HaleyUntil now, I feel like the weekends have flown by and I’ve barely had a chance to make regular meals, let alone meals to freeze for after the baby arrives. So last weekend, I decided that I would take this past Friday off work to make sure I get some things done–even if it is relatively last-minute.
My goal was to make six different batches of freezer meals (two a day), and I’m happy to report that as of Sunday morning, batch No. 5 is simmering away.
On Friday, after researching what meals to make, getting my list of ingredients together and spending $170 in food, I came home and made a pot of Maple Bacon Butternut Squash Soup that my friend Lauren had recently sent my way.
(As robust as this list looks, I had to go to the store again on Saturday. And I had four packs of chicken breasts in the freezer, which I bought on sale a few weeks ago that helped to keep the cost down. I’d say that overall, these freezer meals would have totaled about $200.)
I had one bowl of the butternut squash soup for lunch, and froze the rest. It was quite tasty, making me wish I had doubled the recipe.
After tackling this first easy soup, I moved on to creating my own version of beef stew. I thought it was quite good–like pot roast but more flavorful. I’m pretty sure James agreed, as he managed to eat both portions I had saved for our lunch on Saturday.
Beef Stew
Ingredients:
- 3 cups celery
- 3 cups yellow onion
- 6 carrots
- 3 garlic cloves
- 2 to 3 tbsp coconut oil (or olive oil)
- 2 lbs beef stew meat
- 4 bacon strips
- 2 sweet potatoes
- 8 oz. can of no salt added tomato sauce
- 2 cans no salt added diced tomatoes
- 1 cup red wine
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 2 cans beef broth
- 1 tsp thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp rosemary
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
1. Dice celery, onions and carrots, mince garlic, then sauté in coconut oil roughly 10 minutes until onions are translucent.
2. Sauté stew meat and chopped bacon in skillet until slightly browned.
3. Add beef and remaining ingredients to sautéed veggies in pot.
4. Simmer for roughly 2 hours, until sauce thickens, sweet potatoes are soft and meat falls apart.
So simple, yet so tasty!
