42 Meals - 24 Hours 01/21/2012

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Whew!  Busy day!  Thirty four meals if your family is small.  I count a one-quart jar as one meal . . .  but my family uses at least two!  Here's what I got accomplished:

7 quarts chili = 7 meals
9 pints chili = 9 lunches
2 bowls chili (for supper!)
7 quarts bean soup (I used chicken broth instead of a ham bone!) = 7 meals
1 turkey = 3 meals:  dinner, sandwiches, soup
3 casseroles in foil pans in freezer = 3 meals
4 chicken breast meals:  10 pounds, $20, Each 5 pound bag divided into 2 meals
8 1/2 dozen frozen cookie dough balls
2 cakes uncooked in freezer
8 quarts Calico Beans = 8 meals
4 loaves bread

I started when I got home Friday afternoon from the whole "pick-up-the-kids-after-school-thing." I put a #10 can of dry pinto beans on the stove to boil.   I made up a big batch of homemade chili/taco seasoning, and then used that in a big batch of chili.  I used 8 pounds of ground turkey, 5 28-oz cans of stewed tomatoes, and about half of a #10 can of dry beans.  I was able to can all of it in two batches that evening, getting to bed by 11 pm.  While the chili was processing, I added chicken bouillon, tomatoes and some dehydrated onions to the rest of the beans.  I set that pan in the bed of the truck outside until morning (the big pot wouldn't fit in the fridge!)

The next morning, beginning around 9:30,I put the turkey in the roaster and the bean soup in the canner.  While it was processing, I put together 3 chicken casseroles in foil cake pans, baked them and put them in the freezer. 

Next was the calico beans.  I cooked the beans, assembled the recipe, and had them ready to go in the canner when the soup got out.

While the calico beans were processing, I mixed up a double batch of cake batter and put them in foil pans UN-baked in the freezer.  On a busy day, it's a simple thing to set one out in the morning, then bake it while you're eating dinner that night.  Fresh baked caked for dessert!  I also made up a quadruple batch of chocolate chip cookies, formed them into balls, and flash froze them.  I put 1 dozen balls in each freezer bag.  Now they're ready to be fresh baked in an evening when I've been gone all day!

Four loaves of bread baked with some extra flour ground to add to the freezer.  Everything was done and put away by 4 pm Saturday afternoon.