3 Skillet Meals in a Jar. Revised, Revisited, and More Natural.

My 52 jar method Meals in a jar has been  the theme all week!  This post has 3 new recipes that I've revisited and updated for your flavor enjoyment. In the original post for these skillet meals, I had you mix a batch of cheese sauce and then use that for each jar. In this version, I've made it easier to just use each ingredients per jar and not have to pre-mix a sauce. 
 If you are new to the meals in a jar, go here and get some details on how the meals are done as well as the basic safety guidelines. If your scroll through the rest of the 52 jar method posts, there are a lot more recipes, ideas, and helpful tips when making the meals. I answer a lot of questions in the comment sections as well. If I had to re-cap each detail in each  new post, it would take a lot of time and space. So. That being said there are a few things I will always re-cap in each post.

1. You will be using a method some have called "dry pack canning" but it's actually called Vacuum packing. No liquid or pressure canning is necessary. If you opt to use the freeze dried meat in the recipes  NOTE: The repacking of Freeze Dried Meat must be done within 24-48 hours of opening the can and must be done in a dry environment. Once repacked you must use an oxygen absorber to make sure there is a vacuum oxygen-free environment. I recommend using a 300 cc oxygen absorber for each jar. This will make the vacuum packing effective. You can use a Food Saver with a jar attachment for this in place of the oxygen absorber but will need to make sure your machine is designed to be used with the jar attachment. Some of the food Savers are called "meal savers" and are actually not designed to use with the attachment. I called the FoodSaver company myself to be sure that the attachment I had was right for the machine I was using. 
2. You can also pack in mylar bags (the ones that are silver-colored), but again need to use the oxygen absorber. This size I use is designed to absorb a gallon size amount of air, but I'd rather err on the side of over-vacuum than not enough. No. You can't use the food saver clear plastic bags for long-term storage. They are not designed for that purpose. When I say "long-term" I'm talking 3-5 years. 

I've had a few request that I revisit the Skillet Meal 
in a jar recipes and suggest some more natural "clean label" alternatives for making them at home. I think this is always a good idea! As always, you can use the organic versions of these ingredients. If you use dehydrated vegetables, they will take more liquid to hydrate and take longer to cook depending on the size of the pieces. If you dry your own veggies, use a small dice and dehydrate them on a mesh. Make sure they are "brittle" dried.  It will take a lot less of the dehydrated ingredients, and a lot more liquid. Keep that in mind. On the dehydrated vegetables, you will have to calculate the water for your own recipes. I can't control how thick your items are cut, therefore, I cannot offer an accurate liquid amount. If you are just adding your own fresh cooked beef or meats to the meals at the time you prepare the meals, and want to omit the freeze-dried version, you will need to decrease the water in the cooking directions by about 1/2 cup. These also use a lot less of the freeze-dried meats. You can use the vegetable TVP in its place or, as always, use freeze-dried zucchini or additional vegetables in its place. 

Double Cheeseburger Hamburger Skillet Meal

1/2 cup Instant Non-fat Dry Milk
1/4 cup  Freeze Dried Cheddar Cheese
1/4 cup blue cheese powder, optional
1 tsp Haco Beef Base powder, optional (No MSG low sodium)
3T cornstarch

1 tsp granulated garlic

1/4 cup Dehydrated Onion 

¼ tsp Chef Tess all-purpose seasoning

2 cups elbow macaroni 

½ cup Freeze Dried Ground Beef 
1/4 tsp turmeric (for color)

To make jar: Put all ingredients in a wide mouth quart size mason jar, shaking the powder ingredients into the jar. Top with an oxygen absorber. 

 To prepare Cheeseburger Skillet Meal: Put contents of the mix in a 12-inch skillet (with a lid) Add 6 cup hot water. Bring to a boil and cover. Simmer 12-15 minutes until noodles are tender. The sauce will thicken a little more as it cools. Yield 6 cups prepared. 4 servings. 1 1/2 cup each. 365 calories. 6 grams fat.

Chef Tess' Stroganoff Macaroni  Skillet 

1/2 cup Instant Non-fat Dry Milk (or Non-GMO soymilk powder)

1/2 cup sour cream  powder 

3T cornstarch

1 1/2  tsp granulated garlic
1 tsp  beef bullion base, optional (No MSG lower sodium)

1/4 cup Dehydrated Onion 

1 tsp Chef Tess all-purpose seasoning 

2 cups small shell macaroni

1/2 cup Freeze Dried Mushroom Slices

 ½ cup Freeze Dried Ground Beef 

1T Golden Balsamic Vinegar Powder, optional
1/4 tsp fresh cracked black pepper

To make jar: Put all ingredients in a wide mouth quart size mason jar, shaking the powder ingredients into the jar. Top with an oxygen absorber. 

