stir well to evenly distribute all ingredients.  To make it easier to fill the tortillas, I throw the pot into the refrigerator at this point overnight.  

The next morning I make a stuffing station with my pot of filling, a stack of tortillas, a bowl of cheese, and a large cookie sheet.  I use a cookie scooper to scoop 1/4 cup of filling per tortilla, sprinkle the top with cheese, roll it up, then place it seam-side down onto the cookie sheet.  The cold filling holds its shape well making the tacos easy to roll without losing a lot of the filling.  

Once the cookie sheet is full, place in the freezer for several hours.  I have tried wrapping these individually with foil, but the foil stuck in all the crevices for me making them very hard to unwrap while still frozen.  I've found through trial-and-error that leaving them unwrapped works perfectly and saves lots of $$ on foil.  When they are frozen, place them in large freezer bags.  I've never had them stick together.

To reheat, microwave them seam-side down for 1 minute, turn over, then microwave an additional 30-45 seconds.

I always have had leftover filling with this recipe.  I scoop the leftovers into muffin tins to freeze (the silicone ones work well for this).  Once frozen, I put the pucks of filling into freezer bags.  To reheat, microwave in a bowl for 1 minute.  These are delicious topped with salsa, cheese, and avocado.  You could also put them on an English muffin for a yummy breakfast sandwich.

One more note:  I have added and subtracted ingredients according to what I need to use up in my fridge.  I've tossed in a handful of spinach to wilt, added chopped turkey bacon, added spice with diced jalapeno, and omitted the cheese altogether.  You just can't go wrong with this simple recipe!  Enjoy!

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