something to snack on

For Sarah (who asked me to post this).

Here is our family's usual Sunday night snack: Bean Burritos

• flour tortillas
• Cheddar Cheese (grate it yourself; the pre-grated kind has an additive to keep it from clumping that makes it drier)
• refried beans
• sour cream
• taco sauce
• Jalapenos
• tortilla chips

We make them in 2 ways. One is to heat the beans and warm the tortillas, then roll the beans and cheese up and eat burrito style. The other way is to preheat oven to 350, brush melted butter on tortillas, spread with beans and cheese, top with another tortilla and bake these quesadilla style until the edges are brown and the top is crispy -- then cut into wedges with a pizza cutter. Either way, you can dip in sour cream or taco sauce, and add Jalapenos if you like. If you add an envelope of taco mix to 16 oz. of sour cream, you get a nice dip.

Another trick: when I waitressed in a Mexican restaurant (Tio's in Cincinnati) I watched my boss warm tortillas. I don't have a large griddle like he did, but you get the same effect with a no-stick skillet (may want to use an old one). I don't use any oil or spray; just heat the pan over medium heat and add tortillas one at a time, a few seconds on each side, you can pinch it gently in the center and flip with your fingers, when they begin to bubble, they are heated -- transfer to Styrofoam tortilla keeper (at Dollar Tree). This is so much better than using the microwave which makes them rubbery. Watch them carefully so they won't burn.

We use the leftover beans as dip for the chips.

It's something we look forward to every Sunday night.