A Sense of Accomplishment
We've had a very busy weekend here.
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On Saturday I went to miraclebaby's baby shower, then went shopping for some kitchen supplies we needed.
I found a great set of stainless steel cookware at Tuesday Morning. It was marked down to $30 for a 10-piece set (3 pots with lids, 2 pans and a couple of utensils), and it seems like really nice quality cookware--18/10 stainless steel with aluminum core bases and oven-proof handles. If you need stainless steel cookware, you might want to check out the Tuesday Morning store--they have a lot of cookware right now of all different types, including non-stick, stainless steel and cast iron. I also bought a 15-quart stainless steel stock pot, which was perfect for my weekend project.
It's going to be so nice not to worry about chipping glass or flaking non-stick coating when I cook now. The mirror finish means that most food doesn't seem to stick to the cookware anyway, and so far it seems that it cooks a variety of different foods evenly without much tendency to burn things, as long as there's enough liquid in the dish. I couldn't figure out how to fry hash in the frying pan without getting a burned crust on the bottom of the pan this morning.
After I came home and fed Baby E yesterday, I went out again to a local butcher shop. I'd called ahead and verified that their meat is hormone-free and is not treated with anything. They have local farm-grown meats which they prepare from start to finish themselves. Even the sausage and bacon they make there on the spot--and they have sausage and bacon we can eat, with no preservatives or other weird ingredients added. I bought whole chickens, 10 lbs. of beef soup bones, a big rolled roast, ground veal, Italian sausage and bacon.
The young lady who worked there was extremely helpful, looking up ingredients and asking questions for me cheerfully. She cut my soup bones into pieces for me, too, so the flavor and calcium would be more available for the broth.
That night I started the beef broth, the roast and the two chickens slow-cooking in crock pots and the stock pot. I started another batch of chicken the next morning after pulling the meat off the bones of the first batch and starting them simmering to make a rich broth. Following a suggestion in a book my mom gave me, I added a few tablespoons of apple cider vinegar to draw the calcium out of the bones, and roasted the beef bones in the oven to get a more toasty rich flavor halfway through the process. That seems to be making a really nice rich broth.
Yesterday I finished planning out menus for 30 meals, and bought the supplies I needed. After church JT and her family came over and the men watched the kids and visited while we washed and peeled pound after pound of vegetables and ran them through the food processor to chop, slice or dice them. The processor isn't worth using for one meal, but for doing that many veggies at once it was perfect. It saved us a lot of time.
Even using the food processor we worked hard all afternoon and didn't quite finish all the vegetables. We got most of them done, though, and it will be much less overwhelming for me to finish them and put the meals together over the next few days.
I don't know how people do all 30 meals for once-a-month-cooking all in one day. I'm just going to do as much as I can over the next few days. Even if all I did was prepare a bunch of vegetables to be ready to use once every few days, that would still save me a lot of time. With JT helping, we processed enough veggies for several weeks. I may even end up just freezing plain vegetables for use in recipes.
I'm really glad to have so much of it done. It was great to have the company and help from JT and her family. In a few weeks we'll do the same thing at her house. Then hopefully we'll be able to continue doing it every now and then, taking turns helping each other.
We made triple batches of the French dip sandwich filling, au jus and chicken a la king for yesterday's meals, so after eating lunch and dinner we put 4 meals into the freezer. Today I'm making multiple batches of 3 more meals and feeding most of them to the freezer.
I can't believe how quick and easy meal preparation is when all the vegetable pre-prep is done ahead of time. If my recipe calls for 3 carrots, all I have to do is measure out a cup and a half of sliced carrots and dump them in. JT was smart enough to measure one chopped carrot so I'd know how much to put in recipes, and that makes it so easy.
The beef and chicken bones have been simmering gently for a day and a half now, and I just finished taking them out and straining the broth. Now it's back on the stove with the lid off, condensing. The condensed broth will take less space in the freezer. It will make good soups, I think, and will add flavor to casseroles and other dishes. I sent the bones and fatty scraps home with Morning for her two big dogs this morning when she came by.
The house smells fabulous with all the cooking, and I'm really excited to be accomplishing so much. Just think how much extra time I'll have in my day when all I have to do is pull a meal out of the freezer and reheat it.
###########################
On Saturday I went to miraclebaby's baby shower, then went shopping for some kitchen supplies we needed.
I found a great set of stainless steel cookware at Tuesday Morning. It was marked down to $30 for a 10-piece set (3 pots with lids, 2 pans and a couple of utensils), and it seems like really nice quality cookware--18/10 stainless steel with aluminum core bases and oven-proof handles. If you need stainless steel cookware, you might want to check out the Tuesday Morning store--they have a lot of cookware right now of all different types, including non-stick, stainless steel and cast iron. I also bought a 15-quart stainless steel stock pot, which was perfect for my weekend project.
It's going to be so nice not to worry about chipping glass or flaking non-stick coating when I cook now. The mirror finish means that most food doesn't seem to stick to the cookware anyway, and so far it seems that it cooks a variety of different foods evenly without much tendency to burn things, as long as there's enough liquid in the dish. I couldn't figure out how to fry hash in the frying pan without getting a burned crust on the bottom of the pan this morning.
After I came home and fed Baby E yesterday, I went out again to a local butcher shop. I'd called ahead and verified that their meat is hormone-free and is not treated with anything. They have local farm-grown meats which they prepare from start to finish themselves. Even the sausage and bacon they make there on the spot--and they have sausage and bacon we can eat, with no preservatives or other weird ingredients added. I bought whole chickens, 10 lbs. of beef soup bones, a big rolled roast, ground veal, Italian sausage and bacon.
