100 Burritos

[sabrinamari]

This weekend I decided to work on 2 mini-projects at the same time:

1. Setting up a food schedule that supports my ramped-up fitness goals. The food must be healthy, calorie-controlled, and quickly available with minimum prep time.

2. Planning meals such that healthy eating is more cost-effective. Lean protein is usually expensive, and while vegetarian alternatives are more cost effective, the varieties I like the most require significant planning and prep work.



I bought multiple bags of mixed dried beans and soaked them, cooked them and made a HUGE pot of chili for lunchtime burritos. At the store, large packs of chicken and fish were on sale, so I bought them, processed them, marinated them and re-bagged them into dinner-sized portions.

My conclusions:

Dried beans make HUGE cooked portions. This kind of pre-work is very labor intensive. It's also time-intensive. I need to consult Karen about pressure cookers.

Looks like I will have made about 100 burritos when I am done and enough chicken for 6 family dinners and 4 fish dinners with leftovers.



The burritos are all high fiber, whole grain, use organic ingredients, have low fat content and are certified yummy.

Add a salad and drink and each burrito replaces a $5-$7 lunch, discouraging excess spending during the work day; they're also fast, healthy and easy vegetarian dinners.

But wow, I am tired! 100 burritos from scratch is alot of work!

Comments

[sligoe.livejournal.com]

A word of advice---cut down onthe amounts of raw ingredients you buy/have to process. You willget VERY tired of bean burritos in a short period of time---much shorter than you realize---and may wind up never finishing all 100. SO---start on a weekly basis. Maybe stretch it to two weeks. No more. Add more variety in how you prepare the dishes---you won't be so tired of it after two weeks of the same marinated chicken or fish!

Make your lean meat work for two different meals. Marinate and enjoy chicken tonight, and two days later have chicken hash, or chicken salad, or some other yummy treat that you can put together at the very last minute, pop into the oven and let it cook while you do your thing elswhere. Add a salad and presto! Dinner is served.

The idea is not to cook more---either in time or food quantity---but smarter, and let your efforts pay off in more than one way.

I can't imagine 100 bean burritos. I would be sick of looking at them after making them!

Give me a call for tips or tricks---having food service experience and raising 4 kids on extremely tight budgets really does give one a different perspective!

[sabrinamari.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I appreciate the advice, especially for stretching the protein to two meals. : )

We've been making these burritos---about 40 at a time---for 8 months or so, but using canned beans. I am very addicted to them, and for me, beans are a comfort food. I know that's odd, but I'm Latina. Usually, I run out of the ones I get to take to work/leave at home after about a month, and spend several weeks checking my freezer sadly to see if i missed any.

i know, I'm very odd!

I am hoping that this large batch will stretch for two months: enough to have 2-3x a week at work and 1-2x on a busy weekend, and still have plenty for Michael's work.

I did vary them, too: different whole grain wraps, different flavored cheeses, and different kinds of rice inside. I'm hopeful this will add interest over time. That was a good suggestion, too, by the way!

I used 4 different kinds of marinade for the chicken, and fish rub ;) for the fish, as well as one fish marinade.

Boy, was this alot of work!

Stretching the chicken and fish to more meals than planned is a very attractive way of making this work worthwhile!

[elphaba-of-oz.livejournal.com]

If you want to be REALLY healthy you could try sprouting your beans.

Dude, you could sell that shit. Seriously. The burrito I had to your house was delicious. Did you make that or was it packaged?

I've been thinking about available packaged food for dieters. I've done just about everything. I was on Nutrisystem for a while when I lived with the Mistake. I have done Jenny Craig. I even tried Zone Home Delivery for a while at my doorman building in New York. (Do NOT get me started on THAT! They just suck beyond all imaginations of suckage if you are vegitarian. They have no clue how to feed people who don't eat meat. The nutritional content of turkey is not equal to the nutritional content of tofurkey, idtiots!!!! And no, Meat loaf is not appropriate food for a vegitarian, thanks! And don't think you're going to make this OK by sending me an extra desert tomorrow, scum sucking pea brains. Oh I hate them soooo much!!!!! I was seriously considering complaining to the BBB.)

There is plenty of pre-packaged food for people who are trying to lose weight. There is no health food option, however. The pre-made diets have lots of sodium, white flour, sugar substitutes, high fructose corn syrup (cool whip, anyone?), chemicals, chemicals, chemicals. And forget it if you're vegetarian. Your meal options are severely limited.

My million dollar idea is home delivered, low calorie, portion controlled, high fiber, crap-free, healthy food with vegetarian options. NOBODY does this. If I lived in an urban area I would take a shot at it.

[vgnwtch.livejournal.com]

Once A Month Cooking is a great idea.

Pressure cookers: buy a new generation one - ancient ones from yard sales may work wonderfully, but they may not. Newer models have safety valves that ensure they don't explode. This page explains all.

