Meal Prep Basics: Breakfast Burritos
Convenience is key.
A little work now for a simple payoff later and cost saving. If you bought a burrito 4 days a week for the cost of $6 a burrito (before tax or discounts) it would be $24 a week, if you did that for 52 weeks it would be roughly $1,248 for the year. Compare that to a burrito you can make at home for $2 (or less) for the same 4 days a week and 52 weeks that would come out to $416. That's a savings of at least $832.
My top tips are as followed.
1) Buy your eggs in bulk if possible. The eggs in this scenario is a 60 count pack from Walmart, everyone has a Walmart so that is why I used Walmart in this scenario. I'm in no way sponsored but there is even a Walmart in the little town I grew up in, in Arizona. So we will use Walmart and great value brand unless other specified. A 60 count at the time of writing this cost $11.24 and of course you could make 60 burritos with 60 eggs, especially when you add Ingredients. The same with the tortillas, I found a 24 count medium burritos size tortillas for $7.15 so that's .30 cents a tortilla. The ones we have in the video actually came from a food box, and we got a ton of them so I'll be using them until they are gone. Also, kudos to you if you have chickens or have an egg hook up either from a coworker or a favorite booth at your farmers market. 😉 you can get eggs under $0.19 for sure but this is where we go to tip number 2.
2) Add ingredients you enjoy and are on sale or bulk if possible. Again the bulk options will bring you to mere cents for items like bacon, sausage, cheese and potatoes. Anything else you enjoy, I have an option where we use spam (which was gifted but I still figured out the cost). The Jimmy Dean sausage we use in the video I only priced the single product at the price it was as of writing this but in the moment that was a free product just by using the stores app, many stores have apps and if you are using them right you can earn free product and get product for mere cents again.
3) I mentioned it above but use store apps and cash back apps like Ibotta or Fetch. Using these apps you get cash back, special coupons and more just for buying the things you already are going to buy. If you want to maximize your cash back look at the apps while your making your grocery list.
3) Maximize your grocery list. We talked about meal planning in our last meal prep blog but maximize your list by buying the ingredients for several meals. If you're only going to use half an onion, use the other half in your breakfast prep. Below I have listed the ingredients that are good to have on hand and in the scenario I did them as if you only bought those at one time.
4) Shop your pantry and freezer. This may seem like a no brainer but go through your existing food before buying more food, this not only saves money but it does help with food waste in the end. Did you stock up on that back to school sale last August and immediately freeze it all? Me too, we were able to shop not only breakfast protein for our prep but we were able to do a full clean out and had lunch and dinner protein for a week (that included some easy meals like air fryer chicken strips) just to make room and reorganize for more sales. I constantly say I need more room in our freezer but I know I need to shop my freezer more, which is in the end cost saving. You bought it at a major discount sometimes for cents on the dollar, even though it's cents you don't want it to go bad. Food waste is a big pollution issue since food isn't designed to be in the landfill, and unless you have a way to do so, you can't compost meat in your backyard garden.
These are probably my biggest tips, tried and true. We have time and time again tried to revamp our budget and time and time again we have failed (because of overspending) but after time these tips became second nature. As I mentioned we have discussed needing another freezer, we have one small chest freezer along with our 1990's Era side by side fridge and freezer. It's limited space but forces us to be more mindful with what we have and what we waste. If your doing a clean out and find that super expensive (bought on discount) London broil all freezer burned, what was the good of buying it? Yes, as long as it's wrapped correctly you can still eat it. But taste will sometimes diminish.
In another blog we will talk about how to inventory our food and produce, from an old fast food employee and whole foods nutrition coach (aka me) because there is so much info that this blog could go on forever if we put it in here.
Great buy supplies. If bought together for $36.15, this way you have supplies for the next few preps. If you buy two packs of the 24 count tortillas you can prep 48 burritos right away, three packs you will have 12 tortillas left over. This also gives you a great base to do more burritos or even dinner burritos later in the week. 3 packs of the 24 count tortillas would cost $21.24 bringing the overall price if bought together $50.45. Also take into account what you already have in your pantry and freezer.
Here are some of the scenarios I Worked Out.
These numbers are again using the cheapest prices I could find in my area which were mostly Walmart. I am not sponsored, I just like saving some money.
60 count great value eggs $11.24
(Broken down to $0.19 c an egg)
Cheese 1 lb block $3.68
Tortillas 24 count $7.15
Canned spinach $1.32
Frozen spinach $1.24
Frozen potatoes O'Brian mix $4.47
Potatoes 5 lb bag $3.47
Spam $3.58
Spam and Egg Burrito. That Mom Mercedes
Spam and egg burritos. Total cost $17.53
Spam $3.58
Eggs $3.12
Cheese $3.68
Tortillas $7.15
Cost per burrito when making 12 $1.46
Breakfast Burritos getting ready for the fridge, the storage bag is Stasher Bag and they are my absolute favorite eco friendly reusable bag.
Chorizo burritos. Total cost $15.53
Chorizo 1 lb $1.58
Eggs $3.12
Cheese $3.68
Tortillas $7.15
Cost per burrito when making 12 $1.29
Breakfast Burritos stored in Ello Brand Bags.
Egg and Potato burrito. Total cost $17.42
Eggs $3.12
Potatoes $3.47
Cheese $3.68
Tortillas $7.15
Cost per burrito when making 12 $1.45
The Video mentions getting two types of food boxes one from the 3000 Club or Market On The Move and the Pentecostals Of Phoenix or POP Church.
Thank you for making it all the way to the end of this blog, I really hope you are able to take this and save some money this year while also being able to keep to your dietary choices and health goals intact.
Many Blessings,
Mercedes.