To prepare Beef Stroganoff Skillet Meal:

 In a 12 inch skillet, combine stroganoff dinner mix with 5 1/2 cups hot water. Bring to a boil. Simmer 8-10 minutes, stirring once or twice, but covering each time. When noodles are tender, season with additional salt and pepper if needed. Yield 6 cups prepared. 

Cheesy Turkey Noodle and Vegetable Skillet Meal

1/3 cup Instant Non-fat Dry Milk

½ cup Freeze Dried Cheddar Cheese

3T  cornstarch

1  tsp granulated garlic

2T Freeze Dried onion
2 tsp Haco chicken base, optional (no MSG with great flavor)

2 cups elbow macaroni noodles 

½ cup freeze-dried mixed vegetables of your choice (carrots, celery, bell peppers)

1 cup Freeze Dried Turkey

1 tsp Chef Tess Romantic Italian Seasonings

To make jar: Put all ingredients in a wide mouth quart size mason jar, shaking the powder ingredients into the jar. Top with an oxygen absorber. 

To Prepare Turkey Noodle Skillet Meal:

In a large skillet, combine contents of jar with 5 cups hot water over high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10-12 minutes stir every few minutes. Turn off heat and let sit 3-5 minutes for meat and veggies to finish steaming. Yield 6 1/2 cups prepared. 

 Enjoy. Share these recipes with your friend! Get the word out that they are here!  PLEASE...make sure my name stays with the recipes.  Try to think how it would feel if you had worked on the recipes yourself. You'd want not only the credit, but also a way for people to contact you if they had questions. I ask you to please be mindful of that. Plus, they are my copy-written work and that is just the law. Thanks. 

Always My Very Best,

Your Friend Chef Tess

Emergency Preparedness and Everyday Convenience COMPLETE Meal- in-A-Jar Mixes (7 day Menu)

 People prepare for family emergencies in different ways. Some prepare for an earthquake, fire or natural disaster.  Some prepare for financially difficult times and unemployment.  Some just prepare meals in advance so that mom or dad is not too entirely stressed out at the end of a hard work day. Whatever your reason for preparing convenience meals, this is a simple method of keeping track of what you have on hand and keeping it an organized location.  This method is one anybody can use. I don't claim the method of planning a menu this way to be mine, but doing so based on meals in a jar...that idea is my brainchild. Period. It was never done until I showed it here. I also claim these recipes as ones I have developed through personal trial and error. 

We've heard it called a "year's supply" of food. Ensuring that should anything catastrophic happen, your family will be fed. I am not a "Doomsday" person. I am, however, all about expecting the best and preparing for the worst.  For the most part, these meals have been used for emergencies like "Tuesday night". Ironically, they have also seen us through some tough times financially when we didn't have work. Do with them what you will.

Recently someone asked me to write down a few of my recipes for long-term storage and what I recommended. I have a method that I like to recommend to those starting out on food storage use that isn't new, but it was a little bit exciting when I heard it. 

One plans 7 meals, one for each night of the week and then figured getting 52 of each meal. Boom! A year's supply made simple.

 My method of containing each meal entirely in ONE  jar is different than others who have planned the meal in a 52-week method but didn't keep it this simple or concise. I wanted it all in one spot. In this way one would easily be able to have a year's supply of food that a family of four would eat should they need it. One wouldn't  have to search through things to find the corresponding can of meat or sauce to go with the starch.   It sounds "simple stupid"...but sometimes that's how I roll. It's a good simple way to calculate a family's needs. It's also a good way to get back to the basics of what a normal family will eat. 


Without getting into a lot of canning details and crazy stuff here, I do want to say that I don't want anyone to have to worry about "wet pack" canning meat or rotating cans of beans and vegetables. This gets into methods of pressure canning that some may not be prepared to practice proper rotation or sanitation while home canning. No, the wet-pack are not safe on the shelf longer than one year**.  PERIOD. (Please see Home Canning Safety 101 for specific details in this matter)**The one-year time limit is only for food that is wet packed! Dry ingredients that are vacuum-packed can be good up to 10 years or MORE depending on the meal. 


