Recipes for Marathon Meals

Here are the recipes for my Marathon Meals. 

Taco Soup

2 pounds lean ground beef, cooked and drained
2 cans corn or Mexican Fiesta Corn
1 can Rotel
2 (15 ounce) cans canned tomatoes
2 cans pinto beans
2 cans kidney beans
Taco Seasoning to taste (This simple recipe is AMAZING!)
1 package Ranch dressing mix

Combine all ingredients, simmer 45 minutes, serve.

Wendy's Chili

Trust me, just make this chili, found here. And use an 8 quart stock pot like she says. Otherwise, it ends up on the floor (not that I would know or anything.)

Chicken Casserole

2 pounds of chicken ~ You can use whatever you prefer ~ I use whatever is on sale. This week it was chicken thighs.
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1/2 small onion (or to taste), diced
1 bag stuffing (your choice, I use Herb Stuffing by Pepperidge Farms)
1 cup melted butter
1 can of chicken broth, or 4-6 cubes of homemade chicken stock


Boil chicken until done. In the meantime, combine stuffing and butter. Place 2/3 of stuffing on bottom of plan. Once chicken is done, cut it up and place on top of stuffing. Top with chopped onion, then both cans of cream of chicken soup. Top with remaining stuffing, and pour chicken stock/broth on top of entire casserole. Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes.

Beef Enchilada Casserole

Beef Enchilada Casserole is basically beef enchiladas, just not rolled up into enchilada form. We have a large family and can fit much more into a pan this way.

1-2 pounds lean ground beef, cooked and drained
Taco seasoning, to taste
6 large flour tortillas
1 large can enchilada sauce
2 cups mexican cheese (or whatever cheese you choose)

Season cooked ground beef with taco seasoning to taste. Place 2 tortillas in bottom of large baking dish (9x13, 8 1/2x11, etc). Place 1/2 of ground beef mixture on top, then cover with 1/3 of cheese. Repeat once more. Finish off with 2 tortillas on top, followed by enchilada sauce and cheese. Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes, or until cheese is melted and casserole is golden brown.

I serve this with lettuce, tomatoes, and light sour cream.

Breakfast Burritos

These are a favorite at our house! This recipe is for serving 6.

3/4-1 pound breakfast sausage
12 eggs
1 cup mild cheddar cheese
6-8 tortillas
salsa

Cook breakfast sausage until done; add eggs. Scramble well, cook until desired consistency. Add cheese. Fill tortillas, and top with salsa before serving. If making these for freezer meal breakfasts, do not add salsa until served.

Hope these meals serve you as well as they have served my family!

Marathon Meals

I have the best intentions for creating healthy, well balanced meals for my family every night. Lean meat with healthy portions of fresh vegetables. Food prepared by me, for my family.

 As the saying goes, "The road to hell is paved with the best intentions"

Some days, time gets away from me. And to be honest, some days I just do not want to cook. Unhealthy options have become limitless. Dollar Menus, Value Menus,  $.99 Menus, BOGO pizza... Can you tell we frequent these places too often?  I know who has the best deal on food most days of the week.

However, I have seen what I consider a "new craze" (yes, I know my hipster talk has your attention) on Pinterest. I haven't seen a name for it yet, but I'm calling it Marathon Meals.

If your heart just fell, take note: these meals have nothing to do with running 26.2 miles, or preparing to run 26.2 miles.

The basic idea is this: You dedicate a block of time to prepare a large number of meals, then freeze them. On days where cooking is out, eating well doesn't have to be.

I read the recipes that some use to do this, but ultimately thought about my own favorite recipes that would probably freeze well. I tried to stick with things that were similar, because that seems like it makes the prep that much easier.

Here is what I came up with. (Most bloggers would insert some photos here, but I honestly just didn't think about it when I was cooking. Next time!)

Taco Soup
Chili
Chicken Casserole
Beef Enchilada Casserole
Breakfast Burritos

Click here for a link to the recipes.

The biggest bulk of the recipes is ground beef. Ground beef is easy to work with and we love it. I always buy the leanest I can find, never going below 93% lean. Ask your local meat department when they mark their meat down, and buy it on sale. When I do that, the meat is even cheaper than the regular priced 70% lean (that just sounds wrong ~ 70% lean?!)

I cooked the ground beef (about 9 pounds total) all together, then divided it up between the recipes that called for it. While I was cooking the ground beef, I also had chicken cooking for the chicken casserole.  This way, basically all that is left for the first four meals is assembly. Cooking the meat portion took all of about 20 minutes.

