Breakfast Burrito the best way to use leftovers

Like most people, Bryan and I can only stand so many days of eating leftovers time and time again. But lucky for him (and me), I try to get creative with ways to use whatever remains.

My suggestion to you: Don't make three pounds of Taco Meat for two people. At the time, it seemed worth the savings of 50 cents per pound, but in retrospect I could have been a little less compulsive. On the bright side, we actually managed to finish the Mexican Rice I made as an accompaniment, which despite my superpower is actually a rare occurrence.

The worst part is, we missed out on a chance to eat at Mom's. She invited us over last night, but I said we had to stay home and eat leftovers. LAME!!!

But not so lame is this beautiful breakfast burrito I made with the leftovers. Although I've always scrambled the eggs in the past, I thought it would be much less messy if I just cooked it like an omelet, except without folding it over. Then I slid the un-omelet right onto the middle of a tortilla that was just slightly bigger, spread the heated Taco Meat, Mexican Rice and refried beans in the middle, and topped it all with shredded cheddar, sour cream, salsa and Tapatio, and voila! Beauty and flavor, all wrapped in one.

The following Taco Meat and Taco Seasoning recipes are adapted from Greg Atkinson's "West Coast Cooking" (the Mexican Rice is mine!):

Taco Meat
1 T. canola oil
1/2 c. onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 T. Taco Seasoning (recipe follows)
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 c. canned diced tomato
1 t. kosher salt

Heat the oil in a cast iron or nonstick frying pan. Add onion and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic for last minute, then add Taco Seasoning until thoroughly mixed. Crumble ground beef in pan and continue to cook until brown. Then mix in tomatoes and salt.

Taco Seasoning
1/4 c. ground ancho chiles, deseeded
1/4 c. smoked Spanish paprika
1/4 c. dried oregano
1 t. ground cumin

Grind it all up in a blender, coffee grinder or my favorite, the Magic Bullet, and store tightly covered for up to three months.

Mexican Rice
1 T. canola oil
1/2 c. onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 jalapeno, minced (seeds removed if you don't want it too spicy)
1-1/2 c. chicken broth
1/2 can diced tomatoes
1/2 t. kosher salt

Saute onion in canola oil for about 5 minutes; add garlic and jalapeno for the last minute. Pour chicken broth and tomatoes into the pan, add salt and mix well. Bring to a boil, then turn to low and cook for 20 minutes.