Cooking in Bulk

Often I cook in bulk and have found some things that make it much easier.   When you are making fillings, sauces, etc..  It's always nice to know exactly how much you can put into each meal.  For instance, if you are making enchiladas and want to know how much filling you can put in each tortilla, I use a big Tupperware bowl to measure how much filling I have.  A lot of mixing bowls have the capacity on the bottom.  If not, fill with water to measure the amount it holds and write with permanent marker on the bottom of the bowl.  So, if your bowl holds 20 cups and you are making 80 enchiladas, you could put 1/4 cup of the filling in each enchilada.  This prevents you from getting to your 70th enchilada and realizing you don't have enough filling. (Speaking from experience!!!)

Speaking of Enchiladas, here is the recipe of the week:

Cheddar Beef Enchiladas

1 pound ground beef

1 envelope taco seasoning

1 cup water

2 cups cooked rice

1-16 ounce can refried beans

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

10-12 flour tortillas, warmed

1 - 16 ounce jar salsa

1 can cream of chicken soup

Brown and drain ground beef.  Add taco seasoning and water.  Simmer for 5 minutes and then add rice.  Cook and stir until water is evaporated.  Spread 2 Tbsp refried beans down center of tortilla.  Top with 1/4 cup beef mixture and 1 tbsp cheese.  Roll up and place seam side down on greased 9X13 baking dish. If freezing, see directions below. Combine salsa and soup and pour down the center of enchiladas.  Sprinkle with remaining cheese.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. 

Freezing Directions:  Combine salsa and soup and place in a zip-loc bag to be poured over enchiladas before baking.  Cover enchiladas with foil, freeze along with salsa and soup mixture and a zip-loc of remaining cheese to sprinkle on top.