Frozen Bean Burritos

 With my leftover tortillas, borracho beans and cheese, I made 5 frozen bean and cheese burritos. They will make for easy microwave meals in the next few weeks! Talk about making the most of our money!

First, put all ingredients in a whole wheat tortilla. I put beans, cheese and hot sauce. 

2. Fold in both ends of the tortilla to keep ingredients inside and then roll up. 

3. Tightly and generously wrap each burrito in plastic wrap. 

 

4. Place all burritos in a freezer bag and freeze. 

 

5. To cook burritos, unwrap from plastic wrap. Place on a microwave safe plate and nuke it for 2-3 minutes, depending on microwave and burrito size.  

Chicken and Bean Burritos

Ross loves bread, specifically tortillas...and more specifically, he loves stuffing anything and everything into a tortilla. So, for him, burritos are an ideal meal! This week I had leftover borracho beans and crockpot rotisserie chicken. We put them into a tortilla and viola! Dinner is served. 

Ingredients

Borracho beans

Crockpot rotisserie chicken

Shredded Cheese

Tortillas

Lettuce

Chopped tomatoes

Salsa or hot sauce 

Directions

Warm borracho beans and crockpot chicken. Heat tortillas. Place all ingredients, in desired amounts, into tortilla. Roll and serve!

Chicken Pesto Pizza

Ross loves homemade pizza...like, a lot. I'm not that big on pepperoni and sausage pizza, so I like to make it with chicken, veggies and pesto instead! It is so yummy!




Ingredients

My Cracker Crispy Pizza Dough
Crockpot Rotisserie Chicken
1/2 jar of pesto; Classico is my favorite
1/2 bag shredded Italian cheese
Fresh mushrooms and spinach, or veggies of your choice

1- All you have to do is bake the crust on a pizza stone for about 7 minutes before you top it.
2- Remove crust from oven. Spread with pesto and top with toppings and cheese.
3- Continue baking for about 10 minutes or until cheese is golden brown.

Crockpot Rotisserie Chicken

I love using rotisserie chicken. It is very flavorful and has so much meat, but at about $7.00 a piece, it's not always a practical option....until now!!! I made this one in my crockpot for $3.80! That's almost half the price! Plus- the meat is so versatile. This week I used it in Chicken and Borracho Bean Burritos, but I also  use it in pasta, as a main dish, in salads, tacos, etc.

I bought:

1 whole fryer chicken ($3.00)

1/2 cup dry white wine or chicken broth (wine; $.80) 

I had on hand:

Olive oil

2 tbsp minced garlic

2 bay leaves

1 tsp dried rosemary

Cavendar's Greek Seasoning

Salt and pepper to taste 

 

1- Remove giblets from chicken and dispose. Rinse chicken and pat dry. 

2- Place chicken in crockpot and sprinkle well with salt, pepper and Cavendar's seasoning. Then drizzle with olive oil. 

3- Drizzle heated saute pan with olive oil.  Add garlic to pan and saute for about 30 seconds, or until fragrant. 

4- Add wine (or broth) to pan, along with all seasonings and stir. 

 

5- Pour wine mixture over chicken in crockpot. Cook over high heat for 3-4 hours or low for 5-6 hours, turning chicken over periodically. I try to keep the breast side down for the majority of the time so that it gets the most moisture. COOK TIME WILL VARY ACCORDING TO SIZE OF CHICKEN.

6- Remove chicken from bone and serve as desired. I made chicken and borracho bean burritos.

How to s-t-r-e-t-c-h your food budget

This week I set out on a mission. I wanted to make our food budget go as far as possible and I was blown away by what I accomplished! For under $20 I was able to make:

Monday:
1 huge pot of borracho beans and rice {LINK}

Tuesday: 
1 crockpot rotisserie chicken { LINK}
1 lunch of beans and rice
4 chicken and bean burritos {LINK}

Wednesday: 
1 lunch of beans, chicken and rice
1 pesto and chicken pizza {LINK}

Thursday:
5 frozen bean and cheese burritos to be eaten in the future {LINK}
1 dinner of leftovers

Borracho Beans

Beans are pretty much a staple when trying to cut the food budget. They are full of protein and fiber, low in fat and fill you up! If you are trying to save some money, have a meatless meal once a week! Ounce for ounce, beans are one the cheapest proteins you can serve! I served mine over rice for a total of $6.87, plus the leftovers lasted for 4 days and were incorporated into several other meals.



Borracho Beans ($6.35 total)

Items I purchased:
1 lb dried pinto beans ($1.15 lb)
1 32 oz container of chicken broth ($2.50)
1/4 lb bacon (optional...mine cost $1.00)
1 can beer (optional...$.70)
1 fresh chopped and seeded jalapeno (one pepper at $.02; $.99/lb)
1 can Rotel ($1.00)

Items I had on hand: 
1 tsp dried cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried or fresh cilantro 
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 medium onion, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

1- NIGHT BEFORE: Sort and rinse beans. Soak overnight in cool water. Cover beans by at least 2 inches because they will soak up lots.


2- DAY OF: Drain and rinse beans.

3- Chop and brown bacon in large soup pot, leaving fat in pan. When bacon is almost finished, add onions and brown. Add garlic and jalapeno and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

4- Pour in beer and chicken broth, stirring from the bottom to deglaze the pan. You want all of those bits and pieces to add extra flavor to your beans.

5- Add beans and all other ingredients to pot. If using fresh cilantro, wait to add it until right before serving.

6- Bring to a boil and let cook at low boil for about one hour. Then, reduce to simmer for 3-4 hours or until all beans are tender.

7- Serve over rice or quinoa. I made about $.50 of rice.

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