ham and cheese roll ups

I set a budget every month for Ed and I's food- and it's never more than $250 dollars. Believe it or not, when I was in Graduate School, before I met Ed, I was on a strict budget of $75 dollars. I actually spent the same on dog food and treats for Radar as I did on myself for food. And I was very strict about it, making sure than any protein I purchased could be used in several meals; no booze, no extraneous snacks, and if I ran out of milk in the middle of the month, well then... no more until next month. I came up with these roll ups while in Graduate School because I could buy the cheese and the ham and the tortilla and the lettuce and use it in so many other dishes during the month. Oh, and because they were yummy!

So here's the deal with tortillas. I always buy the taco sized ones. Always. They're cheaper, they're the perfect size for most of the meals I want, and if I need to make something larger, I just make 2. To keep the fresh I have them in the bread drawer of the fridge. However, working with a cold tortilla means that it may break when rolling. The solution? I pop these bad boys in the microwave for 15 seconds to soften them up.

You can do whatever you want when it comes to the filling. I used Dijon mustard to make these ones for Ed, but I've used mayonnaise, cream cheese (One time I didn't have any of those things and I used Port Wine cheese. Bad choice.) But smear that spread allll over the tortilla.

Alrighty, now on to the cheese. I love the combination of ham and American cheese because it's salty and creamy together, but use whatever you have on hand. If you use cream cheese as a spread, you don't even need any extra cheese!

A key to the tortillas is to not fill them up too much. These are small little tortillas and it won't take much to over fill them. Two slices of ham are all you need. Or, whatever meat you choose to use.

Another tip on the filling- break up the lettuce. You know when you look at a leaf of romaine, there's a big stem right in the middle? Tear around that, it'll be easier to roll up later.

Make sure you have a sheet of plastic wrap waiting on deck...

Now it's time to roll!The first step to to take the edge closest to you, fold it all the way over and pull back. That'll tuck in all the fillings.

Finally, just roll! Keep rolling until it's completely closed.

Now roll that little baby up! Nice and tight, with the corners folded in.

These are going to go into the fridge for about 30 minutes to an hour. That will let the tortilla firm up enough that they won't unroll themselves when you slice them.

After the time in the fridge, bring the roll ups of of the fridge and unroll the plastic wrap from around them.

You could always just chow down on the roll as is, but I always feel like I eat less when I cut my food into smaller pieces. You know, get fuller faster? It's silly, I know. Slicing is super easy. Line the rolls up... once slice in the middle, and one slice on either side. That'll give you four sections for each roll. These are

Link is totally and completely bored with lunch today. I mean, he only got like 10 hours of sleep last night. It's a rough life for a puppy dog.

Ham and Cheese Roll Ups
2 taco sized flour tortillas
4 slices of deli ham
1 slice American cheese, sliced in half
2 leaves romaine lettuce
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

Warm both tortillas in the microwave for 15 seconds. Spread 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard over the entire surface of each tortilla. On one half of the tortilla, place one half a slice of American cheese, 2 folded slices of ham and ripped pieces of romaine lettuce. Roll up each tortilla and place on a sheet of plastic wrap. Wrap the entire tortilla roll in the plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to an hour to set up. Unroll from plastic wrap and serve whole or slice for serving. Enjoy!