Dr. Feelgood

"Calling Dr. Feelgood!  Calling Dr. Feelgood!  The Meredith household needs you!"

Ever since November, it's been an endless cycle of sickness, starting with Trey falling victim to the flu over Thanksgiving in MS.  Being away from home while ill is never fun, especially when it's within the small confines of my mother's house during a holiday and everyone is literally on top of one another--a three bedroom house slept eleven.

Since then, it's been cold after cold, followed by the twins getting strep, then me getting strep, the twins getting walking pneumonia, and then picking up the stomach flu while at the doctor for pneumonia, then me getting the stomach flu, and now Trey getting walking pneumonia.

I feel mostly bad for Trey, as he seems to get sick during the most inopportune times, first Thanksgiving, then Christmas, and now he misses his class field trip and his friend's birthday party.  I "got" to miss work during both illnesses, so besides falling behind on things, I didn't miss out on anything like poor Trey.

In fact, I got to sleep.  During both illnesses, I slept  more in 48 hours than I typically do in an entire week.  So I really can't complain.  This ability to recuperate was due largely in part to my husband stepping in (it's amazing what men can do when they HAVE to!) and my recently acquired help with the kids and the house.  And, again, my slow-cooker freezer meals.  

I can't say it enough--these meals have come in handy more times than I can count, and I'm not even halfway through them.  Even if I wasn't feeling well enough to eat them, I didn't have the extra burden of guilt on me that my family wasn't eating well.  And when I did feel well enough, I had a "home-cooked" meal ready for me.  And for me, at least, good food makes me feel good.

Here's the latest slow-cooker freezer meal we tried:

Cuban Braised Beef & Peppers

2 28 oz diced tomatoes, drained

4 red bell peppers, sliced

2 onions, cut into 8 wedges each

4 tsp oregano

2 tsp cumin

salt & pepper

3 lbs sirloin steak, cut into thirds (shred after cooked)

Divide among 2 freezer bags.

Freeze.  Defrost 24 hrs. prior to cooking.

Cook on low 7-8 hours.

Serve with rice.

Trey didn't like the taste of the meat (surprise, surprise), but no one else in the household had any problems with this meal.  We like steak and peppers anyway, so this just added a little flavor with the cumin.  We've been trying to cut down on our carbs, so we ate this mostly without rice.  Eating it with rice would definitely stretch the meal, but we still got two solid dinners out of one freezer bag worth.

With spring (hopefully) on the horizon, I'm looking forward to better health and to utilizing the grill for meals, but the slow-cooker freezer meals will still be an invaluable convenience.  Here's to feeling good!