Pantry Bag Meals-A freezer Meal For those who don't have a freezer

I love a good freezer meal. I enjoy the peace of knowing that dinner is planned, prepared, and ready to go! What if one does not have a freezer or freezer space? No worries! There is a solution...

Pantry Bag Meals. 

This method only requires the space for the pre-cooked meat in the freezer and then when its time for dinner the rest of the ingredients are set a side ready to go. Just follow the simple instructions heat and eat. COOL!!  I have 12 recipes developed so far and 2 to share with you today. 

First is 

Taco Soup

Shopping list

1 lb hamburger or turkey burger

 1 onion, chopped

 1 (16 ounce) can chili beans, 

 1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans 

 1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, 

 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce

 1 29oz can peeled and diced tomatoes

 1 (4 ounce) can diced green chile peppers

 1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning mix

What to do

1. Precook the burger and onion drain and put in a freezer safe container and freeze.

2. Gather the canned goods and put in a bag or a different container of your choice

3. On the outside of the bag/container write or staple a printed sheet with these instructions....

Add 1 lb burger w onion from the freezer in a soup pot

Mix all the ingredients from the bag in with the burger, (do not drain the cans) add 2 cups of water. Heat through and eat!! 

(BTW we love to eat this soup with crushed tortilla chips and a little cheese sprinkled on the top)

The second is 

Hearty Bean Dip

(this recipe makes a great dip for chips or a filling for tortillas. Don't let the word Dip confuse you. It is hearty enough to make a meal. I promise.

Shopping list

1 lb burger

1 jar of your favorite salsa

1 large can of refried beans

1 lb cheese

Corn chips or tortillas or both :) 

PS the cheese, corn chips, and tortillas do not need to be purchased until you are ready to eat the recipe

1. Precook the burger, drain, and put in a freezer safe container and freeze.

2. Gather the canned goods and put in a bag or a different container of your choice

3. On the outside of the bag/container write or staple a printed sheet with these instructions....

Place 1 lb burger from the freezer in a pot, add salsa and beans and cheese from the fridge. Heat through. Serve with extra cheese sprinkled on top and corn chips or tortillas as a filling. 

These babies are going to waiting and ready for my family this coming holiday season! I've got 10 more recipes to get ready for my pantry and for you to see! Be watching!

ENJOY!

Loves,

Emily

I miss my kids!

I had a completely different post planned for today. I got home from work yesterday and after taking Nick to work I started working on something for le blog. Then the kids asked me to play with them. How could I say no? I dropped everything and played with them and read them some Harry Potter. It was the best! SO this post is going to be about me whining about missing my kids. You have been warned and I apologize in advance! 

Any other full time working mothers out there? Or part time? Or work from home mothers for that matter? Let me first say that I don't mind my job. I am grateful that I have it. It is helping to provide for my family and that is not something to sneeze at! It is a huge blessing that I know some people don't have. Again, I am grateful. 

That being said it is so hard! I miss my kids. So bad. It makes my heart ache to leave them. The place that I work has a rotating schedule so it is different every week. I don't have the luxury of having every weekend off. As a matter of fact this weekend will be my first off in two months. That is tough. It means that I miss out on lots of things that the kids and Nick get to do together. They are experiences that I am glad they get to have but I wanna go tooooooo!! It is a hard thing to have your son tell you that you need to quit your job. Or to have your daughter ask you to stay home from work most days. There is probably a good life lesson for them somewhere in there but all I can say to them is that I wish I could quit and stay home with them everyday too. They are getting tired of the "mommy has to do this to help take care of our family" line. It is the truth but it is no fun. Being a responsible adult sucks sometimes.

 The other issue is that when I do have a day off I stress out about it being fun and memorable. Anyone else have that problem? I am putting a lot of stress on all of us to have a fun time together. Which inevitably means that no one has a good time. The biggest of all ughs!! I need to get into the mindset of whatever happens happens and at least we are together. That is all I want really. I want to just be with them playing and reading Harry Potter.  

Don't even get me started on missing my husband. Oy. 

Okay I think my whining is over for today. And I promise to be back with a stellar post next time! Thanks for lending a listening ear. 

Any tips and advice? Does it ever get easier? Because quite frankly I feel like it is getting more and more difficult.