I like to cook. I’m not great at it, but I do enjoy it, and I’m happy as could be when I toss something together that my family enjoys. I admit when chaos reigns I usually revert to our standards of pasta, peas, and cheese or black bean and guacamole quesadillas. I know that all of the kids will devour them without complaint and I don’t need to think about it much at all. They are easy to prepare and easy to recover from. They are also the Speedy Gonzales of dinner time.
“Cutting Corners” was Whitney’s topic today, and coincidentally, mine as well. A friend and I have been talking for months about getting together for a cooking day. The idea is that we would get together on a Sunday and make big batches of a couple of meals. Things that will freeze well and simplify dinner on those days when we might otherwise revert to take-out or grilled cheese sandwiches! I think this is a great idea, and I hope it comes together soon.
In the meantime, I recently adopted a dinner shortcut which has really been paying off. Simple, but valuable: Roasting chickens were on sale at the market and I picked up a couple, with the intention of freezing one. Instead, I roasted them both on the same day. I also made a double batch of mashed potatoes. And a big batch of roasted veggies. I suddenly had 3 meals for my family!
Night 1
We ate what I cooked, as is (as was?)
Night 2
After dinner (on night 1), my husband picked the remaining chicken (gross job!). I tossed some of the chicken into the bottom of a casserole dish, and added a little bit of chicken broth. I layered a mixture of creamed corn and frozen corn, then topped it with left over mashed potatoes, threw the lid on the casserole dish and tossed it into the fridge (bang). My original plan was to use the roasted veggies instead of the corn mixture, but I knew my kids would eat more of it with just boring corn. Dinner 2 took about 3 minutes to prepare: chicken shepherd’s pie. All it took was reheating for 30 minutes and it was ready to go. The kids (and the hub) devoured it. It was a big hit, and it felt nothing like leftovers!
Night 3
I was left with chicken and roasted veggies (carrots, zucchini & garlic). My plan was to chop up the veggies, use some Colby and Monterey Jack cheese and some flour tortillas to make quesadillas. I debated over whether or not to add salsa. Turned out we didn’t have any flour tortillas, Colby or Monterey Jack cheese, so it didn’t matter anyway! Plan B: leftover roasted veggies (and potatoes for that matter) perk up beautifully if you pop them in a hot oven for just a few minutes. I added a side of whole wheat egg noodles and our leftover roasted chicken and we had meal 3. Next time I’ll try something else: the previously mentioned quesadillas, enchiladas, chicken and veggie pizza, chicken pot pie, chicken soup, maybe even chicken lasagna!
What do you do to get the most bang out of your meal preparation buck? How do you keep your meals interesting, affordable, or easy? What are your best stand-by meals? What’s always in your freezer?
[tags] recipes, meal and menu planning, leftovers, easy meals, cooking ahead, freezing food, short cuts, cooking for kids, parenting[/tags]
Thanks to Simon Law for his chicken photo, used under a Creative Commons License.
3 responses so far ↓
Chris // Mar 22, 2007 at 3:35 am
I cook for the freezer pretty regularly. I started when I was pregnant with my second (now 14 months) and LOVE knowing that I have delicious meals hibernating downstairs in the deep freeze. I have two distinct processes that work well for me. One, I cook stews. Burgundy Beef, Flemish Beef, Hungarian Beef, White Chili (chicken, tomatillos, hominy), Chicken-Corn Soup, Chicken Paprika, Lamb Korma, you get the picture. These are fully cooked stews…all I have to do is defrost/reheat, steam a vegetable, boil some potatoes or cous-cous or reheat some leftover rice to soak up yummy gravy. Two, I make what I call “freezer marinades.” Put meal-size amount of raw meat (chicken breasts, pork chops, cubed leg of lamb are my standbys) in a freezer bag, throw in a marinade (orange marmalade-ginger-garlic, balsamic-honey-garlic, curry-yogurt), squeeze out as much air as possible, seal, lay flat on a tray in the freezer (this makes the packages easier to store once they’re frozen). The night beforehand, put package in the freezer to defrost. Depending on the meat, it will need to cook at 350-400F for 10-30 minutes. Again…I just steam a veggie or maybe do a stir fry while the meat cooks. For dinner tonight, I cooked balsamic-honey-garlic-rosemary-EVOO marinated
pork chops in one pan, leeks (from our garden) tossed with olive oil/salt/pepper and a couple slabs of polenta (leftover from a big batch I made earlier this week and spread on a jelly roll pan and kept in the fridge) in another pan. Started the leeks first, then put the polenta slabs and chops in the oven for 10-15 minutes. I had all of maybe five minutes of prep (cleaning and cutting the leeks in half lengthwise) and paid virtually no attention while everything cooked. OMG the leeks were amazing! I’ve never roasted them before. Definitely doing that again. Crispy and salty on the outside, creamy and so delicious on the inside. And the marinade made a yummy sauce for the polenta and meat.
Megin Hatch // Mar 22, 2007 at 12:08 pm
Chris,
Would you please come live with me? Pretty please? It’s 8 am and I am drooling. Ok, if moving in isn’t an option, how about sharing a couple recipes?
Megin
mom2fur // Mar 29, 2007 at 1:46 pm
My husband is the ‘chicken picker’ around here, too! In fact, sometimes he’ll eat as he goes along rather than dirty a separate plate!
I like the idea of marinating your meat in the freezer. I’ve done this and it sure makes life easy!
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