What’s for dinner?

Like a fly buzzing in your ear the question, “What’s for dinner?’ is both annoying and persistent.

Between busy schedules, lack of time, and picky eaters, coming up with exciting meal ideas can often feel like an insurmountable task. Meal planning is not my forte and it’s often left to the last minute so my family, like many others, ends up eating out or ordering in. It’s not that I don’t want to cook or have a nice home cooked meal with my family, quite the contrary.

I always imagined my family sitting around the table having dinner every night, just like the Keatons or the Cunninghams. However, I just don’t have the time or cooking know-how to get it done on a daily basis. Marion Cunningham was a stay at home mom in the 60’s so I get she had the time, but come on Elyse Keaton? She was an architect with four kids, where the heck did she get the time? Probably my first problem is modeling my life after TV sitcoms.

Since I can’t be a character in a sitcom and I am forced to live in reality I must come up with dinner nightly. Luckily I am friends with some pretty brilliant people. My friend, Corin a Pampered Chef consultant hosted a Freezer Meal workshop last weekend and it was ingenious.

This wasn’t a Pampered Chef party where the goal is to buy their products, but rather a great workshop where I learned 10 new recipes. It was really simple. She sent us the grocery list and we brought all the ingredients to her house.

At her house she set each of us up with a work station with measuring cups, knives and all the little Pampered Chef gadgets that make prep so easy. Each of the recipes called for Pampered Chef seasonings, oil or vinegar and those we pre-purchased and they were ready and waiting for us at our workstation as well.

After roughly 2 hours I had 10 meals in freezer bags ready to go. It’s such a great idea because it was both fun and practical. Even better Corin cleaned up and washed all the measuring cups bowls etc. Ten meals made and no mess in my own kitchen this was an ingenious idea.

An afternoon with friends and wine and you leave with 10 ready made meals. All that is left to do is to throw the frozen contents in the crock-pot in the morning and like magic several hours later a delicious home cooked meal.

Over the next ten weeks I will share the recipes with you. I haven’t tried them all yet, but the ones I have were delish!

Recipe 1 Chimichurri Steak

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs sirloin steak
• 1/4 cup Pampered Chef Garlic-Infused Canola Oil
• 1/8 cup Pampered Chef Cherry Balsamic Vinegar
• 1tbsp Pampered Chef Garlic & Herb Rub
• 1 tbsp Pampered Chef Southwestern Seasoning Mix

Directions:

• Cut the steak into thin strips across the bias
• Combine all ingredients in the freezer bag
• Freeze

Cook Time:

• 4-6 hours in a crock pot on high

The Chimichurri stead was so good. I left it in the crock-pot about 10 hours, which was probably a little too long, but even with that the steak was so tender. I combined it with rice and threw in a little shredded cheese.

I liked it so much the next night I threw the leftovers into a fajita shell and cooked up a quesadilla for diner. Amazing two dinners out of the one recipe.