I can't imagine life without the breakfast burrito. Before the rest of the country had discovered them, it was disappointing to travel outside of the Southwest and not find any because they are such a staple of breakfast here.

The best part is that it's something packable that you can carry (often called a walking burrito) as you eat. To me, it's like getting a plate of breakfast to go.

While I am a breakfast smoothie girl, I began to make breakfast burritos so Greg would have something to grab in the morning and eat on his way to school. Sometimes I'll heat one up for lunch since I work at home.

The recipe below makes about twelve burritos and we wrap each one in plastic wrap and them put them together in a ziploc bag in the freezer. If you don't have green chile accessible, you can use salsa, however, keep in mind that you want to be careful because some salsas are too wet and will make your burrito soggy. You can google frozen green chile and have it shipped to you but it's much cheaper to roast it yourself if you don't live in New Mexico (what costs you about $50 to have shipped we can buy for around $3 in the grocery store).

I like to use a thin tortilla otherwise the burrito is too thick and doughy. The Trader Joe's handmade flour ones work really well and have a good flavor.

And there are many other ways to make burritos: you can add potatoes (hash browned are the best), beans, and skip the bacon or use breakfast sausage. Experimenting with flavors will keep the burritos interesting.

The recipe for 12 breakfast burritos:

1 pound bacon (or other sausage)

A dozen eggs

13 ounce container of green chile defrosted

A dozen tortillas

Fry the bacon in a large frying pan (or I bake mine) and then allow the cooked pieces to drain the fat off on paper towels set underneath the slices. Let the bacon fat remain in the pan to cook the eggs.

With the heat set on medium underneath the pan, crack all the eggs into a bowl and mix the yolks with the whites. Pour into the heated pan and stir as they cook. When the eggs are no longer runny, add the green chile and crumble the bacon into the eggs. Stir until the ingredients have been evenly spread across the pan and everything is heated through.

Place a piece of plastic wrap underneath a tortilla and then spread a few dollops of the mix onto the tortilla. Make sure to spread it around the tortilla well (see photo) so that you always taste the mix with the flour tortilla, not just tortilla. Wrap the burrito and then secure the plastic around it.

Over twenty years ago when I moved to New Mexico, I had no idea how the food would influence my life. I had grown up on fairly bland food because my father liked it that way. My mom was constantly sneaking onions into things and, later, adding red pepper on top of everything, especially pizza. But moving to Albuquerque introduced to me to a whole new type of cuisine: New Mexican food.

The food here is very unique, a blend of Mexican and Native American influences, addicting everyone to red and green chile. It took me some time to figure out recipes that are my own but I would be remiss if I didn't say that they are influenced by both the food I've had here and my own cooking experiences.

I've been making my own red chile, recently using the dried pods. It's easy today to get the dried pods or the frozen puree no matter where you live. And it's not a lot of work to make the sauce (just remember to keep the blender lid on tight– I once ended up turning my white kitchen red) and it's cheaper to buy the pods. Bueno Foods is just one of several web sites where you can buy chile. The recipe I use to make my sauce is also from Bueno.

Here is the recipe to make what you see in the photo. Trust me, it's even better than it looks.

Serves 2

4 potatoes diced, skin on

2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil

salt and pepper

2 eggs whisked slightly

colby longhorn or other cheese that melts well

red chile sauce (see linked recipe for amount– what you see there gives you leftovers put on other dishes)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cover cookie sheet or other shallow pan with non-stick cooking spray. Mix potatoes with oil, salt, and pepper and then spread of cookie sheet. Bake for approximately an hour (depending on your oven and how crispy you like the potatoes– I tend to like mine more crispy).

When the potatoes are finished, cover a non-stick frying pan with cooking spray and heat on medium. Drop the eggs into the frying pan and when they have bubbles on top (like a pancake would), flip the egg pancake with a spatula.

In the meantime, cover a plate with the potatoes and add the egg pancake when it's ready. Then top with the red chile sauce and cheese. Heat in the microwave until the cheese is melted (should be less than a minute).

If you can't get red or green chile, use salsa instead.