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Quick & Easy Meals

If you're struggling economically and want to really cut back on spending. I highly recommend quick and easy meals that you can make ahead.

I’m taking a bit of a break from the pantry extravaganza of 2014 to share a food-related post with you. Scott and I had recently fallen into bad habits of not packing/planning ahead for breakfast and lunches, which would lead to him picking up something at a gas station or eating vending machine food and me eating out breakfast and lunch. Totally not healthy—or economical!

Finally, last weekend I had some time to make us breakfast and lunch. It took me about 2 hours total and ended up being over two weeks worth of breakfasts and lunches! It was super simple and tasty—I made breakfast burritos and black bean burritos for us to enjoy.

Here’s what I purchased:

-Raw tortillas (you can get any kind, I also have used low-carb tortillas before)

-Dried black beans (or bean of choice!)

-Shredded cheese

-Rice

-Salsa

-Egg whites

-Eggs

burrito making supplies

It’s pretty simple to assemble and you can really add whatever you like. We are making a big effort to cut down on meat in our house, so ours were vegetarian—but totally full of protein thanks to the eggs/beans. (In the past I’ve made these with crumbled sausage I won’t lie it was really tasty!).

For the breakfast tacos I whisked together 2 cartons of egg whites and about half a dozen eggs.

If you're struggling economically and want to really cut back on spending. I highly recommend quick and easy meals that you can make ahead. If you're struggling economically and want to really cut back on spending. I highly recommend quick and easy meals that you can make ahead.

I cooked the eggs in our griddle. If you don’t have a griddle you can just divided the eggs in half and cook them half at a time on a pan.

If you're struggling economically and want to really cut back on spending. I highly recommend quick and easy meals that you can make ahead.

Make sure you cook your eggs really, really good. You want them to be completely dry otherwise when you microwave your burritos later the entire thing will be soggy.

Quick and easy meals lunch breakfast_0006

I put the cooked eggs in a bowl with half a jar or so of salsa. You could also add jalapeños, spinach, mushrooms, whatever you like at this point.

If you're struggling economically and want to really cut back on spending. I highly recommend quick and easy meals that you can make ahead.

Then simply put a mound of the egg mixture on your tortilla and top with shredded cheese. Roll tightly in foil and refrigerate or freeze.

If you're struggling economically and want to really cut back on spending. I highly recommend quick and easy meals that you can make ahead. If you're struggling economically and want to really cut back on spending. I highly recommend quick and easy meals that you can make ahead. If you're struggling economically and want to really cut back on spending. I highly recommend quick and easy meals that you can make ahead.

The lunch versions got garlic black beans mixed with rice, salsa and fresh lime juice. Again the mixture went on the tortilla and topped with cheese then wrapped and stored.

I made both of these at the same time, so I started by pressure cooking the black beans while cooking all the tortillas. Once the beans and tortillas were done, I then pressure cooked the rice and made the eggs. I love our Cuisinart pressure cooker !! I have been using it several times a week for everything from rice to beans to potatoes and pot roasts!

If you're struggling economically and want to really cut back on spending. I highly recommend quick and easy meals that you can make ahead.

If you're struggling economically and want to really cut back on spending. I highly recommend quick and easy meals that you can make ahead. Quick and easy meals lunch breakfast_0015 Quick and easy meals lunch breakfast_0014

If you're struggling economically and want to really cut back on spending. I highly recommend quick and easy meals that you can make ahead.If you're struggling economically and want to really cut back on spending. I highly recommend quick and easy meals that you can make ahead.

If you're struggling economically and want to really cut back on spending. I highly recommend quick and easy meals that you can make ahead.

Scott and I made an assembly line and worked together to fill and wrap each burrito in foil. We put 10 of each in the fridge for us to each have one for breakfast and lunch, and the rest went in the freezer. To reheat, simply wrap the burrito in a paper towel and microwave for 1 ½ minutes.

