I Make Breakfast Burritos for My Kids on Road Trip Days, and This Is the Best Recipe I’ve Found

Is there a word for a memory of an event that hasn’t even happened yet? For scenes that a mom/memory maker imagines her children will look back on with nostalgia?

Of course I expect my kids to remember the big things like the trips to California to see my family and our beach getaways and camping trips. But I also hope they recall the smaller, simpler things with fondness, and I hope my little touches to make these routine activities memorable leave a lasting impression. 

Road trips are one of these activities. Whether it’s an early morning pile-in to travel to one of my boys’ faraway soccer tournaments or the start of a long trek to the grandparents’ in Indiana, for me, road trips are more than a means to an end. Road trips are about the journey, literally. Aside from the usual squabbles over who gets to sit where and how long they “have” to listen to an audiobook before they get to play on their Kindles, I hope my kids remember special little snippets like getting cozy in the car under blankets before the sun comes up. 

And I hope they remember the breakfast burritos I often make for road trip days. 

Now, I enjoy a road trip McDonald’s breakfast as much as anybody. Hot and salty, craggy hash browns, a sausage biscuit that drips with savory juices, and some OJ to wash it all down. But I don’t enjoy the heaviness in my stomach afterwards or allllll the trash we have to collect (or find in the car for days) after such a meal. Or eating multiple fast food meals in a day. I also prefer to spend our travel budget … elsewhere. 

So for years now, I’ve been making breakfast burritos before our road trip mornings and heating them up in time for our departure. I originally found the recipe on Kitchn and I’ve been whipping them up ever since. 

Get the recipe: How To Make Freezer-Friendly Breakfast Burritos at Kitchn

• A potato or two 
• A red bell pepper
• Onions
• Eggs
• Shredded cheese 
• Tortillas
• Aluminum foil 

1. Dice the potatoes, onions, and red bell peppers into small pieces, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and mix up before baking in an oven set to 350 degrees. 
2. Meanwhile, scramble some eggs, rip the aluminum foil into rectangles for wrapping the burritos, and set out a bowl of cheese and the tortillas. 
3. Once the veggies come out of the oven, separate them into little piles to match the number of burritos you’re making. 
4. Set up an assembly line with foil, tortillas, cheese, veggies, and eggs.
5. Assemble the burritos and wrap them in foil. 
   Store the burritos in the fridge overnight and set them in the oven in the morning while you’re loading the car. They’ll stay warm until your kids are awake enough to eat. Alternatively, make the burritos well ahead of time and freeze them. Thaw and then re-heat when you need them.

The whole thing costs a fraction of what takeout does, messes are minimal and so is trash (just a few rolls of foil!), and — best of all — everyone’s bellies are full of nutritious goodness made with love. 

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