Healthy Alternatives to Store-Bought Food: Burritos

I've recently embarked on a quest to make food from scratch, rather than buying convenience food items. I used to think nothing of buying canned refried beans and packaged tortillas for making burritos, but due to both health benefits and the opportunity to save money, I no longer buy packaged tortillas or canned refried beans.

Though there are many health benefits to making homemade tortillas and refried beans instead of buying store bought tortillas and refried beans, the two primary ones are reduced sodium in the canned refried beans, and avoiding the chemical preservatives found in store bought tortillas. You can also control the sodium content and the fat in your own refried beans and homemade tortillas by using more or less salt, shortening, and oil.

Before I actually tried making my own tortillas and refried beans, I thought that such a task would be a difficult process. It does take some time to make both of these items from scratch, but much of the time is passive time such as waiting for the beans to cook, and waiting for the tortilla dough to rest. However, due to the time it takes to make tortillas and refried beans from scratch, it's a good idea to make them when you have a day, or half a day at home rather than attempting to make them after being at work all day.

First, let's talk about tortillas. Tortillas are one of the most simple foods out there, so chances are, you can make them with ingredients you have on hand.

Here's how to make homemade tortillas:

2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
1/2 cup of warm water

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda and salt. Using your fingers or a pastry blender, blend in the vegetable shortening. Drizzle the oil over the top of the flour mixture, and then stir in the water. You want the dough to be well mixed and though not wet, not too dry either. If needed, mix in more water, about a tablespoon at a time until you get dough that is the right consistency.

Transfer the dough onto a floured surface, and knead until smooth, about four minutes. Place into a covered bowl and let the dough rest for about one hour.

Separate the dough into eight equal parts and role them into balls. Put them back into the covered bowl, and only take out one ball of dough at a time so that the dough doesn't dry out.

Roll the dough out until it is round, and about 1/8" thick. Cook on a hot, cast iron griddle. If you've never made tortillas before, I'd recommend that you watch my slideshow on how to make tortillas.

Here's how to make refried beans:

1 cup of dried beans, either pinto, kidney or pink beans
water for soaking and cooking
1 chopped onion
2 cloves of garlic, minced
garlic salt to taste
2 tbsp. vegetable oil

Soak the beans in water for several hours. Put them on to soak first thing in the morning if you plan to make refried beans for dinner.

Drain the beans, and place them into a pot or pressure cooker and cover with water. Add the chopped onions and garlic, but do not add the salt until after the beans have already cooked. Salt keeps the beans from cooking well, so though you do want to use a bit of salt, wait until later to add it.

Now you're going to cook the beans. In a pressure cooker, this takes about 45 minutes. In a pot on the stove, it takes about 2 hours. The time varies based on how hard or soft your water is. When in doubt, cooking them longer rather than shorter, as you want them to be good and soft.

Once the beans are cooked, drain them, reserving the cooking liquid.

Heat the oil in a frying pan and when hot, dump in the drained beans. Begin to mash up the beans with the back of a spoon or a potato masher. Add in the bean liquid, little bits at a time as you cook it in order to keep the beans from sticking and to get the beans to a nice consistency. You want them to be thin enough to spread easily, but not overly runny.

If you've never made refried beans from scratch before, I'd recommend that you view my slideshow on how to make refried beans before attempting this recipe. It's not hard, but I think you'll find the photos helpful.

Once you've made your tortillas and refried beans from scratch, you can make your burritos. Spread some beans on the tortilla, and fill the rest of your burrito with whatever you wish, including items such as cooked taco meat (beef or chicken), shredded cheese, diced onion, chopped tomatoes, fresh cilantro, guacamole, sour cream, etc.

Trust me; once you've made tortillas and refried beans from scratch, you'll never go back to store-bought tortillas or refried beans.