A Farm Wife's Meal Planner

Summer is coming.  Right?!  Farmers will be busy if it ever warms up and kids will be playing sports and yard work will need to be done.  Schedules will be crazy for every one especially moms and wives who want to feed the family and not run through the drive thru.

I was struggling with a new blog post idea this week with all this cold yucky weather, I don't have the nerve to post pictures of our sprouting corn while others are fighting flood water and then one of my friends posted the following on my Facebook wall with the words," Here's a challenge for you, Nicole."

Considering ALLLL of the wonderful "farm/ranch wife/fiance/girlfriend, et. al." blogs and websites with tips and recipes, where is the one with a recipe tab titled:

"Meals that can sit for hours while you wait for him to come home (fingers crossed) by 9 pm during harvest/planting/calving/shipping/receiving season"

or...

"Super suppers that still look and taste great after multiple reheatings" (Did I just make up a word?)

or what about...

"5 minutes to feed a crew"?

Well, since I am usually with my farmer all day everyday, I have a lot of these in my cooking arsenal, so here goes nothing.

Let's start with:
"Meals that can sit for hours while you wait for him to come home (fingers crossed) by 9 pm during harvest/planting/calving/shipping/receiving season"

One of my farmer's favorites (and the kids, too) is this Mexican Skillet Dinner 

and my friends at H&K Farms like this Mexican Hamburger Skillet.  

There is also Kyle's Easy, Cheesy, Beefy Burritos.  

Now if you have extra steaks that have been grilled the Steak and Pasta Salad is always good on a hot summer night 

or the Mediterranean Steak Salad from the Kansas Beef Council.

Now, on to:
"Super suppers that still look and taste great after multiple reheatings" (Did I just make up a word?)"

One of our absolute favorite meals to have in the freezer and warm up again and again is this French Dip that the meat slow cooks in the crock pot all day long.  

The Barbecue Meatballs that Julie from In Between the Sunsets of Life shared with us are always good.  

We love the Steak Roll Ups (with bacon in the middle) and they can cook in the crock pot all day while I help him in the field.  

Another Crock pot favorite that freezes and reheats well is Pork Chalupas.

 
"5 minutes to feed a crew"? That is just about all of my recipes as long as you let the crock pot do the work.  Christy's Not So Famous Pork Loin is absolutely amazing and virtually no prep time at all.

  My Mom's Disappearing Beef Stew can be made in little time and set in the crock pot or oven to do it's magic or just cook the meat and no veggies.  Serve the meat over egg noodle and my kids are super happy. 

My friend Shirley loves their Spicy Sausage Skillet from when her kids were little and they had a lot of pork sausage to use.  

I love the Cheesy Enchiladas from the Kansas Wheat Commission and they freeze well, too!  

Of course, I love my Lasagna recipe.  It takes a bit longer than 5 minutes, but you don't have to boil the noodles and it will feed a crew and if you are into Lasagna my friend Sue shared her Overnight Lasagna recipe.  

One that has a different taste, but seriously takes less than 15 minutes is Dairy Carrie's Favorite Pork Recipe.

If my farmer is getting tired of sandwiches, which if it ever dries up all the farmers will be eating lunch in the tractor cab on the move, I like to make Kat's Corned Beef to give him a little variety from the usual bologna and ham sandwiches.

Hope this helps you in you meal decisions!  Let me know which one is your favorite.

-A Kansas Farm Mom