The Dinner Dilemma

One of the things I struggle with as a writer is being able to stay “in the zone” and still make my family feel loved and cared for. Although I may forget to sign a permission slip and or miss parent lunch once in awhile, my family always knows they can count on dinner together. So, for the last 10 years, I’ve taken an afternoon a month to sock away some meals in the freezer to streamline dinner preparation.

This quick and easy recipe, excerpted from my book The Occasional Cook, will yield dinner tonight – and two different meals to put in the freezer.

First, prepare this Basic Ground Beef Mixture:
5 lbs. ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
2 T minced garlic
salt and pepper to taste

Brown the beef with the other ingredients. Drain fat. Cool.
Now, here’s the fun part…. Prepare Popover Pizza for tonight and while it’s baking, use the remaining hamburger to whip up a batch of Tastee Joes and Taco Soup to stash in the freezer for later.

Popover Pizza
4 cups Basic Ground Beef mixture
2-3 cups spaghetti sauce, w/o meat
1 cup mozzarella cheese
1 can refrigerated crescent rolls
parmesan cheese

Mix sauce and beef. Spread in 9×13 pan. Top with cheese, then unrolled crescent rolls. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake 350 about 25 minutes. Enjoy!
Tastee Joes
4 cups Basic Ground Beef mixture
3 / 4 cup catsup
3 T mustard
1 T vinegar
2 T brown sugar
1 t Worcestershire sauce
1 bag hamburger buns

Put the hamburger in a 1 gallon freezer bag. Dump in all the rest of ingredients, except buns. Put buns and hamburger mixture in a 2 gallon freezer bag. Label. Freeze
To prepare… Thaw, heat beef mixture, simmer 5-10 minutes. Serve on buns. Enjoy!

Taco Soup
3 cups Basic Ground Beef mixture
1 16 oz can diced tomatoes
1 16 oz can diced tomatoes w/ green chilies
1 package taco seasoning
1 16 oz can kidney beans
1 16 oz can corn
1 T sugar
3-4 cups taco chips
1 cup cheddar cheese

Mix first seven ingredients in a 1 gallon freezer bag. Put cheese in a smaller freezer bag – and chips in a 1 gallon bag. Put everything in a 2 gallon bag. Label. Freeze.

To prepare: Thaw. Simmer soup for 15-20 minutes. To serve, top soup with chips, cheese and other Taco “fixin’s” such as sour cream and salsa. Enjoy!