You mention the economic benefits of vegetarian forms of protein. A pressure cooker makes using dried beans and lentil very easy to use. I find that chucking a load of lentils into a soup makes it thicker and ups the protein content (pound for pound, lentils have a higher protein content than beef), and the soup can be ready in minutes - if you're using dry rice or barley, just chuck it in with the other ingredients on high pressure for about 30 minutes; if you're using cooked, you're looking at 5 minutes on high pressure. Nuts and seeds are very high, and both quinoa and amaranth are seeds. They take a matter of minutes to cook (in a pressure cooker, 1 and 10 minutes respectively). Oats are also high in protein.

Also remember that there are lots of vegan athletes (Iron Men, ultramarathoners, power lifters, and body builders at international championship level) - and they find that the problem isn't so much protein, it's making sure they get enough carbs. Remember not to think of food in terms of being separate compartments: Protein is in all foods, it's just that some foods have higher levels of protein than others; if you're eating a balanced diet, you're getting plenty of protein, and it's easy to add in a few more servings if you want. Athletes do need that more in the way of protein than the rest of us, but not massively higher quantities - it's slow-burning whole grains and veg that give you energy, and exercise that builds muscle mass and bone density.

The Vegetarian & Vegan Foundation produces a factsheet for athletes
International bodybuilder Robert Cheeke has a website which includes articles on nutrition and a food log
Organic Athlete is an organisation of professional athletes including bodybuilders; they have articles on nutrition on the site
Pro Iron Man triathlete and ultramarathoner Brendan Brazier writes on nutrition
Carl Lewis talks about how poor many athletes' diets are in this youtube clip, and bodybuilder Kenneth G Williams talks a little about his diet in this clip.

I think there's a tendency for people - even veggie-friendly people - to think that veg*nism's more complicated than it is, and the protein thing is a big psychological barrier; the livestock and dairy industries have, after all, spent decades and billions of dollars telling us we need more of it and that their products are the best sources, and none of us escaped that message. Obviously, athletes put different demands on their bodies than most, but the vegan athletes whose articles I've written and who I've spoken with all say the same thing, which is that it's never as difficult as they thought it was going to be, and that you don't need loads of supplements or a gourmet chef to get you through, which I think that's pretty reassuring.

Go Sabri! You are an Amazon!

[elphaba-of-oz.livejournal.com]

When I lived in NY I had sushi for dinner 3 times a week. Almost always the same items. Never got tired of it. Miss it. Lots.

You are the gals to ask!

[oaktavia.livejournal.com]

I have to see where I can find a pressure cooker that I can afford (I don't want to do the old ones - I've seen one blow up when I was a kid, geez - M80's are less scary!) is there an online list of least expensives?
Also - since I think you'll both see this (since it's a reply to vgnwtch but it's posted in sabrinamari's LJ) I have two 1lb bags of dried beans (pinto & 'great northern beans' [which are white & same size as the pintos])... the bags only list soup & refried beans as possibilities - and tells you to "soak & rice" and assumes that you know the details of that process. :P
So... obviously, bagged beans are much cheaper (& healthier) than canned beans, so I want to make the switch - but I don't know the 'how' of it...
soaking: most sources say beans must soak 24-48 hours (crap! two days?!?) - but some sources say that you have to change the water every 6 hours... some sources say rinse the beans, others say that you can just cook them in the soaking water - too confusing... which is it?
ok - and how about the cooking part..? since I don't have a pressure cooker yet, do I have to cook the beans first for a while before I make chili out of them?
and if your using a pressure cooker - does that change the soaking time? or the rinsing process? (I get that it will change the cooking time - is there some kind of a conversion book available for "if you normally cook it 'this' long, then only cook it 'this' long in a pressure cooker"..?)
working on the cheap but healthy thing!

[flamespirit.livejournal.com]

I would buy from you.

[citabria]

How timely!

I'm going to be making some meat-based Indian curry this week, and the recipe I'm wanting to use is made for a pressure cooker. What's the equivalent (approximate) in non-pressure cooker time? (Actually, I just re-checked the recipe and it says cook under pressure "till meat is soft." That give a lot of guidance.)

[vgnwtch.livejournal.com]

A general rule of thumb is that a pressure cooker cooks roughly 3 times faster than the stovetop method. Going by that, you should triple the time and check?

[citabria]

Three times faster? I'd had no idea that the difference was that big!

Okay, I'm now going to be watching your response to Oaktavia about how to choose a good pressure cooker. Thanks!

[citabria]

I've never thought about making burritos from scratch and freezing them, but that's a brilliant idea!

I always feel wasteful when I buy Amy's Burritos, because they're ridiculously expensive per unit. Making them from scratch would definitely eliminate that, as well as allow for making slightly different types, like you did. Sharpies are your friend!

I now know what my March cooking project will be! (Though, I'll say up front, that I probably won't make anywhere close to 100 of them.)

Re: You are the gals to ask!

[vgnwtch.livejournal.com]

I have never come across the idea of soaking beans for more than 8-12 hours. "Overnight" is an easy rule of thumb; you can leave them for longer if you want to, in which case I would change the water - no need to otherwise. Another way is to chuck them in boiling water and boil for about 3 minutes, turn off the heat, and let the beans soak for 2-6 hours. In both cases, drain off the water and quickly rinse the beans before cooking. Just swish a bit of water over them, nothing big.

