3 Easy Branding Meals
Updated: Sep 1, 2019
Feeding a crew is Chapter 3 of the ranch wife guide to success. Its a must do part of ranch life and only gets easier with practice. Today I am hacking the system, I want to share my 3 Easy Branding Meals that are so simple you’ll love adding them to your crew feeding recipe book. These meals will work anytime of the year, but it’s branding season at the Box Equal so we are going to focus on that.
*Warning don’t scroll on an empty stomach*
#1 Steak Kabob
I love build your own crew meals because it takes a lot of the prep work out of it on my end. This meal also gets bonus points in my life because it travels well. Our ranch is split in two chunks and if we are branding at our northern ranch then there is no power or water which means everything I need for the meal I pack. Kabobs are easy to pack along and grill over an open fire so they are a double win. Here's what I do:
- Cut Chunks of Steak, Stew Meat, or whatever meat you'd like. Marinate with salt, pepper, seasons, and olive oil.
- Cut peppers, onions, mushrooms, pineapple, zucchini, or any other veggie you want. I then bag these each individually and coat with olive oil.
Pack Kabob sticks, a couple side salads (usually a green salad, some watermelon, rice if I'm feeling froggy) and head to the branding. On site everyone builds their stick or 3 and pops them on the fire. 10-15 minutes later dinner is ready.
#2 BBQ Brisket Sandwich
It's hard to go wrong with BBQ and brisket to boot. This is a go to favorite of mine because I can make it ahead and just have to warm it up that day. I have a Trager Grill so I usually smoke my briskets a few days ahead of branding. Slice them and put them in cake pans with BBQ on top. Then come branding day I just pop those pans back on the smoker to get them re-heated. Serve with buns, a couple salads, chips and drinks and it looks like I have been working all day.
#3 Enchiladas
Our family loves some mexican food and its so easy to mass produce it often becomes a go to in my world. Enchiladas are a favorite since they too can be made ahead of time and then just cooked the day of. They also pack fairly well if you put the warm pans in a cooler and pack with towels around them. Here is my go to recipe.
- Brown hamburger with any seasonings you like. Add a can of beans in to build filling. Finish with 1/2 a can of red enchilada sauce.
- Pour the other 1/2 of the enchilada sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 cake pan.
- Add filling to warm tortillas and top with cheese. Roll these and place into cake pan.
- Once cake pan is full top with a second can of red enchilada sauce add some more cheese and cover them to bake.
- I cook them at 350 for about an hour to make sure they are warm clear though.
Do you have a crew feeding favorite? If so do me a favor and share it below! We've gotta help each other out in this ranch wife life and lets be honest, new recipes are a HUGE help.
Happy Cooking!