Translation Please... Oh, That Was Easy!

I want you to know that Bag Mealing can be fun! I had a really great time the other day, going through my cookbooks and the recipes friends have given me. As you know, I currently have 7 different types of Meals. All of these recipes have been given to me by my friend, Heather. Once I have them all updated and complete, I will have 112 bags of food! I am currently 10 short of reaching that number. These 10 bags will be my priority this week and next, now that we've made it through the end of the year Holidays! But in order to create a long term goal and plan, I need to look ahead and create recipes for the meals I'll be bagging in the future. This is the part that gets you feeling pretty smart!

Make a list of the favorite meals in your house, and try to translate the ingredients over to ingredients that can be stored long term. If it calls for Chicken Breast, use Canned Chicken (this goes for almost any meat, just be sure to use good quality and trusted brands or your own canned meats); If you need milk, try evaporated or powdered milk; Eggs - powdered eggs; Did you know they make Powdered Butter!? Fresh Herbs, use a lesser amount of Dried Herbs. Then TEST IT! Make the recipe Storage and Flavor Perfect, BEFORE buying 10 (or in my case 16) of everything! Here is the list of meals I came up with. Many of these can be Freezer meals too! As I test each of these, I'll report on how well or lousy they turn out. This will be FUN!

All American Spaghetti

Beef Stroganoff

Pizza

Stuffing Casserole

Apricot Chicken

Tortilla Soup

Rice and Beans

Shredded BBQ Chicken or Pork

Chicken Chimichangas or Enchiladas

Shepherd's Pie

Tomato Basil Soup w/ Garlic & Herb Bread

Mexican Beef Stew

Beefy Spanish Rice

Cranberry Chicken

Chicken Alfredo Linguini

Southwest Chicken or Turkey Stew