For me, even though I pressure can wet food, I've found that buying freeze-dried vegetables and meats has been a much better approach for our family. I've done both and this is much easier for longer term (5 or more years).  Freeze Dried vegetables cost more initially, so if you want to use your own dehydrated from your garden it's up to you.  They must be completely bone dry in order to work. We grow a lot of our own stuff but I have not made these recipes using those because it's harder to get a measurable consistent product for everyone across the country. If you use your own dehydrated, you will have to figure out how much moisture to use and how long to cook things. I also use no msg bullions and yes, I do use a powdered cheese sauce mix here for convenience and consistency of flavor. It's got added colors.  If you want to make your own organic cheese sauce mix see my post here. If you want to go totally vegetarian, and don't want to use the soy TVP, you can use dehydrated or freeze-dried zucchini in place of the meat. 

Freeze dried vegetables that I use do not have any chemical processing done to them. They are all-natural and 97% of the nutritional value is retained.  Dehydrated food retains about 92% of its nutritional value. Not all food storage companies are the same, for this reason, if I have a link that is brand specific, it's because I know that company doesn't add anything to the meats and vegetables in its freeze-drying process or any sugar or chemical coating.

The new technology available has even made it possible for beans to be "instant" cook!  If you use the freeze-dried meat, you will need to use the oxygen packets and prepare the jars the same day you open the freeze-dried meat so it is safe to repack if it is done within 2 days of opening the can.  That being said, here are 7 of my favorite quart size jar recipes that are easily used for everyday or for long-term emergency food storage. Enjoy. Share these recipes with your friend! Get the word out that they are here!  PLEASE...make sure my name stays with the recipes.  Try to think how it would feel if you had worked on the recipes yourself. You'd want not only the credit but also a way for people to contact you if they had questions. I ask you to please be mindful of that. Thanks. 

You will be using a method some have called "dry pack canning" but it's actually called Vacuum packing. No liquid or pressure canning is necessary. If you opt to use the freeze dried meat in the recipes, please note:  NOTE: The repacking of Freeze Dried Meat must be done within 24-48 hours of opening the can and must be done in a dry environment. Once repacked you must use an oxygen absorber to make sure there is a vacuum oxygen-free environment.

This is a great meal made completely out of food storage. It's amazing for camping or dinner any night of the week. It's perfect for giving to a sick neighbor or to someone you actually...like. I think my family likes it because the folks I cook for are down-home-raised-on-the-farm kind of people. They don't like a lot of green herbs and junk in their food (ironic isn't it?). Now and then I get "froofy" chef on them and roast some garlic or chop some tarragon, but for the most part, it's "regular people" food.  As for this meal, the crazy cool part is that it fits in a convenient size quart jar for easy food storage space and planning! 

Please note: After many loyal years as a chef and customer for Honeyville Foods, writing their company cookbooks, and promoting their brand, I've found something I consider a far superior product line and I'm okay admitting that!  My little family does and did rely on the royalty money we did receive from said previous employer to pay much of our family expenses. I was forbidden by contract to mention any competitor of their brand until recently. That job loss has been sorely felt and I've suffered many hardships. After 4 years of no longer being their chef and having to work on a shoestring budget, I'm ready to move on. 

I've become an independent sales consultant for a company in Utah called Thrive Life. That happened November 14th, 2017 . I've secretly been purchasing Thrive products for the last several years and have actually found their quality to be incredible. This is the brand I suggest for making these meals now that I have the option to admit it!

Again, the sales of freeze-dried products from my website is a huge blessing to my family and will be to yours.  I give out the recipes here as a service. If you do share them, please give full credit to this site.  To do otherwise would be stealing from my children. I don't appreciate that kind of stinkiness. 

Thank you so much!  Onward an upward!

Chef Tess Country Style Hamburger Stew

yield 8 one cup servings

in a quart jar:

1 cup instant red beans

1 cup  freeze dried mixed vegetables

1 cup Freeze Dried Ground Beef or Freeze-Dried Diced Beef

1 cup  dehydrated diced potatoes

¼ cup  dehydrated onion

Seasonings I shake down into the jar: ½ cup tomato powder,

1 tsp thyme, 1 tsp garlic, ¼ cup flour, and 1 T beef bullion.

It will fit if you shake it really well.