I also made snack bags for us to take with our burritos. I packed ziplock bags of baby carrots and sugar snap peas, as well as containers of premixed salad with containers of dressing. I like baby carrots and snap peas by themselves, but I made a few small containers of salsa, greek yogurt dip and pesto for Scott. He also packed himself a few bags of chips to take for the week. I just stuck with veggies. 🙂

Including the chips, burritos and veggies, it cost us about $50 to make 2 workweeks worth of breakfasts and lunches for two people. So that comes out to each meal being about $1.25. That frees up a lot of savings to spend money on our projects and frees up lunchtime for meaningful things like reading Martha Stewart. 🙂

So that’s it. It’s super simple to grab healthy, homemade food on my way out the door now. Just grab one of each burrito, a baggie of veggies and pour some iced coffee in a cup (I pre-make this as well…just French pressed dark roast that we keep in the fridge).  Do you all have any lunch ideas? Right now the simpler the better for us. Next week I think I’ll make something new, just to keep it interesting!

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Tania Griffis is an accomplished writer, blogger, and interior designer with a Journalism degree from the University of Oklahoma. She started her popular blog, Run to Radiance, in 2011, demonstrating her design expertise through the personal remodeling of six houses to millions of readers across the globe.

Tania also owns The Creative Wheelhouse, a respected ghostwriting agency for bloggers, further showcasing her talent for creating engaging and informative content.

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48 Comments

  1. This is awesome! thanks for sharing this great tip. I like the idea of it being pre-made and frugal too!
    Tim Ferriss once said that it is good to have pre-planned meals for breakfast/lunch so that we don’t have to exert a lot of decision making as to what to eat or where. Instead, we can spend that energy deciding something else of importance 🙂

    1. Love that quote from Tim Ferriss, thank you for sharing! I think that’s true—we have so many things we have to decide per day, why not make it a bit easier?

  2. I am so doing this. I’ve done the breakfast tacos like this before, but didn’t think to do it for lunch too. Thanks for the tips! Now I’m hungry…. 😉

    1. The lunch tacos are so good. Especially with the lime rice…I’m kinda obsessed with lime. And rice. 🙂

  3. These sound so good! When I was in Costa Rica I fell in love with this dish they have with rice, black beans and shredded chicken. I think I am going to merge that with your lunch taco idea. It is making me hungry just thinking about it. I’ve also gotta try lime in the rice. I have never tried it, but I love citrus so it sounds delish.

    1. Barcy that sounds fantastic! I have heard Costa Rica is amazing. And you would love lime in rice…so tasty! 🙂

      1. Right Erin. Perhaps I should have used the specific phrase lacto-ovo. My sister is Vegan…I’m not quite there yet but doing my part to cut back. 🙂

  4. I make similar frozen burritos for my lunches. Love them and love being able to pack lunch from the freezer!

    Also I make pizza dough (from the 5-Minute-a-Day basic boule recipe) and make homemade hot pocket sandwiches for breakfasts and lunches. I fill with fruit (blueberries, apples,) for breakfasts but eggs, cheese would work. For lunches, I fill with pizza sauce (just tomato sauce with garlic powder & oregano), pizza toppings, and cheese, and bake. Then freeze and pack for lunches. I have even made peanut butter and jelly hot pockets and baked those for something different.

    You could even make sloppy joes with beans/lentils and fill the dough for hot pockets, or even meatless, veges & cheese? Endless options.

    I fill mine with all kinds of leftovers LOL.

    Also, I make corndog muffins but if you don’t want to use hot dogs you could make cornmuffin batter and add veges like zucchini, peppers, mushrooms, onions, cheese. They freeze well also. I have a homemade sweet cornbread batter that I use if you want to check it out.

    Gina

    1. Hi Gina!
      That sounds really tasty…totally going to check out your recipes. It’s always nice to change it up a bit…and i’m intrigued by the hot pb&j! 🙂

    1. Hi Nicole!

      You’re going to have so much fun using it! 🙂 It’s used several times a week in our house. Yours will come with instructions that should have recipes with it, so definitely check that out first because yours might be different, but this is the recipe I use for rice
      http://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/2013/01/pressure-cooker-white-rice/
      Beans can be done several different ways. If you soak them first it is way faster, but I usually forget and just have to cook them longer.
      Also, if you put a bit of olive oil in it helps the foaming to go down and not clog your valves. And it tastes good. 😉

  5. These sound so yummy but if you don’t have a pressure cooker then can beans be canned or is fresh better…also can these be done with brown rice. I am a diabetic so I have to watch my carbs..thanks for any info.

