I posted before how I’m now making our own family’s favorite meals, doubling or tripling the recipes, so that I can freeze one or more meals for when I don’t feel like cooking. I’m slowly building up my meal reserves in the deep freeze. I now have in there several different entrees ready for thawing and reheating.

Here is one of our family favorites. I just wing this one, so forgive the looseness of the recipe. The beauty of this one is that both kids and adults like it, everyone has the choice between eating the chili and hot dog separately, or having a Chili Dog, or just slicing up the hot dog into the chili (a no-carb meal). Be sure to get the all-beef hot dogs, they taste so much better. I don’t usually freeze buns with this, because I can’t find a healthy, good-tasting whole-grain hot dog bun. Usually my kids just wrap their dog in a whole wheat soft bread slice, and my husband and I skip the bun altogether. But feel free to freeze a package of hot dog buns along with this meal, if you prefer. Make sure to always use good-quality ziplock bags for storing and freezing. This recipe serves 4-8; you may need to double it or more to make extra for freezing, depending on the size & appetite of your family.

CHILI & DOGS

1 lb. ground beef

2 or more cans of diced tomatoes (or chop your own fresh ones)

1 or more cans of beans of your choice (or soak and cook dry beans)

1/2 a large onion, diced

1-2 cloves garlic, minced (optional)

1-2 Tablespoons chili powder

1 chili pepper of your choice, fresh or canned, for spice (optional)

Mustard

Real maple syrup or brown sugar

bell pepper, diced (optional)

any other vegetable you’d like to throw in, like greens, diced carrots, mushrooms, etc.

1 package of all-beef hot dogs

Brown the ground beef in a large pot; drain the extra fat. Add the onion, garlic, undrained cans of tomatoes, drained cans of beans and enough water to your liking so that it is not too thick (we like ours just a little soupy). Add a chili pepper (charred & chopped is good) if you want some spice, the spice will depend on which pepper you choose and if you include the seeds or not, etc. Add the chili powder and any other vegetables you want in this chili. Last of all add a couple of generous squirts of mustard and maple syrup (or a couple of Tablespoons of brown sugar). Let simmer until all the vegetables are cooked. Taste and make any adjustments in seasonings you desire.

Let cool, then scoop into gallon ziplock bags. Place this ziplock bag of chili along with an unopened package of hot dogs into another gallon ziplock, labeled Chili & Dogs. To serve, just reheat the chili and cook the dogs. If you wish, add yummy chili toppings as well (fresh diced onions, shredded cheese, sour cream, etc.).