To prepare Country Style Hamburger Stew:

In a gallon pot, combine stew mix with 6 cups water and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer 20-30 minutes.

Works great in a solar oven. Bake one hour.

Chef Tess Taco Soup

  This is a recipe I made from an old classic for Taco soup. It's adapted using instant beans. Instead of taking hours to cook in a crockpot, it takes just about 20 minutes! I'm super excited about it! Can you tell?! It can fit conveniently into a quart size jar so it's perfect for food storage! Put a funnel in the mouth of a quart jar and measure as follows into the jar: 

Chef Tess Taco Soup Mix

2 cups Quick Cook Red Beans
1 cup Taco TVP 
1/2 cup  Dehydrated Sliced Onion 
1/3 cup Freeze Dried Bell Peppers 
3/4 cup Freeze Dried Corn  
1/2 cup Tomato Powder   
1T homemade taco seasoning 
When you get to the tomato powder, just shake the jar so it works its way through the cracks.

Add an oxygen packet. Seal. Good on the shelf in a cool place up to 5-7 years. 

To prepare, Taco Soup: place contents of jar in a gallon pot in a solar oven or on the stove. Add 2 quarts of water and simmer 20-30 minutes until veggies are tender. Serve with nacho chips, sour cream and salsa if desired.

Chef Tess' Cheeseburger Skillet  Meal In A Jar Mix

Tess' Double Cheeseburger Sauce Mix Hamburger 

yield: 10, 1 oz. sauce mixes

2 1/2 cups powdered cheese sauce

1 1/2 tsp granulated garlic

1T granulated onion

2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

Bag Mix Directions:

Combine all ingredients well. Use 1 oz. (1/4 cup mix) to 3 oz. of macaroni noodles (about 2 cups). I put the dry powder with the noodles in quart size storage bags with the label "cheeseburger helper".

Conventional Bag Mix preparation Directions: Brown one pound of hamburger in a large skillet. When hamburger is browned, I add 1 cup hot water and 1 1/2 cup milk or soy milk. Bring to a boil and cover. Simmer 8-10 minutes until noodles are tender. The sauce will thicken a little more as it cools.

In a quart jar:

2 cups elbow macaroni (7 oz)

¼ cup mix

(in a separate baggie in the jar)

1 ½ cup Freeze Dried Ground Beef 

Jar directions To prepare Cheeseburger Skillet Meal: Rehydrate meat with 1 ½ cups hot water, drain. Place in hot skillet. When hamburger is browned, I add 1 cup hot water and 1 1/2 cup milk or soy milk. Bring to a boil and cover. Simmer 8-10 minutes until noodles are tender. The sauce will thicken a little more as it cools.

Chef Tess Stroganoff  Skillet Meal

Chef Tess' Stroganoff Skillet Meal Gravy Mix

yield 7 mixes (with 1/3 cup gravy/seasoning mix)

1/2 cup powdered buttermilk

½ cup powdered sour cream

1 cup flour

1/2 cup Dehydrated Sliced Onion 

1T onion powder 1 T granulated garlic (or garlic powder) 1T dry parsley 1 tsp dry thyme 2 tsp black pepper 2T salt 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

Combine all dry ingredients well.

In a quart Jar

2 cups egg noodles

1/3 cup veloute mix

1/2 cup Freeze Dried Mushroom Slices

In a separate bag in the jar,

1 ½ cup Freeze Dried Ground Beef 

To prepare Beef Stroganoff Skillet Meal:

1 cup water

2 cups milk (powdered is okay if you reconstitute it)

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a bowl Rehydrate hamburger in 1 ½ cup hot water. Drain. Place in a skillet. Cook over high, and add gravy mix, noodles, water, and milk. Simmer 8-10 minutes, stirring once or twice, but covering each time. When noodles are a tender season with additional salt and pepper if needed.

Chef Tess' Cheese Turkey Noodle Casserole

In a quart jar place 2 cups radiator noodles.

In a separate bag in the top of the jar put:

¼ cup freeze dried broccoli

½ cup freeze-dried mixed vegetables

1 cup Freeze Dried Turkey

½ cup  powdered cheese sauce

¼ cup freeze dried celery

1T Dehydrated Sliced Onion  and  1 ½ tsp Chef Tess All Purpose Seasoning

Put an oxygen packet in jar and seal.