  6. Thank you for this. I’m entering into a full time graduate program while working full time and was wondering what I could possibly make for breakfast and lunch with all the chaos. Thanks!

  7. These look amazing! Just recently moved to the middle of nowhere for my boyfriends job and these would be super handy for him to take to work rather than having cereal every morning. Do you do anything to the tortillas before hand so they don’t tear as easy folding them up?

  8. I think this is awesome! So, when you pre-make all the burritos they are then put in the freezer or fridge to store? Also, if we are storing them until later will the salsa be ok when re-heated?

  9. This is brilliant. I have a major problem getting out of the bed in the morning (I like to wake up somewhat early and lay in bed watching movies or reading while drinking my coffee…) to make breakfast, so I am going to just make a bunch of these to heat up on my way out the door! Thank you:)

  10. I do this with my fiance all the time for dinner! We add mashed avocados too, and mix in lime juice and cilantro with salt in the rice when it’s hot, so all we have to do it put it together 🙂 Thanks for sharing!

  11. I have made bacon egg cheese burritos in the past, but the tortilla was tough when I heated it. Does wrapping it in foil rather than just a plastic baggie help with that?
    Also, why use uncooked tortilla rather than just regular tortilla?

    Im all about making ahead of time otherwise I won’t find the time in my busy schedule to make food.

  12. hey
    Fantastic idea. A must do!
    But what do you mean you wrap them in a paper towel and Microwave them for 1.5min. Do you take the aluminum foil off first?
    It might be a silly question to some, but I have seen people boil eggs wrapped in aluminum foil in the microvawe, they placed them in a plastic container and filled it with water.
    Thank you 🙂

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  14. Love this idea…I’ve done similar thing before. Do you think you could give more exact measurements, so I have an idea of how much to buy?

  15. ice done the male ahead breakfast tacos many times and love them. Another idea that I’ve used a lot is chicken tacos. Put either a whole chicken or your favorite chicken parts in a crockpot with a package of chicken taco seasoning and a 16 oz jar of salsa. When it’s done, shred the meat and mix up. This makes delicious tacos, enchiladas, burritos, casseroles, etc. I like to keep some of the meat in the freezer for quick meals. My tip here is..I used to do the whole chicken because it’s cheaper. That method can be greasy and messy. Now I fill the CP with BS thighs. I also dump half the salsa over the chicken, then add the taco seasoning to the jar and shake to mix before adding the rest. No lumps ????

  16. Did you really eat the same breakfasts and lunches for two weeks solid? Perhaps devote an hour every Saturday to it, then freeze them so that you can mix it up during the weeks?

  17. Love this idea! I do egg muffins as a quick bake ahead breakfast, but love new ideas. I also like that this has a lunch option too. Pinning this!

  18. I love the idea of pre-made lunches and breakfasts. I’m useless in the morning, so grab and go is right up my alley. 😉 I can’t even imagine how much money you save doing this, too. I tend to chop ingredients for salads ahead of time, and make extra protein when I make dinner, so that the next day’s lunch is easy, but i need to be better about breakfast, for sure. Thanks for the great ideas.

  19. When you freeze the breakfast ones doea the egg not have a strange taste to it? I had cooked eggs in a muffin pan and made egg mcmuffins and froze the left overa but my hubby said they tasted funny.

  20. I definitely need to do this. I have a 3 taking lunches right now and they are always anxious for something a little different and I am always anxious to have something made ahead. Thank you for sharing on This is How We Roll.

  21. Hi there. Please tell me, have any of you ever tried to order groceries online? I mean something like online supermarket? Can you give me some advice if you know anything about it?

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