Blessings From Home

Multi-Meals

I wanted to share something I like doing...I call it multi meals. Someone else may call it something else, but that's the best I could come up with.  It's kind of like freezer cooking, only you don't have to cook all day or make a whole extra batch of what your cooking. For instance....my family likes nachos. So if I know we'll be wanting that, then I plan my menu around that.

One thing we like to do is mix a pound of hamburger meat mixed with salsa for the nachos, so at the first of the week, I make sloppy jose's, which is just that, hamburger meat mixed with salsa. I brown 2 pounds intead of one, add my salsa, and freeze half the meat for later.

Another thing we use is pinto beans, so about halfway through the week, I make up a big pot of pinto beans, and we save half of them with the juice and freeze for later, and the other half we have for dinner, usually with some spinach salad and some cornbread.

Then come the weekend, I pull both of those out of the freezer, heat them and layer them in my pan for nachos and add whatever else you want on top.

And you don't have to have all those meals in a weeks time, but we usually do.

Another multi meal we like to make starts with pot roast. I usually buy about a 5 pound pot roast (that feeds the 5 of us for what we're going to make with it) and the first night, I make pot roast, I use my favorite recipe and usually add some carrots and onions in to cook with it. Also that night, I make a large batch of mash potatoes, enough to have plenty of leftovers. That's the first night's meal. After we're done, I take all the meat left and shred it, and cut the rest of the veggies up if I need to. And save any leftover liquid from cooking that I have.  Then you can freeze it for later or leave it out for the next night's meal, which is what we usually do. And don't forget to save your leftover potatoes.

The next meal we make is stew. I take my shredded roast, my leftover veggies, and I add more veggies, like corn and peas and whatever else I have on hand. I add more water or sometimes I just drain the juice from the veggies for the extra water. I usually  serve this with cornbread and maybe a side salad. Save your leftovers. 

The third meal  we make is shepard's pie. I take my leftover stew and drain off some of the liquid and put it in a greased pan. If it's still too water, I will mix in some potato flakes or a little flour to thicken it. Then top it off with your leftover potatos and some cheese. Put it in the oven at 350 for about 30-45 minutes.

And there you have it. My multi meals. Thanks for letting me share.

Blessings,

Sara