Directions for Turkey Noodle Casserole: Carefully remove the bag. Put contents of the bag in a 2-quart saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil 5 minutes. Cover and turn off heat. While sauce is cooking bring a gallon of water to a boil, cook pasta 10-12 minutes. When tender, drain. Stir into sauce mixture. Pour into casserole dish and top with additional cheese if desired.

Chef Tess Broccoli Cheese and Rice Casserole in a Jar

In a Quart Jar fitted with a funnel:

2 cups long grain rice
¼ cup dehydrated powdered butter 
1 tsp salt (stir)

In a separate bag on top of rice:

¼ cup freeze dried celery

¼ cup Dehydrated Sliced Onion 

1 cup freeze dried broccoli

1 tsp Chef Tess All Purpose Seasonings

½ cup powdered cheese sauce

¼ cup dehydrated powdered butter

Seal bag. Top with an oxygen absorber packet. Good for 10—12 years shelf life.

To Prepare Broccoli Cheese Rice Casserole:

Remove oxygen packet and discard. Open the bag, carefully ease contents into a quart saucepan and add 2 cups water. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Simmer 5-6 minutes. Turn off heat and let sit 5-6 minutes. While sauce is cooking, place rice in a quart size pot with a tight-fitting lid. Add 4 cups boiling water or chicken stock. Cook on lowest heat 17-20 minutes covered until rice is tender. Spoon broccoli cheese sauce over rice and enjoy. 

Chef Tess Turkey  Noodle Skillet Meal

In a quart Jar fit in a funnel:

2 cups egg noodles

½ cup freeze-dried mixed vegetables

1/3 cup powdered cheese sauce

1/3 cup Instant Non-fat Dry Milk

¼ cup dehydrated powdered butter

1 cup Freeze Dried Turkey

½ cup Freeze Dried Mushroom Slices

1 T  Dehydrated Sliced Onion 

1 tsp Chef Tess Romantic Italian Seasonings

 

To Prepare Turkey Noodle Skillet Meal:

In a large skillet, combine contents of jar with 3 ½ cups hot water over high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10-12 minutes stirring every few minutes. Turn off heat and let sit 3-5 minutes.

Endnote {After 10 years of this post being up on the blog...}

•  I try to make New Meal in a Jar recipes as often as possible and I'm adding more all the time. The Meal in a Jar Handbook is available on Amazon and it has over 150 similar recipes. YES, this information is copywrite protected. Share it, but my information MUST remain with all copies. If you choose to pin it on Pinterest, PLEASE don't just post the recipe on your pin. Let's be fair and let people actually get all the information they need from the actual post here. 

•  Please know that I don't have a staff. I'm a full-time wife, mom and have a full-time job.  I am the sole breadwinner for my family. If I don't return your emails immediately, it's not personal. I love you. I'll try to answer if I can.

• These meals can be made more sustainable if you use your own dehydrated vegetables and organics. The freeze-dried vegetables I use are non-GMO and 100% natural. If you use your own dehydrated vegetables, YOU will have to figure out how much water to add to your meals and how long to cook them. I can't regulate how large your vegetables are cut or how dry they have been. They must be absolutely dry to use in long-term storage. I have to make these as accessible as I can to many people. These usually feed our family of 4 adults and 2 children and have a little left over. I'm working on the nutritional information for each one and will get it posted as soon as I can. In the meantime, thank you for your patience.

•  Continue reading a lot of the other follow-up posts to this one. I answer a lot of questions throughout. These are meals that have worked for US. They are suggestions. Try a few recipes at a time and see if you like them. I UNDER season these, as we have people in my home who do not like a lot of seasoning (geriatric diets) so they are a little blander than I normally cook. You will need to see if they are seasoned to your family's taste. 

Always My Very Best,

Your Friend Chef Tess

End Note:  In case you missed it...After many loyal years as a chef and customer for Honeyville Foods, writing their company cookbooks, and promoting their brand, I've found something I consider a far superior product line and I'm okay admitting that!  My little family did rely on the royalty money we received from said previous employer to pay much of our family expenses. I was forbidden by contract to mention any competitor of their brand until recently. That job loss has been sorely felt and I've suffered many hardships. After 4 years of no longer being their chef and having to work on a shoestring budget, I'm ready to move on. 

I've become an independent sales consultant for a company in Utah called Thrive Life. That happened November 14th, 2017 . I've secretly been purchasing Thrive products for the last several years and have actually found their quality to be incredible.