The young lady who worked there was extremely helpful, looking up ingredients and asking questions for me cheerfully. She cut my soup bones into pieces for me, too, so the flavor and calcium would be more available for the broth.
That night I started the beef broth, the roast and the two chickens slow-cooking in crock pots and the stock pot. I started another batch of chicken the next morning after pulling the meat off the bones of the first batch and starting them simmering to make a rich broth. Following a suggestion in a book my mom gave me, I added a few tablespoons of apple cider vinegar to draw the calcium out of the bones, and roasted the beef bones in the oven to get a more toasty rich flavor halfway through the process. That seems to be making a really nice rich broth.
Yesterday I finished planning out menus for 30 meals, and bought the supplies I needed. After church JT and her family came over and the men watched the kids and visited while we washed and peeled pound after pound of vegetables and ran them through the food processor to chop, slice or dice them. The processor isn't worth using for one meal, but for doing that many veggies at once it was perfect. It saved us a lot of time.
Even using the food processor we worked hard all afternoon and didn't quite finish all the vegetables. We got most of them done, though, and it will be much less overwhelming for me to finish them and put the meals together over the next few days.
I don't know how people do all 30 meals for once-a-month-cooking all in one day. I'm just going to do as much as I can over the next few days. Even if all I did was prepare a bunch of vegetables to be ready to use once every few days, that would still save me a lot of time. With JT helping, we processed enough veggies for several weeks. I may even end up just freezing plain vegetables for use in recipes.
I'm really glad to have so much of it done. It was great to have the company and help from JT and her family. In a few weeks we'll do the same thing at her house. Then hopefully we'll be able to continue doing it every now and then, taking turns helping each other.
We made triple batches of the French dip sandwich filling, au jus and chicken a la king for yesterday's meals, so after eating lunch and dinner we put 4 meals into the freezer. Today I'm making multiple batches of 3 more meals and feeding most of them to the freezer.
I can't believe how quick and easy meal preparation is when all the vegetable pre-prep is done ahead of time. If my recipe calls for 3 carrots, all I have to do is measure out a cup and a half of sliced carrots and dump them in. JT was smart enough to measure one chopped carrot so I'd know how much to put in recipes, and that makes it so easy.
The beef and chicken bones have been simmering gently for a day and a half now, and I just finished taking them out and straining the broth. Now it's back on the stove with the lid off, condensing. The condensed broth will take less space in the freezer. It will make good soups, I think, and will add flavor to casseroles and other dishes. I sent the bones and fatty scraps home with Morning for her two big dogs this morning when she came by.
The house smells fabulous with all the cooking, and I'm really excited to be accomplishing so much. Just think how much extra time I'll have in my day when all I have to do is pull a meal out of the freezer and reheat it.
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Posted by purple_kangaroo at 2:56 PM[Permanent link]
4 Comments:
Sounds like fun!! I actually really enjoy bulk cooking and freezing stuff. Too bad we don't have a bigger freezer for storage stuff. A lot of times I just end up trying to do enough extra so we have at least one or two more meals out of it, especially for David to take for lunch.
I have been running around preparing the house for baby and washing/folding clothes and diapers! Trying to make a list of things we still need, but I think we are almost set. Several of the things can wait a few months or so.
Hopefully it works out to get together and visit this week sometime (as long as I don't go in to labor!). Looking forward to seeing you soon, with or without Dorothy :)
Wow, I was wondering when I'd hear about meat in your diet! I haven't heard of allergies to any meats... will have to give the bulk cooking idea a thought as we might be getting a second freezer soon!
I also heard something about the magnesium in epson salt being good for calcium absorbtion and am looking forward to getting it in bulk at Costco... it's helped me a lot with soreness. I'm guessing you've already tried epson salt to no avail but I just wanted to remind you about it b/c I was shocked at all the things it's good for when I heard about it and looked into it online. Roo has even been having more regular bowel movements. LOL! God bless, Colleen
Wow! I'm very envious. :) Half of the time I don't know what we're having for dinner up to an hour before!
It's great that you had help to make quick work of it, too. That's a great friend you have there. :)
Cooking in bulk doesn't work too well in my house. My kids EAT in bulk. I really need to get a bigger pressure cooker to help remedy that. I have a 6 qt and really need an 8 or a 10. If I make a pot of beef stew or chicken soup in the 6 qt, I'm lucky to have enough leftovers for the next night. At this point the boys are only 6, 7 & 11 and eat me out of house and home. What is it going to be like when they are teenagers?!?! (They are all skinny as rails, BTW.)
Great deal on the pots and pans! Did you figure out what to do about the waffle iron/non-stick thing?
Miraclebaby, I'm wishing we had a bigger freezer too! I'll try to call you in the morning about getting together. It's exciting that Dorothy's arrival is getting so close.
Colleen, we always eat lots of meat--often 2 or more times a day. Some kinds of meat are actually fairly common allergens--fish and seafood are among the top allergens ever, and it's not that uncommon to be allergic to beef, pork or other meats either. There's some cross-reactivity sometimes, too, such as people who are allergic to eggs also being allergic to chicken meat, feathers, etc.
I haven't had a chance to go out and buy some epsom salts yet, but I do want to try that. I'm glad it's helping for you.
Dani, I can't believe how much my kids are eating lately either. I made what I thought would be the right amount of food tonight, and we didn't really have enough. All three kids can each eat as much as I can lately, it seems. I have to reatrain myself to make larger quantities. I had to go buy a bigger steamer this week, and some bigger pots too.
We had three waffle irons (none of which we actually purchased, LOL), so I just threw that one away and will use a different one next time I make waffles. I've heard of cast-iron waffle irons, though, and that idea sounds fascinating to me. The cast-iron frying pan makes good pancakes.
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