Meals For Mary

Subtitle: Good meals for a teacher who is going back to school very soon and will be so very tired when she comes home from work but still needs to eat a good supper and feed her handsome husband. Everyone can prepare these but Mistress Mary asked for this. These are comfort food meals that can be frozen after the initial prep or cooked completely and the leftovers frozen. If you spend 1 Saturday a month preping you can put 30 days of meals in the freezer and do only minimal work to put a nice well made supper on the table every evening. If you are cooking for 2 and not an entire family most recipes will make 3 or 4 meals -unless your husband is a big eater. Boys sure do eat alot. If you prefer to spread it out you can always put one meal in the freezer for later as you prepare the evening meal for that day. Well packaged foods will keep 6 months to 1 year in the freezer. It is a real treat to have the major portion of 10 - 15 meals already in freezer just waiting for the finishing touches of cooking. It really helps to be organized before you start meals that you plan to freeze for later. Keep in your pantry a variety of ziplock bags and the disposable containers -which are reusable. For soups and stews that are completely cooked you can freeze those in single serving size dishes or 1 large dish. Casseroles are best frozen as 1 dish. Many things can be prepped and placed in gallon and quart size bags and then all the bags for a meal placed inside a larger 2 gallon bag and labled. Remember you don't have to throw out those 2 gallon bags when you cook the meal. Turn them inside out and run through the dishwasher and use them again. You are only using them to bundle bags of ingredients for a meal not to actually put the raw food in. I also like to cook in a crockpot. I prefer the crockpots with the removable ceraminc dish. This way you can prepare the recipe the night before and put it in the refrigerator. The next morning you take it out, set it on the cooking base, set it to low and go to work. When you come home you have a wonderful meal ready and it takes only minimal effort to set the table, lay out some bread or toss a salad to accompany your crockpot dish. Thinking of back to school has put me in mind of fall which makes me want to cook heavier meals for those cool evenings. I hope this first batch of meals appeals to your appetite. Beef Stew in a Crockpot 6 - 8 servings 1 lb stew beef 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce 2 tbsp A1 steak sauce 1 tsp salt 1 tsp garlic powder 3 cups potatoes, cut into bite size pieces 2 cups carrots, cut into 1 inch pieces 1 medium onion, chopped 1 bay leaf 1 can whole tomatoes water or broth Mix the beef, worcestshire sauce, A1 steak sauce, salt and garlic powder. Coating the beef well. Set aside. Spray your crockpot with cooking spray. Put in the potatoes, then the carrots, pour the meat mixture next, the can of tomatoes, the onions, cover with water or broth, then lay the bay leaf on top. Replace the cover and cook on low for 8 hours. Remove the bay leaf. Stir the stew to mix ingredients. Keep a few boxes of jiffy corn muffin mix on hand and bake up corn muffins to go with the beef stew. A nice pot of white rice would be good too. Put the leftovers in a freezer container, label, date, and freeze. You can also freeze any leftover corn muffins too. Leftovers make 1 or 2 meals to put in the freezer. Lasagne in a Crockpot 1 1/2 lbs ground beef 1 medium onion chopped 2 cans Hunts or Delmonte spaghetti sauce (yes, this is cheating) 4 cups grated mozzarella cheese 12 American cheese slices 2 lbs pasta, I use rotini -the corkscrew pasta Add the pasta to boiling salted water and cook for 4 minutes. Drain and run cold water over the pasta to cool and stop the cooking process. Set aside to drain well. Brown the hamburger and the onion in a skillet. Drain well. Set aside to cool. When cooled add the pasta, hamburger mixture and sauce in a large pan combining well. Divide in half. Place each half in a 1 gallon freezer bag. Place 2 cups of the mozzarella in a small freezer bag as well as 6 cheese slices. In a 2 gallon freezer bag place 1 each of these bags all inside. Lable: "Crockpot Lasagne". Place in your freezer. This is 2 separate lasagne meals stashed for later. When ready to cook, thaw 1 of the meals in the refrigerator. Spray the crockpot with nonstick cooking spray. Add one half the meat and pasta mixture, layer on 3 of the cheese slices and 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese. Repeat with the other half. Cook on low for 2 hours. Serve with a nice green salad and bread. Shredded Roast Beef Sandwiches 1 3-4lbs roast beef - I like a chuck roast 3 medium onions sliced thinly 1 8oz can tomato sauce 1/4 cup soy sauce (I use a Phillipine soy sauce not kikoman and the other grocery store brands, they are too over powering for my taste) 1 - 2 cloves garlic, crushed 3/4 cup water Spray the crockpot with nonstick cooking spray. Add the onions in the bottom, the roast and pour over the other ingredients. Cook on low for 8 - 10 hours. Remove the roast from the pot. Remove the onions. Drain the broth and put it in the freezer to cool so that the fat will rise and you can skim it off. Using 2 forks shred the beef. Mix it with the broth and onions. Line a muffin pan with muffin cups and pack each one full of the beef and onion mixture. Freeze until solid. Place the cups in a large freezer bag. Lable and date the bag. Each muffin cup is 1 serving for a sandwich. Take out the number of servings you need for a meal. Thaw and remove the paper cup. Reheat the meat until it is piping hot. Fill a fresh bun with the beef and onion filling, add a slice of your favorite cheese. Serve with chips or fries or a steamed vegetable. Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole 5 boneless chicken breasts, boiled 1 can cream of chicken soup 8 ounces sour cream 2 cans artichoke hearts, drained 4 cups Ritz crackers 1 stick butter, melted 1 tablespoon poppy seeds 2 8x8 Glad Ovenware with lids Cut chicken breasts up into small chunks. Coat a casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray or butter. Mix together chicken, cream of chicken soup and sour cream. Pour half of this mixture into each of the Glad Ovenware pans and spread evenly. Crush crackers and mix with melted butter. Spoon cracker mixture over each pan of chicken mixture. Sprinkle poppy seeds on top. Put the lid on pan, lable and place in the freezer. When you are ready to cook, thaw the casserole in the refrigerator. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until lightly browned. This is an excellent casserole to serve with a salad made of baby spinach leaves and dressed with a little olive oil and a squeeze of lemon. You can also freeze the butter and crackers separately and add them to the top of the casserole the day you decide to bake it. Stuffed Bell Peppers 4 fresh bell peppers 1 lbs ground beef 1/4 cup chopped onion 1 clove crushed garlic 1 1/2 cup long grain rice 1 15oz can diced tomatoes 1 tsp Italian seasoning 1 8oz can tomato sauce Cut the tops from the peppers and remove the seeds and membranes. Rinse. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Drop in the peppers and cook for 5 minutes. Remove and drain well. Brown the beef, onion and garlic. Drain. Cook the rice half of the recommended cooking time in boiling salted water. Drain the diced tomatoes making sure you reserve the juice. In a large dish mix the beef, rice, tomatoes and italian seasoning until well combined. Stuff into the bell peppers. Mix the tomato sauce, the juice from the diced tomatoes and another 1 tsp italian seasoning. Place 2 peppers in a freezer bad. Place half the sauce mix into a quart freezer bag. Place both bags into a 2 gallon size freezer bag. Lable and date the bag. Place in the freezer. When ready to cook thaw in the refrigerator. Place the 2 peppers in a baking dish and pour the sauce over the top. Bake uncovered for 35 minutes at 350 degrees. You can also top the peppers with grated cheese near the end of the cooking time. Meatloaf 2 lbs ground beef 1 envelope Lipton onion soup mix 1 1/2 cups bread crumbs 2 eggs 3/4 cup water 1/3 cup ketchup Mix all ingredients. Shape into 2 loaves. Wrap in heavy duty Reynolds aluminum foil. Lable and date. Place in the freezer. When you are ready to cook, thaw in the refrigerator. Place wrapped meatloaf on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hour. While the meatloaf is baking peel 1 potato for each person eating supper and add 1 potato for the pot. Dice and boil until soft. Drain. To the hot potatoes add a dollop of butter, a nice spoonful of sour cream, salt and pepper to taste and a splash of milk and mash well. Steam a green veggie in the microwave. Usually a serving for 4 of any frozen green vegetable will cook to perfection in 7 minutes in a glass dish with a cover. The great thing about meatloaf is that you can cook it the night before and reheat the package the next evening for supper and it will taste freshly baked. Georgia Style Po' Boy 1 lb large shrimp Hoagie Rolls or a loaf of french bread cut into nice sandwich size lengths Tartar Sauce Lettuce Tomato Roll the shrimp in Zaterains southern seafood breader. Fry shrimp as directed. Split the rolls for each person and spread tartar sauce (or mayonnaise) on both sides. Fill with a layer of shredded lettuce and sliced tomato. sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Stuff the sandwich full of the hot fried shrimp. Serve with fries and slaw -see my recipe below that I have posted before. Coleslaw 1/2 head small cabbage, shredded 1/4 - 1/2 small onion finely chopped 1/2 cup dill pickle relish 1 tbsp sugar 1 tbsp vinegar Salt and pepper Duke's Mayonnaise Mix the sugar with the vinegar and pour over the cabbage. Mix well. Add pickles, onion, salt and pepper. Mix well. Use the maynnaise sparingly but start out with a good heaping spoonful. If you need more add it. This part is really how creamy you like your slaw. I don't buy those prepared mixes for slaw. I don't think the cabbage tastes the same in comparison to a fresh head you have shredded yourself. Sometimes I add carrot, sometimes I don't. The carrot doesn't really add anything but color. I also have a large electric roaster. It will hold 4 whole chickens at once. When I cook chicken I always do 4 and put 3 and the broth in the freezer. At a later time if I want to make chicken salad I already have the fully cooked chicken in the freezer. I just thaw and pick the meat from the bone. If I want chicken stew I thaw the chicken and broth add vegetables and simmer. If the kids want fajitas I thaw the chicken, pick the meat and prepare the meal. It saves heaps of time having the chickens fully cooked and in the freezer. I hope this makes you all hungry. I hope this makes it easier for you to eat well when you go back to work, Mary.