Day 2 - What to do with 11 Pounds of Ground Beef

Although I was not planning on doing any freezer cooking today, I decided that I really needed to since the ground beef was marked down at the grocery store. I did not want to freeze it just to have to thaw it in a few days. And since we were home from the store by 9:30, I had plenty of time.

So, here's what I did with 11 pounds of ground beef today.

I used 5 pounds to make meatloaf cups and meatballs. I browned the other six pounds with some onions.

I separated the browned ground beef and bagged up 6 bags for the freezer. With the remaining, I made a double batch of sloppy joes. We had one batch tonight for dinner, and the other batch will go in the freezer. It is an extra large batch, so it will be enough for sandwiches one night and a sloppy joe pasta bake some other night. I also bagged up 2 meals worth of meatballs and one of meatloaf cups. (Olivia was my happy helper through the whole process, and I was thankfully able to get most of the work done while Gracie napped.)

For breakfast today, we had a VERY rare treat and picked up McDonald's on the way to the grocery store. It worked out really well since the youngest three still had food left to finish when we got there, and it kept them occupied.


For lunch, we had one of our new favorites, tuna spread with crackers. It feels like a big indulgence, and the kids love because it's fun to eat and tastes good. To make the spread, combine 8 oz. cream cheese, 1 can tuna, 1 T. lemon juice, oregano, salt and pepper. Let chill until ready to eat. That's all there is to it, but it is SO good! We also had strawberries with lunch.



Dinner was sloppy joes, cheesy potatoes, and peas. This is Alex's favorite meal, and one of Eric's too, although we all really enjoy it. I made the potatoes at the same time I was making all of the meat dishes. I love to have my dinners fully cooked by lunch time everyday, and I manage everyday except for the weekends. (You can read more about that here.) The picture just shows the kids' food because I like to eat with Eric on Friday nights after he gets home. Why should he have to eat alone every night at 10pm or later? It ends up being a nice treat for both of us, and a good segway into the weekend.

Joy and Toni have been doing some wonderful things so far. Please make sure you visit their kitchens also!