Free Meals in a Jar by Julie Languille Page A

become tender while it cooks. I love this approach, because rather than cleaning a pot, a colander, and a pan, I only have one baking dish to clean, and the whole thing cooks unattended. Yay for one-dish cooking!
    Makes 16 (6 to 8-serving) meals, 4 each of 4 varieties
    Ingredients
    4 (1-pint) jars Home-Canned Beef ( page 48 ) (ground or chunks) or 8 cups of freeze-dried beef or TVP
    4 (1-pint) jars home-canned crumbled sausage or 8 cups freeze-dried sausage crumbles
    6 cups dried mushrooms
    2 pounds Parmesan cheese
    16 (1-pound) bags pasta (a variety of shapes would be lovely)
    16 (1-pint) jars Home-Canned Spaghetti Sauce ( page 74 ) or store-bought spaghetti sauce
    2 (24-ounce) bags individually packaged string cheese
    4 (1-pint) jars home-canned meatballs
    Instructions
    For beef: If using freeze-dried beef or TVP, in each of 4 vacuum bags, add and then seal:
• 2 cups freeze-dried beef or TVP
    For sausage: If using freeze-dried, in each of 4 vacuum bags, add and then seal:
• 2 cups freeze-dried sausage crumbles
    For mushrooms: In each of 4 vacuum bags, add and then seal:
• 1-1/2 cups dried mushrooms
    For cheese: You’ll need 16 (4-ounce) servings of Parmesan to create all 24 ready-made meals. The cheese can be finely grated Parmesan (like Kraft brand) vacuum-sealed into 4-ounce servings, or you can vacuum-seal or wax 4-ounce chunks of cheese and grate the cheese at time of use.

    Ready-Made Meal Assembly
    In each of 16 Mylar bags, tote bags, or vacuum bags, store:
• 1 pound pasta
• 1 pint spaghetti sauce
• 3 packets string cheese
• 1 (4-ounce) package Parmesan cheese
• 1 pint or bag beef, sausage, or meatballs, or 1 bag mushrooms

    Label each bag:
    Preheat the oven to 400°F. Open and chop the string cheese. In a 9 x 13-inch baking dish, mix together all the ingredients (except the Parmesan cheese) and 2 cups of water. Bake for 1 hour. Stir. Top with grated Parmesan and bake 15 more minutes. Alternately, cook in a solar oven or wonder oven. Serves 6 to 8 .

Creamy Baked Pasta Ready-Made Meals
    Yum, creamy pasta and lovely sauce. This recipe works with either commercially jarred Alfredo sauce or with the packet of cream sauce mix included in this recipe. The cream sauce mix uses a combination of dry milk and powdered sour cream, which doesn’t sound like much, but is actually quite delicious. I love that you can make 16 of these easily at once. That’s both money-saving and time-saving.
    Makes 16 (8-serving) meals, 4 each of 4 varieties
    Ingredients
    16 pints Alfredo sauce or 5-1/3 cups dry milk and 5-1/3 cups powdered sour cream
    12 (1-pint) jars home-canned chicken or 24 cups freeze-dried chicken
    4 (1-pint) home-canned diced ham or 8 cups freeze-dried ham
    4 cups dehydrated mushrooms
    18 cups dried peas
    4 cups dehydrated broccoli
    12 cups dry breadcrumbs
    6 (1-pound) bags pasta (a variety of shapes would be lovely)
    2 cups salt, packaged in 24 (2-tablespoon) portions in zip-top bags
    4 cups finely grated Parmesan cheese (like Kraft brand)
    Instructions
    For sauce: If not using store-bought Alfredo sauce, in each of 16 vacuum bags, add and then seal:
• 2/3 cup dry milk
• 2/3 cup powdered sour cream
    For chicken: If using freeze-dried, in each of 16 vacuum bags, add and then seal:
• 2 cups freeze-dried chicken
    For ham: If using freeze-dried, in each of 4 vacuum bags, add and then seal:
• 2 cups freeze-dried ham
    For mushrooms: In each of 4 vacuum bags, add and then seal:
• 1 cup dehydrated mushrooms
    For peas: In each of 8 vacuum bags, add and then seal:
• 1 cup dried peas
    For broccoli: In each of 4 vacuum bags, add and then seal:
• 1 cup dehydrated broccoli
    For breadcrumb topping: In each of 16 vacuum bags, add and then seal:
• 3/4 cup breadcrumbs
• 1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

    Ready-Made Meal Assembly
    In each of 16 Mylar bags, tote bags, or vacuum bags, store:
• 1 pound pasta
• 1 bag salt
• 1 pint Alfredo sauce or 1 packet creamy mix
• 1 packet breadcrumb mix
    To