My Mid-Sized Meal Mash-Up Recipe

So, here is a quick overview of the recipe that I use to make this batch of food that can feed me for a week or more, out of food you can store without a fridge.

To be clear, after you cook it you will need to refrigerate or freeze it, but you knew that. The ingredients, before cooking them, most of them, you can store in the cupboard or other cabinet.

So, first let’s list off the ingredients:

• 1 Pound of Lean Ground Beef (must be refrigerated before cooking)

• 1 Pound (or so) of Hash Browns. 

• 1 Can of Chilli 

• 1 Can of Mixed Vegetables

• 1 Can of Beef Stew

• 4 boxes of Mac N’ Cheese

• 2 Packets of Taco Seasoning

You will also need (equipment):

• 1 frying pan (Medium to large)

• 1 pot (the large one . . . nope, the bigger one)

The first thing we do is to brown the pound of Ground Beef in the Frying Pan (duh). Once it is browned and cooked, add the Hash Browns to at least double the volume in the pan.

Then mix in the packets of Taco Seasoning, making sure to add smaller amounts and mix that in before adding more. 

This “dry mixing” or rather “moist mixing” ensures that the Taco Seasoning is evenly distributed throughout the beef/hash brown mixture.

Then add water so as to have at least an inch of water in the pan and simmer for a few minutes. 

Transfer this mixture to the large pot. 

Add in the: Chilli, Mixed Vegetables (draining water first), and the Beef Stew and simmer for a few minutes and then put aside.

Make the four boxes of Mac N’ Cheese as normal and mix into the pot. Ensure that the whole mixture is well mixed up.

Put in the fridge and set it aside for a day. This will allow all of the solid bits to soak up the liquid bits. Thereby giving each solid bit a burst of flavour. 

At this point you can measure the mixture out into meal-sized portions and freeze them or just keep the pot in the fridge and scoop out a bowl for each meal.

Feel free to change it up to suit your tastes, but this way you can store food for a while yet still eat well . . . or at least eat tastily.

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive and keep moving forward!