by Abby of Love Made the Radish Grow
I gotta say that I have trouble trying to decide what to talk about when it comes time to blog-especially this time of year when time is at a premium. So, I think I'll talk about something along those lines.
By this early part of summer we are just about finished planting until the fall crops go in, yet the amount of work is still incredible. We are mulching, weeding, harvesting, mowing, raking, tending the animals, maintenance work like deck care, painting and tending decorative beds, plus the usual day to day. It gets pretty crazy. It seems most nights I come in from working and dinner is that last thing I want to deal with. We have several things to help keep us out of the local eateries (though supporting local small mom and pop joints isn't a bad thing every now and then). I use my crock pot for easy sandwiches, and the grill for a burger, pizza or steak. But we get tired of even those. About six months ago I started a freezer meal group-a group of six ladies who gather at our home once a month to cook all day. At the end of the day each family goes home with six different meals for the freezer. We go so far as to rotate categories so each member cooks from groups they may not regularly like lamb, goat and vegetarian. We also post all the recipes to a blog so that others can make what they ate. It is wonderful having those meals on hand when I walk in the door late. I am also very blessed to share time with a dear friend and her family, which includes a husband with mad kitchen skills. While my friend and I work on various tasks around the farm (they reap the benefit of sharing in harvests) her husband works on feeding us, which is awesome. The last backup we have is the newest. A friend has started a microbusiness supplying meals to others in the area with gourmet dinners. Each week this chef-gone-mama sends out an email detailing what that week's two options are. You can have one or both. In a couple days she makes things up and you can either have them delivered (if you're within 8 miles of her home) via bicycle or you can pick them up to put in the fridge until you need them during the week. After accounting for one freezer meal, two chef-mama meals, one mad skills friend meal and one crockpot meal, that leaves the weekend, when we work the hardest, but often also reward ourselves by eating out a meal or two for rest. Without all this, so much less would happen as coming inside in order to get dinner on the table would cut back on time substantially. I get creative during the winter months when I am cooped up-summer ends up being fresh veggies and grilling, but even that is tedious sometimes. Our lunches end up being chopped fresh veggies and cheeses with hummus or a sour cream dip. I love the fresh produce available this time of year, and luckily it is easy to enjoy without much effort. Even so, I love that we have found ways to still eat great food all year round, even when mama can't be in the kitchen all day working on it.
What are your strategies for getting dinner on the table on those crazy days?
10 comments:
Pasta. Eggs Florentine. Leftovers. Sending Steve down the road to go get burritos. More pasta.
That is such an issue in our house-pasta. My husband does not like it. The occasional Italian pasta salad. I think his all around pickiness is one of our biggest issues. The kids and I would eat veggies and noodles regularly in all sorts of concoctions, but he doesn't do it. No leftovers. No breakfast for supper. Seriously difficult when it comes to dinner. I suppose part of the issue is that I *let* him be that way from the beginning, so now it is quite the dilemma to try to change it. Honestly, just easier to work around it.
Question: crockpot and sandwiches? I don't see a conection; enlightenment please.
Answer to your question: There are just two of us and while I am generally at home I am constantly unwell so have problems cooking. We do huge batches of stuff like chilli, bolognaise and curry and freeze it in 2 person portions. I also try and plan ahead in busy times and resort to ready meals which are at least cheaper than eating out or ordering in. I also try and have things like chops for salad and a baked spud meals.
We throw stew meat or ground meat in the crockpot with seasonings and let them go on low all day. Then we either eat as is or add some barbecue sauce and we have sandwich meat. Heartier than plain old lunch meat, but just as easy. I also use the same method for tacos-just it all goes in a shell later rather than on buns.
Like Attila, there are just two of us & i have health issues that prevent me from doing much cooking. For the past couple of months i've had someone come in once a week to make a lot of stuff for us that i can freeze to use later.
The fact that my hubby doesn't like a lot of things make it more of a challenge.
Having someone come weekly has been a joy, but it was only a temporary situation. Will be re-assessing it in the next couple of weeks.
Like several others, there's only two of us in our house as well. Since I love to cook but can't bring myself to make a big meal every night, I also like to make big batches and either freeze or refrigerate for a few days. A few of our favorites are veggie chili, pasta (usually with beans for protein), lasagne, vegetable soup or whatever is leftover from the night before wrapped up as a burrito. Now that the warm weather is here, my boyfriend likes to use the grill, too, which is always a nice treat! :)
I make food in advance; a LOT of food. Then this all goes into my freezer and I pull it out when I cannot be bothered to cook. This is primarily due to trying to feed myself otherwise I just don't eat. Sprog, it's all about sausages and bacon, pancakes, and occassional spagbol.
With just two of us now and most dishes being designed for 6 to 8 people, we have plenty of leftovers. We will eat the leftovers for lunches or another meal during the week, but I often put enough in the freezer for a meal later on. That way when I am working late, too tired to cook, or the garden needs more attention than the kitchen, I can just take something out of the freezer and we still have a homemade meal.
When all else fails, eggs are our go-to fast meal.
-Brenda
Thanks for the ideas. We make great use of our freezer and eat a lot of quick meals such as stir fry, calzones, and leftovers wrapped in tortillas on busy days.
I'd love to talk with your chef-gone-mama friend as I've been thinking about doing something similar in my community. I love to cook and am looking for ways to support my family while staying at home with the kids. Would you please ask her if I may contact her via e-mail?
Thanks!
@ Tona Elena, send me your email and I will send it along to her. You can reach me at abby at theglannfamily dot net
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