Today (or How I Cooked My Way to Exhaustion)

Here are some images from my day. It was... busy. Friday night and this morning were our mega-trips to STOCK the pantry and freezer. And then I cook for a day to be able to take it easy for about a month :) Good trade, right?

 This is actually from last night's trip to Sam's Club. And I didn't get it. But this WILL BE my birthday cake... or heads will roll! Chocolate cake with chocolate fudge frosting with chocolate pieces all over the top. YUM!

 The best chicken EVER. Garlic, rosemary, salt liberally, lemon slices and juice, drizzle w/veg oil. Roast about an hour. Let sit in juices!!! at least 30 minutes before slicing. I use this chicken as a meal on its own, for quesadillas, for chicken alfredo, and for chicken and noodles. I let it cool and cut into appropriate sized chunks. Bag, tag, and freeze. Thaw or use frozen :)

 Sorry it's sideways. Blogger won't let me rotate it. 2 trays of chicken fajitas :) Ready to throw in the oven.

 Ground beef for tacos, sloppy joes, Hamburger Helper, or quesadillas.  Used some of today's 10lbs to make a shepard's pie (below) and 2 trays of stuffed shells (jumbo pasta shells, cheddar cheese, meat. Top w/spaghetti sauce) All of it went into the deep freeze to use in the next month :)

Shepard's pie: meat, peas, corn in a gravy, topped with mashed potatoes.

 Beginnings of potato soup. Also includes some chicken, onions, and garlic. Cooked chicken, onions, and garlic first. Added homemade stock (made from Xmas turkey) and potatoes. Boiled/simmered for about 30-45 minutes. Ran through the food processor, added some milk and LOTS of cheese :)

 Lots of potato soup for the freezer. Already ate one of the small containers on the left for dinner tonight.

 Potato soup MUST be served in a bread bowl. Or a bread mug since this chunk was a funny shape :)

So today was crazy busy - here are the numbers:

• 12 chicken breasts roasted (about 4 meals worth)
• 2 trays of chicken fajitas
• 10lbs ground beef yielded:
• 1 Shepard's Pie
• 2 trays of stuffed shells
• 5 gallon sized bags of ground meat
• 1 giant pot (approx 10-12 servings) of Potato Soup w/chicken & cheese

• Cooked for 3 hours
• Shopped for 4 hours
• Ready for February :)

The bonus is tomorrow? I can veg (and grade papers...)

So there is a glimpse of one of my tricks. What are your tricks to get healthy meals on the table quick?