Meals For A Week

New meal preparation services are cropping up that offer the convenience of pick-up meals, or full days of food preparation when a week's worth of meals are made and frozen for later consumption. Toward that goal, several meals were prepared today to be consumed over the next week. The cook-a-thon resulted in a huge pot of chili simmering on the stove, turkey and ground beef meatloaf baking in the oven, egg salad cooling in the refrig, and a savory beef stew slowing cooking. Preparing food for a meal-a-thon was a challenge. Gathering all the needed ingredients was the real chore, along with chopping twelve onions and stopping to wipe away onion tears. Fifteen stalks of celery were cut and six red, yellow and orange peppers were cleaned and chopped. Previously cleaned garlic was chopped and added to the mixture. A large pan sauteed the onion-celery-pepper-garlic mixture; salt and pepper were lightly added. The mixture was divided and more pans were dirtied as the meal-a-thon continued, quickly turning into a mess-a-thon.

Chili, previously discussed here was the first meal prepared. To a large pot was added ground turkey, onion, pepper and garlic sauteed until the turkey was fully cooked. Cans of black beans, white beans, kidney beans and small red beans were added. A large can of diced tomatoes, a cup of V-8 juice, some chili seasoning and the chili was simmering. On to the meatloaf. Three pounds of ground turkey and ground chuck, onions, garlic, 1/4 cup of dill, salt and pepper, 2 eggs, 1/4 cup milk and 2 large pita loaves were dried in the microwave then crumbled and added to the meatloaf mixture. The loaf was coaxed into an olive oiled dish, baked at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes, then covered with tinfoil and refrigerated. Whether eaten immediately or used later in lunch-to-go sandwiches, who wouldn't enjoy the comfort of meatloaf?

Easy egg salad was next. Ten eggs were cooked, cooled, peeled, chopped and mixed with mayonnaise, onion, dill and a drop of mustard. Once mixed it was ready to eat and will last two or three days. The beef stew was the challenge. The onions, peppers, garlic, celery and golden potatoes were cleaned, cut and ready to use. The previously frozen rib-eye steaks had defrosted in zip-lock bags. The beef was cut into 2 inch cubes and browned on all sides with the onion and garlic, then placed in a large pot (corning ware variety) with a cover. Five tablespoons of flour and 1 to 1-1/2 cups of red wine were added, along with a 15 ounce can of MSG free chicken broth. A few more herbs: 1 teaspoon of thyme, one bay leaf (to be removed before serving), and the stew cooked on the stove for 2 to 3 hours on medium heat. The cut up potatoes, a few carrots, some peas, and a rutabaga or parsnip were added and simmered an additional 45 minutes. Done, and pretty good, too. The cook-a-thon took three hours; the clean-a-thon took forty minutes. Several meals were completed and ready to be served. While the meal-a-thon is over, it's time to eat.
Photo attribution: somewhat frank