Carried away

OK, so yesterday I wrote that I wanted to save money by fixing meals and freezing them. I wanted to make it easy to eat so I didn't have to worry about portions and cheating because I didn't have something ready when I needed it.
So, I made some more chili today. I call it chili, but it really is just a combination of foods that I need in proportion so that I can portion it out quickly.
Today's "chili" got carried away. Or should I say, I got carried away.
I have been buying 2 pound containers of ground beef from the local market because 1 pound just isn't enough for the amount of chili I make.
I also thawed out 4 large hot Italian sausage links. I cut the skins off the links and break the insides into small blobs. They aren't balls because I don't round them off.
I drop them into hot water and boil it down until they are tender and well cooked. I also add seasoning as I see fit.
I like my chili hot, so I cut up two very nice Jalapeno peppers and added them to the ground beef while cooking.
I used chicken broth to cook the beans. I also added spices to the bean mixture.
Now this time, I used two bags of beans. The red kidney beans were joined by some black eyed peas (I got a feelin...).
So, I added 8 cans of tomatoes, and all my other stuff.
And, I realized I had too much to fit into the huge crock pot I have.
Ooops.
So, did I have enough energy and goop to make two batches?
Yes to both questions.
I brought out a Stock pot, and used up the rest of my canned tomatoes, and made a second batch.
One batch was the ground beef, and the other was the sausage.
Now my chili is made with WLS in mind. It is very heavy in protein. It has no artificial stuff in it. No sugar, except what comes in the tomatoes. I add salt and other flavorings, but they are all approved for my diet.
If I eat it every day, I am still OK. If a normal person ate it, their arteries would probably harden and they would die within a week. Not really, but who wants to take a chance?
So, I finished up my two batches and since I already had 6 quarts stored from last weeks batch, I ran out of containers.
Oooopppps, or did I say that already?
I headed out to the grocery store and picked up 10 new containers.
So now, I have 16 quarts of four different kinds of chili to eat for the next few months or so. I don't have them marked, but I know which is which and since I made them in order to save time and money, I'll eat them. Even if they aren't the greatest, I will still eat them.
And, as soon as this current situation is over, I will go back to losing the rest of the weight that I promised myself I would.
In the meantime, I'm happy.

Cheap Lee

I've been working on ideas since my wife has been sick. Since I am here alone and she won't be coming home, I have begun to collect and throw and clean stuff out.
Tonight, I gathered up all the bags of seasonings for soups, salads, goulash, etc. and threw them out. Some of them walked to the trash themselves.
If you look at the seasoning mixes, you will find 2 or 3 main ingredients.

• Sugar
• Salt
• MSG

I have been eating a lot of steamer pre-cooked meals. Most of them are pretty healthy, although not as healthy as if I had made it from scratch. Most of them also have pasta of some sort.
Mostly all pre-made meals in the supermarket have pasta in them.
Since I am not supposed to be eating pasta, I have to stop using them.
I ate them because of ease of preparation since I've been very stressed and tired from the situation.
Hence, my idea:
How about, I purchase a large quantity of gluten free pasta from the local SKH or maybe online?
How about, I prepare the pasta after planning a similar meal to the steamers in a much larger quantity?
How about I start storing them in the freezer in quart size containers so I can take them out a day or so ahead of time, and split them up into 3 meals?
I can have 3 different containers of food, and mix them so I am never bored!
Now the pasta is not cheap. It isn't the best tasting either. I don't know how it will work if it is frozen and thawed. I will have to experiment.
I was thinking that if I found a really good recipe, I could prep a whole pile of different meals and maybe store them so I wouldn't have to cook for a month or more.
This would save time and money for me and help me to maintain my weight.
My goal would be to see how long I could go between cooking sessions. The more i make, the more time between sessions.
Since the stuff is frozen, and will last a long time, I can still take a night off to eat outside the home now and then.
Gee, ain't I smart?