With only 6.5 weeks until Baby Girl Barker gets here, I am already planning for my down time. I was not expecting the down time with William, but fortunately had food already for the hubby to make. I am hoping to be just as prepared this time as well!
One of the best ways to prepare for this (because Sean does NOT cook) is to make meals ahead of time, and freeze them! Then all he has to do is pull it out of the freezer, put it in the microwave or oven, and viola! Dinner is served.
I thought I would share these recipes with you as I get them ready. They are so simple and even great for those days you “forget” to plan dinner!
Easy Taco Soup:
1 lb ground hamburger
1 can kidney beans (undrained)
1 can corn (undrained)
2 cans diced tomatos (undrained)
1 can tomato sauce
1/2 package of taco seasoning
Brown the meat and drain all excess liquid.
Then in a a large pot combine meat, beans, corn, tomatos, tomato sauce, and taco seasoning. Let the soup simmer and “marry” in flavors.
Serve topped with cheese, sour cream, and crushed up frito chips.
I always double the recipe so that we can eat it for that night’s dinner, and then freeze all the leftovers.
If you are going to freeze the soup, there’s 2 great ways to do it.
You can put it in any freezer safe container that will stack easily and put a piece of tape on it with the date on it.
Or, you can wait until the soup cools and place it in a ziplock bag and label the bag with the date.
(I put them in sandwich size baggies so that I can pull them out even for lunch and have a single serving)
After taking all the air out of the baggie, lay flat and freeze. After it is frozen, you can stand the bag of soup up on end and it takes up very little space!
This may seem weird but we make this exact same recipe but add a titch of brown sugar for a little sweetness behind the spice. I also just add the seasoning to taste. I think it usually ends up being 3/4 of the package. But we love the brown sugar.