In the pressure cooker, you have 2 options:
* Soak the beans overnight/do the quick boil as per usual
* Do a "quick soak": cook them in the pressure cooker at high pressure for the specified length of time (usually 15-25 mins) for that bean

Once that's done, rinse and get cooking. I really recommend Lorna J Sass's Great Vegetarian Cooking Under Pressure - it's fucking fantastic. It explains everything you need to know about how to use a pressure cooker, including cooking time charts for beans and grains. And it's been around a while, so you can check it out from the library and have a really good poke about in it. I have never had a bad experience with that book, and the information's superb.

The rough rule of thumb is that pressure cookers cook 3 times faster than the stovetop. Red lentils are ready in 5 minutes using a pressure cooker - that's including getting it to high pressure, and using a "quick release" of the pressure - for example.

Hope that helps!

Re: You are the gals to ask!

[vgnwtch.livejournal.com]

On how to choose a pressure cooker, this is a decent, sane, sensible resource: http://homecooking.about.com/od/appliancecookery/a/choosepressure.htm

There are electric programmable ones now. I reckon that if you don't need an electric programmable something, you're best off not getting one - and I cannot see any reason why your average person would want one. Stainless steel's the way to go - make sure the cooker has a thick, heavy bottom to it. Clean-up's easy: put in a couple of cups of water, take to high pressure for a couple of minutes, and let water and steam do the hard work for you, even with really nasty crusten on burned bits (I speak from experience).

Mine's a 7-litre Kuhn Rikon Duromatic. It was on sale, and I had gift certificates for Amazon, so I spent $80 instead of the $175 they were asking (they're now $200). It was a birthday/anniversary/Yule gift. It came with a trivet, which is the only piece of equipment I've ever used with it - though, bear in mind that I don't cook meat, and I've never made dessert in it because I rarely bother with dessert other than fruit. It has been used to death and back, and the only part I've ever had to replace in almost 10 years was the tiny rubber ring round the pressure valve - it cost me £2 last year including postage, and they sent me extras. I love this thing. If I had to use any other piece of equipment with it, it would be a flame tamer, which is a thick, heavy slab of aluminium you put over the burner to diffuse the heat evenly. I've used my pressure cooker successfully for almost a decade on gas burners without one.

Erm, I think that's it. If I remember anything else, I'll let you know.

[vgnwtch.livejournal.com]

It depends on the pressure cooker - the higher the pressure, the faster the cooking, so when you're looking for a pressure cooker, looking at the higher end actually is your better bet.

Re: You are the gals to ask!

[vgnwtch.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I tend to use boiling water, too - get a jump on bringing the pot up to pressure, and make another cuppa while I'm at it. Always thinking, always thinking...

[warning-dca.livejournal.com]

sparkpeople.com - offers free help making meal plans and includes vegetarian and vegan plans to work from.. it's totally customizable, also lets yo make shoppinglists and everything - really, truly, worth the look into!

[sabrinamari.livejournal.com]

Oh my gods. Sushi.

Just had spicy tuna for lunch.

Re: You are the gals to ask!

[sabrinamari.livejournal.com]

Hey babe, I can tell you exactly what I did when we talk (can you find time this weekend, perhaps? I meant to try and call Tuesday eve, but collapsed from exhaustion almost as soon as I got the dinner dishes done.)

I used both of these beans in our chili, and can give you the whole recipe (with nutritional content, as soon as I add it up) if you like.

Plus, M. introduced me to "Chili-O" a hard to find spice that's probably more common in your neck of the woods---maybe you've seen it. It's impossible to get here unless you order it online and pay a big shipping cost. It's a key ingredient in this chili.

For soaking, I just soaked all the beans together over night, dumped all the water, rinsed them really, really well, then looked online for cooking instructions.

I found a page that said to put in 3x the volume of water to beans, tilt the lid until the pot boiled (so the bean skins wouldn't burst) then boil 'em for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. That worked OK, but my gods it took so much space! I used both our biggest pots and still had to do a second round of boiling with the last of the beans.

But I must say, the beans came out tasty!

[sabrinamari.livejournal.com]

I will post my recipe and its nutritional contents when I'm done doing the math for it.

Maybe you can learn from my mistak---experiences.

[sabrinamari.livejournal.com]

I know---Willow mentioned that site and I've been meaning to check it out since. I just need to set aside some time to explore it on a weekend.

Re: You are the gals to ask!

[sabrinamari.livejournal.com]

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I'm pretty sure I'm going to buy a pressure cooker as soon as i can budget it in sanely.

I so appreciate your detailed guidance, honey!

Re: You are the gals to ask!

[sabrinamari.livejournal.com]

OK, I looked at the Kuhn Rikon and I'm awe struck. I am willing to save up for it---my only worry is where to store it in our tiny apartment!

I will plan on getting a flame tamer, too.

Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience with us, love.

Re: You are the gals to ask!

[sabrinamari.livejournal.com]

Damn!

[sabrinamari.livejournal.com]

Cool! For now, I hope simply to feed you and your honey dinner at my place this spring. :)

[flamespirit.livejournal.com]

Now that would be really, really cool!