Community Spotlight: In the Kitchen with Jennifer W.

Jennifer is a mom, wife, knitter, gardener, baker, and champion chili maker. She worked for years as a mental health therapist specializing in trauma and helping people find accommodations to live life to their fullest. She became disabled, and is now working to find ways to live her best possible life.

She works on finding ways to make life easier so that the energy she does have, she can spend on the important things. She has always loved to cook, and is now working on finding ways to make her old recipes easier to make so that she can enjoy her time in the kitchen.

Here are a few of her recipes that allow for easy preparation, quick reheating, and maximizing the use of an ingredient or two. Some recipes also include tips and tricks for the days when cooking simply isn’t in the cards. Bon appétit!

Recipe Set 1: Hamburger meals

Meatloaf

I add one pack of hamburger to a freezer bag, 1/2 pack of club crackers, three eggs, spices, onions and peppers bbq sauce then close the bag, squish it all together and shape it to a pan then freeze. Thaw and bake.

Hamburger tacos

1 pound hamburger, browned

1 16oz jar of salsa

1 can black beans

Add salsa and beans to the hamburger and serve with favorite taco toppings.

Hamburger steaks

1 lb hamburger

1 package gravy mix

1 egg

Onion and garlic

Add all ingredients in a bowl and mix together and make into patties.

Fry on the stove and serve with mashed potatoes and gravy.

Note: you can freeze the patties between wax papers before cooking. Then, on nights when time is tight, you can pull them out of the freezer and cook them.

Recipe Set 2: Roast beef week

I’ll make a roast beef on Monday, add some extra potatoes then Tuesday is roast beef stew, removing the extra potatoes because those get mashed for Shepard’s pie on Wednesday. Thursday is usually left over day.

Roast beef

1 6lb Chuck roast

3 lbs potatoes quartered

1 lb carrots

1/2 c pepper mix

1/4c onions

Garlic to taste

1 can beef broth or tomato sauce plus one can water

Spices (I use salt and pepper, Italian seasoning and rosemary)

Cook in crock pot on high for 6-8 hours and serve.

If you work from home you can put the potatoes and carrots in at 3 hours cooked.

Roast beef stew

Add left over roast beef from previous night, one 16-20oz bag of frozen mixed vegetables, 1 can beef broth and water to the crock pot; let cook on low for 3-4 hours.

Shepard’s pie

Can be made with leftover beef or ground beef

Brown one pound of ground beef and put in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish, or put a layer of leftover roast beef to the 9x13 pan.

In a sauce pan, caramelize 1/2c caramelized onions and garlic. Then add 1 can of beef broth and 2 TBSP flour or 1 packet of gravy mix. Str until the gravy just starts to thicken. Add to the meat.

Add 1 can of veggies or 1 bag of thawed veggies to the meat.

Season to taste.

Top with 8 cups of instant mashed potatoes made per package directions.

Bake at 350 for 25 minutes covered. Remove cover and sprinkle cheese on top (optional) and cook for 5 more minutes.

Let sit for 5 minutes and serve.

Recipe Set 3: Lasagna

Note: Lasagna is made in small pans and the extras are frozen, then popped in the oven for a lazy night.

Boil 1 package of lasagna noodles and rinse and cool.

In a bowl mix 1 16oz Container of ricotta cheese, 2c mozzarella cheese, 1c parmesan and 1 jar spaghetti sauce (minus 1/4 cup). Mix well.

You can add one pound of meat to the mix if you want. Make sure the meat is patted Dry and cooled before adding to cheese mixture.

Layer the noodles and the sauce in the pans. Top with saved sauce

Cover and cook at 350 for 25 minutes, uncover and cook for 5 minutes.

Recipe Set 4: Breakfast

Meal Prep Breakfast Burritos

Ingredients: 30 tortillas, 2 dozen eggs, onions, peppers and either bacon or sausage spices

Scramble your eggs, cook your onions, peppers, and bacon or sausage.

Divide the filling between the tortillas, and wrap each one up.

After they are rolled you wrap them in a paper towel then in foil. Stick in freezer for future use.

Thaw them in the fridge overnight, dampen their paper towel and heat in the microwave.

Omelette Cups

Place 2 tsp cooked sausage or bacon, fried onions and peppers in a screw on top container. Place in freezer.

Thaw the night before you plan to consume, and next morning add an egg and shredded cheese, shake and microwave for one minute.