I know we are still  3 1/2  months out from actually hitting the road, but I am a consummate planner before a trip.  Once I’m on the road, the “let’s go where the wind blows us”, attitude takes over.  My pre-planning usually involves mapping a route, when we have required reservations. Which we will have for camping at Denali; bear watching; fjord cruising; halibut fishing and maybe a Denali flyover !  We will have very few campground reservations-we plan to take advantage of boon-docking as much as we can.

After finishing with the task of mapping ,next up for my planning is food-and especially from the prices I’ve seen in Alaska food planning is important.  I plan on freezing as much as we can to put into our ARB cooler; dehydrate what I can(including some killer turkey jerky) ;homemade granola ; dry soup mixes; muffin mixes and even pie crust mixes ! And we hope to take advantage of in season farmer’s markets as we drive around Alaska. Today I’m sharing with you a recipe I found during my planning process.

When we wake in the morning we usually have oatmeal and granola with yogurt and fruit. But some mornings we want variety maybe waffles or bacon and eggs. And some mornings we get up really early for a photo-op or a planned hike.  For those early rising mornings I want to just grab and go. And these burritos looked like the perfect solution.  Not only grab and go, but healthy too ! Take them out of the freezer, pop them in the microwave or oven for a few moments and off we go.

Freezer Breakfast Burritos with Sweet Potato Hash

and Black Beans

This will make 8 burritos and takes about 2 hours to put together.(I doubled the recipe with no problem)  I found this on a wonderful blog called Cookie and Kate.  She has some great recipes, you should check it out !

Sweet potato and pepper hash
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
½ sweet yellow onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
¾ pound sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced into ½inch or smaller cubes (to yield about 2 cups cubed sweet potato)
1 red bell pepper, chopped
¼ to ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Scrambled eggs
8 eggs
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1½ teaspoons extra virgin olive oil

Herbed goat cheese*
4 ounce log of goat cheese, at room temperature (or buy herbed goat cheese and omit the following herbs)
½ teaspoon dried basil
½ teaspoon dried parsley
¼ teaspoon dried rosemary
¼ teaspoon dried thyme

* I wanted more of a southwest flavor to mine so instead of the above herbs, I used 1 teaspoon of cilantro, 1 tablespoon of ground cumin and 2-3 sprinkles of dried red pepper flakes.

For serving
1 can (14 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained, or 1½ cups cooked black beans
8  – 8 inch whole grain tortillas
Hot sauce, and/or salsa preferably a smoky/chipotle variety

Instructions
1. To make the hash: Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil, then the onion, and cook until the onion is slightly softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the garlic, sweet potato, red pepper, paprika, salt and pepper. Stir to combine, reduce heat to medium low, cover and cook until the sweet potato is tender, about 8 minutes. Uncover and continue cooking, stirring often, until the excess moisture has evaporated and the sweet potatoes are caramelized and golden on the edges. Carefully taste to make sure the sweet potatoes are cooked through. If desired, add more smoked paprika to taste.

2. To scramble the eggs: In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, salt and pepper. Heat another skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil, then pour the eggs into the skillet and stir constantly with a heatproof spatula until the eggs are just cooked (don’t overdo it!). Transfer the eggs to a bowl and set aside.

3. To prepare the goat cheese: (Skip this step if you bought herbed goat cheese.) In a small bowl, stir the dried herbs into the softened goat cheese (if you forgot to pull the cheese out the refrigerator until now, just zap it in the microwave for a few seconds to soften it).

4. To prepare the burritos: Spread about a tablespoon of goat cheese down the center of each tortilla.

Top with a scoop of eggs,

followed by black beans

and sweet potato hash,

equally dividing the ingredients between the burritos. Try not to overfill these! Before I wrapped mine I sprinkled Cholula Hot Sauce down the center, we prefer hot and spicy food!

5. To make them freezer ready: Let the burritos cool to room temperature before proceeding (excess moisture trapped in plastic wrap will turn into freezer burn). Lay a square of plastic wrap on your work surface and place a prepared tortilla in the center. Fold one side of the tortilla over the burrito, then snugly pull the opposite side over to make a wrap. Pull one corner of the plastic wrap over the exposed end, then repeat with the opposite side and roll it up to tightly wrap the burrito. Transfer the wrapped burritos to a freezer-safe bag and squeeze out the air before sealing. Store the burritos in the freezer.

6. To warm the burritos, remove from the freezer and microwave until warm, 30 to 60 seconds. If preferred, you could also warm them in an oven or toaster oven. Serve with plenty of hot sauce and/or salsa on the side.

If you think this is too much trouble to prepare , you are missing some incredible breakfast burritos !   If nothing else, make the sweet potato hash-it is awesome.  I made extra sweet potato hash so we will have it for breakfast tomorrow .  I’m even considering making a batch of the hash  to dehydrate, I’ll let you know how that goes.

We saw beautiful country from the raft trip down the Tatshenshini River and we are so excited about discovering Alaska from the road.  We never know what tomorrow will bring so with this trip we are covering as much as we can from about mid May to mid October. We don’t plan on running from place to place but taking our time and enjoying each day one by one.  Some days we may stay in one spot for 2 weeks and other days it could be 2 days.  Wherever the wind takes us !

Happy Trails and safe travels my friends.  If you see us on the road, stop and say hello or better yet, stop in and break bread with us !