Then I broke out the stock pots and disposable aluminum pans. In one stock pot, all the ingredients for Taco Soup. In the other, Chili. Two aluminum pans got Chicken Casserole, and two others got Beef Enchilada Casserole. I covered them with aluminum foil, labeled what they were and the date, and they went into the freezer.

While the soup and chili simmered, I reserved the chicken broth ~ from the chicken prepared for the casserole ~ into an ice tray.The next day I put the frozen cubes into a freezer bag. Voila! Perfect chicken stock, and I know exactly what is in it. Be prepared to never use that tray for anything other than preparing chicken stock, however. No matter how much you wash it, the smell is never going away.

Then I started on the Breakfast Burritos. Those took about 30 minutes, tops. I placed the filling inside the tortillas, rolled them up, and placed them in freezer bags.

All that was left was the Taco Soup and Chili. I filled up gallon size Ziploc bags, 2 with Taco Soup, and 3 with Chili., laid them flat in the freezer (so they take up less space once frozen solid), and cleaned the stock pots.

In less than 2 hours, I had 9 dinners for a family of 6 and 20 breakfast burritos made, as well as a clean kitchen. Now on those days where I don't feel like cooking, I can just pull out one of our "Marathon Meal" dinners!

Not Prude, Just Private

Have you ever gone into a store kicking and screaming, because you absolutely did not want to be seen in that store? I mean, what is the off chance you may or may not see someone ~ who you may or may not know ~ and you may or may not ever see that person again, right? Why chance the awkward embarrassment that will inevitably follow when, if you have my luck, you see them there and then again at your child's school program?

I like to remain anonymous. Better to just order stuff online.

Unless you wait until the last minute. Which is exactly what I did.

I pulled into our local "Adult Fun Time" store and parked right in front of the sign that says, "Monitored by Electronic Surveillance 24/7."

So much for remaining anonymous. However, I realize that unless something goes down while I'm there, chances are the tapes will not be reviewed. I take a deep breath, get out of the car and head inside.

I stepped inside and looked around, immediately assessing who is in the store. And by who, I mean I am checking to see how many men are in the store and where they are located. Because shopping for "Adult Fun Time" items without dying from embarrassment requires there be only women around. I would prefer no one, but I can get through it without need of a paper bag for hyperventilation so long as only women are present.

At the cash register is a man and woman, checking out. My first thought is, "Good, at least they will be gone soon, and probably won't even notice I'm here."

Wrong.

Happy Employee #1 spots me and says in her loudest voice, "Hey! Welcome to Adult Fun Time!"

Mortified. Yes, that about sums up my feelings at that moment. I wanted to yell back at her, "This is NOT Moe's! I do NOT need you to greet me from across the store and draw attention to me!" However, I smile politely back and avoid eye contact with anyone.

That lasts about 90 seconds. Then I am approached by Happy Employee #2, who asks me if I need help finding anything. Ha! As if I would ever tell anyone (except for my husband) what I am here for. I use the reliable, super-cool, "No, I'm just looking," line.

I'm sure these Happy Employees must have had a class on how to not laugh at the customer while they are around. Perhaps my picture was on the slideshow during the presentation.

I peruse the aisles, waiting patiently for the man and woman at the cash register to leave, because what if they have the entire store memorized and they know what section I am in?

By this point I feel like I should have worn a sign that says "Super-Prude."

About 5 minutes later, I realize the man and woman still have not left. Seriously, how long does it take to check out? Then I hear the conversation the woman is having with Happy Employee #1.

"Yeah, he doesn't pull out. I haven't seen his sperm in years."

Oh. My. Sweet. God. I want to plug my ears and sing a happy song, but I realize that will make me seem even more "off" than I already seem. I try desperately not to hear any more, but with the woman talking loudly, it is pretty difficult not to hear what she has to say about her husband. To the complete stranger that is the cashier. With her husband standing right there.

I'm pretty sure I was in The Twilight Zone.

And then I wonder, did this cashier know she was also going to be a sex therapist when she signed on to work for Adult Fun Time for minimum wage?

At this point, I have to choose my items and get out of there before I have an anxiety attack. I pick up my purchases and head to the cash register, where the man and woman are still standing. By now, I would pay them to leave.

As I walk up to stand behind them in line, they leave. Finally. Then I realize Happy Employee #1 may ask me personal questions and expect me to talk to her like the previous customers did. Panic!!!

However, she remembers seeing my picture on the slideshow and doesn't press the issue. Whew, crisis averted.

This, my friends, is why I do not shop in certain stores and order online instead. And I will never procrastinate again. At least when it concerns Adult Fun Time.