Kitchen prep...

I've hinted a little, but I'll come right out and say it.  We are about to begin a kitchen remodel.  They've measured the kitchen, and we've chosen the cabinets.  We will hopefully put the order in later this week, after which there is about a five-week wait for them to be delivered.  After they are installed, we begin another wait time for the counter tops.  I haven't chosen those yet.  In the meantime, Carey will begin removing the current cabinets and appliances.   We could be without a kitchen for a LONG time.

I don't want to spend all that time eating out.  Luckily we have a sink in the laundry room.  So my plan is to put the microwave and the slow cooker in the laundry, and have that be my interim kitchen space.  There's not a lot of counter top in there, so cooking from scratch wouldn't be all that easy.

Like a good little prepper, I have begun preparing meals ahead.  Last week I cleaned out and defrosted the chest freezer.  (I've been trying to use up things from it for awhile, so everything left fit in the refrigerator's freezer section.)  I also planned exactly what I would be cooking to fill it back up and made a shopping list.  Friday I did a gigantic shopping trip.

I filled up all the pantry staples.  Do you cut the cooking instructions off the package and put them in the canister so they don't get lost?  My mother taught me that handy tip an eon ago.

So far I've made 3 batches of Beef and Vegetable Soup.  We will just have to open the bag, pour it in the slow cooker, and add a large container of V8.

I've also assembled and packaged:

3 batches of Jambalaya Casserole

2 batches of Jalapeno Lime Chicken (thanks for the suggestion on that one, LB).  

6 batches of cooked rice to accompany main dishes

5 pounds of cooked ground beef for later use

Tomorrow (and Thursday) I have to work, so I won't be back in the kitchen until Wednesday.  I've still got so much to do!