Delicious food: Sweet potato and black bean burritos

I am always searching for new recipes that make a large amount of food. I like to cook up a big batch on the weekend and then enjoy the pre-made food throughout the week for my lunches. I do this for several reasons. The most obvious is cost. It's simply cheaper to cook and eat this way, as opposed to eating out. The other reason is it's also healthier to cook your own foods from basic and natural ingredients.

This past Sunday my sister Martinique was in town and we decided to whip up this new recipe. I love burritos. Usually I have a stockpile of frozen burritos that I bought from the store, but they aren't so healthy. Jason's on this new anti-sodium kick so it's making me rethink some of my food choices. One frozen burrito can contain nearly half the amount of sodium that an average adult needs in one day. Then, of course, there are all the extra preservatives.

For our venture, we cooked our own beans instead of buying them canned---another harbor of sodium madness. Marty was the captain of that venture and it was amazingly simple. You rinse the dry beans to remove the dirt and stones. You boil them in water and then you let them sit for awhile. Voila! You have beans straight from the earth with no extra harmful ingredients.

For this recipe you need;

• 2 large yams
• approximately 2 cups of black beans
• 1 medium onion
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1 jalapeno
• 2 tbsp chili powder
• 3 tbsp cumin
• 1 tsp mustard powder
• shells
• salsa

Wash the sweet potatoes and cut them into about 4-8 pieces. There is no need to peel the skin because that is where many nutrients are. The smaller the pieces, the less time it takes to boil them until they are soft. When they are soft, drain the water and mash them.

In a frying pan, cook the onions, garlic and jalapeno. Add all the spices.

Combine the beans and the onion mixture with the sweet potatoes. Add about a 1/2 cup of the salsa and mix thoroughly. Spoon about 3/4c. of the filling into your shells and roll them up burrito style. How many burritos this recipe makes depends on how full you stuff them and how tight you roll them. In total, I ended up with 11 burritos. Place them in a casserole dish that has been lightly sprayed with non-stick butter/oil. Cook at 350 for about 10-15 minutes. Wrap them individually in aluminium foil and throw them in your freezer for a fantastic delicious lunch!!