Super Fast Food Thoughts

This post is really going to have to be super fast because I have about 6 minutes before I have to get my son up from his nap and then dash to the school to pick up the other kids.  I have been struggling with the "no-processed-foods" commitment for the past several weeks (as evidenced by the empty Coke Zero bottle sitting next to my keyboard right now).  I have kept up the bread making (though I cheated this week and bought a package of sandwich bread on Sunday just because I didn't want to make any that day).  I guess I am reminded of this struggle based on our dinner last night, which was supposed to be black bean and rice burritos.  At the grocery store, I could not find ANY burrito sized tortillas that had a "clean" ingredient list.  Seriously - IT IS A TORTILLA!!!  Flat, round things made of flour should not have a paragraph on the back of the package.  Anyway, the best I could do was a local company's fajita tortillas (which still had more "dough conditioners" than I would have wanted, but beggars can't be choosers....even if they are obnoxiously picky beggars, like myself), so we ended up with black bean and rice tostadas.  Still good - I heaped the mixture (brown rice, black beans, salsa, cilantro, lime juice, tomatoes) on top of locally grown spinach leaves on top of my fajita tortillas, topped by pepper-jack cheese and baked them until they were crispy and melty and delicious.  I graced mine with homemade guacamole and enjoyed it thoroughly.  As I was explaining to my husband why we were eating tostadas instead of burritos (his request), he suggested that it was "time to start making your own tortillas".  Nope.  Between bread and all the other nonsense that I have decided that I just have to do, I don't have the freaking time.  Also, I don't have a tortilla press.  Or a comal.  Mostly the time.  Mostly the time. 

Thoughts Sprinkled with Cilantro

So, my kids seem to finally be getting into the idea of me blogging about what they eat.  I have had several requests, from sweet potato biscuits to corn-blueberry muffins, to write about things they have consumed (though why it is only baked goods that I can come up with right now, I am not sure).  I was actually planning to write something about both of those things (both really yummy, though I was not entirely happy with the muffins as they seem to be VERY dry), but something happened at lunch today that made me stop and think.

Last night, I made one of my favorite (and easy) vegetarian meals: black bean and rice burritos.  It is basically brown rice, black beans, pico de gallo, a squeeze of lime (which I, sadly, forgot last night), avocado slices and pepper jack cheese all wrapped up in a nice little package of a burrito sized tortilla.  For last night's incarnation, I added a hefty dose of minced cilantro to the rice mixture.  I usually squish/cook them on my Cuisinart Griddler (my favorite kitchen gadget, bar none), but I took the lazy/easy way out last night and popped them in a 400 degree oven until they were lightly browned on the outside and warm and melty on the inside.  They are filling, delicious, slightly spicy and make FANTASTIC leftovers.  I had a little bit of the rice mixture leftover as well, so I decided to serve it to my son for lunch this afternoon.  What I noticed was this: every time he would put a piece of a cilantro leaf into his mouth, he would chew it for just a second and then screw up his face and scream.  The screaming thing is not really abnormal for him, as he is a non-verbal 18 month old, but this seemed to be pretty closely connected to the herb he was trying to consume.  It is said that people are born with taste receptors that either love or loathe the taste of cilantro; it truly is one of those flavors that has no in between.  Though my husband and I have the "love" of cilantro, I am starting to wonder if my son's little tongue truly "loathes" it.  Of course, he also seems to "loathe" the mouthfeel of most leaves (raw or cooked, apparently), but his reaction to a heavily cilantro'ed dish today really makes me wonder.  I guess only time and his eventual ability to say, "Mommy, this is disgusting" will tell.