Bag Meals

I tend to get excited about weird things. Often rather mundane things. Today it is the concept of "bag meals". The idea is to find a recipe that consists of mostly non-perishable items, pre-measure them if possible, and put them all in a bag. When you need a quick meal, add one or two perishable items and voila, you have a complete dinner at a moment's notice. In Relief Society, volunteers were asked to taste test a "bag meal". As Spencer says, "Mom loves free things", so I was all over that. We tested out a beef stroganof recipe. While the dish left much to be desired, I loved the concept. Since the stroganof wasn't going to happen again, I set out on a search for a new recipe. I found one with just a few ingredients that were - as a bonus - really cheap! Tomato,Beef & Noodle Skillet Dinner - very simple but actually quite tasty even to me and I am not a huge fan of ground beef dishes. On days like today when we were running errands until about 5pm, it saved us from the temptation of picking up fast food. We got home, put the boys in the tub and I had dinner on the table before they were finished flooding the bathroom.

So here it is. If anybody has other recipes that can be adapted to the bag theory, please feel free to share.

Tomato, Beef & Noodle Skillet Dinner
Serves 4
Bag Contents:
2 14 ½ ounce cans stewed tomatoes
1 cup uncooked elbow macaroni (Can add more to stretch the meal a bit.)
¼ cup dry chopped onion
1 t salt
1 t chili powder
1 t garlic powder
¼ t ground pepper
¼ t sugar
(I add a dash or two of curry powder and ginger as well.)

Add:
½ lb ground beef (The original recipe called for 1lb.)

Cook and drain macaroni. Sautee ground beef with dried onion. Add tomatoes and seasonings. (I use a potato masher to crush the tomatoes as the kids - and I - do better with fewer "chunks".) Stir and cook until bubbly. Stir in macaroni and serve. (Additional ingredients such as fresh or frozen vegetables and cheese may be added to taste.)