Pork Flautas

I am an aspiring granola girl, which means if I could do everything most naturally, I would try to attempt this, just because I tend to think that it is healthier that way. BUT, with that said, I am no granola girl, and from all appearances I probably don't even look like I am aspiring to be one. Very rarely but occasionally I buy organic foods. I would love to eventually go to whole organic foods, but it is a slow process for me. Some "green" things that I do are: use reusable shopping bags, use CFL light bulbs (though these have not lasted even a year), only wash laundry in full loads, turn the water at about 50% of its full flow when I shower, buy free range and grain fed eggs when possible, attempt to eat all the leftovers when we cook meals, buy consigned clothing and toys (though not every piece), keep and use things until they are useless or donate items we can no longer house, unplug all nonessential items (even a cell phone charger that is not charging is using electricity), and of course, turn the lights off when I leave one room to another. So just your average run of the mill "green" person here.

Eating all the leftovers is challenging because my children, especially Princess, do not like leftover food. I am terribly uncreative at re-inventing foods too. However this week Boston butt pork roasts were on sale at Publix. Yesterday we had pork roast, spinach, and butter peas for dinner. Tonight we had pork flautas (or taquitos) with black beans (shown above), and tomorrow night we will have bbq pork sandwiches with wheat buns and a veggie. Then the roast will be fully consumed. Maybe next time we will freeze a portion of it, but really we've had so much variety, even I have not dreaded eating the leftovers.

Roasts are an easy dish for a busy mom. You can just put them in the crock pot or oven for hours, and they come out nearly perfect every time. And the pork flautas are probably not the healthiest, but I am sure they are healthier than a prepackaged version. Here's what we did. We took some of the pork roast, shredded it, and sprinkled it with lime juice and garlic powder. Next time I think we will use more of the taco seasoning spices. We took some "raw" corn tortillas, which you can get at Wal-Mart or a Mexican market, and rolled the meat inside the tortilla. We used a toothpick to secure the roll, and then we placed them in hot oil. (We only use canola or olive, and olive heats too fast to fry well.) They would be better deep fried, but we shallow fried them and they turned out well. We served with taco sauce, sour cream, and shredded cheese, and they were Yum-Yum!

The idea was a combination of mine and Daniel's. He has taken to ordering pork when we eat Mexican out and suggested pork tacos. I bought the corn flour wrappers on a whim and thought it would be fun to try making flautas. It turns out that he could wrap them the best, so I cooked them as he wrapped them. Teamwork! I don't say this often enough but he is my best friend, and I think we make a great team!