crunchy parenting

This article is part of what I hope to be an ongoing series here on crunchy parenting, Kitchen Shortcuts.

I’ve given a nod to freezer cooking before, but those of you who have seen my house or watched me cook know that I’m probably not an expert on the planned-way-in-advance cooking. I’m one of those home cooks that can start with some potatoes, a couple of old carrots and a handful of lentils and turn it into a pretty decent dinner in about 30 minutes. Which just means that I cook fast and casual and think it up as I go.

Apparently, this is not the way freezer cooking, or Once A Month Cooking, is supposed to go.

Every time I’ve looked into this previously, I’ve been daunted by the amount of organization that goes into this thing. First, there’s the recipes. You can’t know what to shop for, and therefore to cook, if you don’t know what you’re cooking. So first you gather your recipes, and draft a complete shopping list of everything you need. (This alone freaks me out, since I would need to make a master list of every ingredient for every recipe first and then double-check things like spices, or cornstarch, on top of crossing-off if I need more garlic or zucchini. Maybe an hour to do this, tops?)

Then, you need to do the shopping bit. Let’s see, I shop at my local farmer’s market, which means that I don’t know if I’ll still be able to get okra for gumbo this late in the season. I might, I might not; how screwed would I be if it’s one of my recipes and I either need to scrap cooking that meal, or drive around town looking for okra? These are the types of questions I can’t find answers for online, at least not on the blogs glorifying this whole cook-once-save-time approach.

Assuming that I do what I do when I’m having a bad week, let’s say I do a bit of combo shopping: Amazon for hard pantry goods, farmer’s market for fresh veggies, grocery store for the other odds and ends, like dairy or cheese. Now, I have a ton of stuff that needs cooking and I’ve got to set aside a whole day to cook. Umm. Yeah, so not going happen with two little kids and a spouse. Needless to say that as much as I LOVE cooking, there is no way I have the patience to stand around all day, while the spouse-unit wrangles the kids, as I yell from the kitchen “Just one more hour, hon!”

Nope. No can do, baby doll.

There’s more reasons I’ve had a problem making this work for me, like the fact that the spouse-unit is vegetarian, and I’m practically there myself. We really like our fresh vegetables cooked fresh (which is the healthiest anyway), and to be honest, most veggie dishes don’t come out of the freezer with that same crunchy crispness as a fresh cooked meal does. If you look at most vegetarian freezer cooking recipes, either they’re something unhealthy and over-baked, like mac ‘n cheese or veggie lasagna, or they’re boring and generic like tomato sauce.

I know a handful busy moms that wonder how I cook at home so often for our family, with resorting to take-out, delivery or eating out only when we actually want to, rather than for a lack of time or resources to cook. Personally, it helps to actually like, or even just have an interest, in cooking. (As one mom told me, “Nuh-uh. I HATE cooking.”) For me, I like eating, and I’m a bit geeky, so I often eat something good and then spend a ridiculous amount of time breaking down how it was made so I can duplicate it, or make it even better. And I have some health rules, like how I’m not allowed to buy cookies – if I want them, I have to make them. Trust me, you get good at making cookies fast with a rule like that.

But the main reason I feel that cooking, as opposed to something like cleaning or laundry, is the easy part of home management is that I have lots and lots of shortcuts in the kitchen. From freezing half of meal and preparing the other half fresh, to homemade spice blends, I hope to cover the best of them in this series.

Photo by vahnee / crunchyparenting.com

It’s a grey day out today. I can barely see across the canyon for the faint mist and the drizzle. Spice thinks the rain is wow-worthy. I think it’s the first time she’s really recognizing rain, which is neat. I need to get her some boots and make a raincoat of some kind. Yes, I know it hardly rains here, even in the winter, but we can use it when we go skiing later in the season, too.

Too bad I scorched her newly finished sweater! There was too much stuff on the table and way too close to the candles and some paper on the sweater smoldered. :-/ I just thank my lucky stars that it was only the sweater damaged and not our dining table, or anything worse. (I’m still twitchy now about lighting anything more than some tea lights on the kitchen windowsill.)

There were some awesome things happening online last week that I’d love to share. So grab yourself a coffee, add some pumpkin spice and some whipped cream and settle in.

• Helping Your Kids Learn with Blocks // Most of us have (or have had) those charming alphabet blocks at one parenting stage or another, but how much do our kids really play with them? Steady Mom‘s contributer, Melitsa, has some great tips on how to set up block play for maximum baby & toddler enjoyment.
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• Baked Kale Chips, Easy Pie Crust & Grilled Radishes // I made these three recipes this past week and they were all a hit. Spice gobbled up the kale chips faster than I could make them and the spouse-unit thought the pie crust was perfect for the red chard and radish quiche I made. (I followed the commenters’ notes on sauteing the radishes rather than grilling them.)
• How to Make Your Own Biscuit Mix // I’m the kind that would rather make my own quick mixes than buy the store bought ones that have more preservatives and anti-caking agents thrown in, so I’m itching to make this biscuit mix recipe. Just need some organic shortening – I get mine at Whole Foods.
• Speaking of Tomboys // I LOVED this pic from Kim of The Mommy Machine of her daughter. The caption says it all: “He drives. She rides. I pray.”
• Wordless Wednesday: Then & Now // Also warming the pants off me were these before & after pics from Melissa over at Adventuroo of her and her family. I love the bit about “mom hair – always up”!
• Cross It Off Your List // As I try to keep up with my mad holiday planning and watch the rain fall on our half-finished deck, I can totally relate to Adriel’s post at the Mommyhood Memos about making lists, putting things off and finally getting around to long-postponed items.
• Fallin Up with Cottage and Vine! // I’ve always loved the movie, Hanging Up, for Meg Ryan’s gorgeous seasonal house. So when I saw Kim of My Domestic Bliss post about her fall decor touches, I’m both inspired and envious – the latter because I desperately need to declutter and clean before I can get to the oh-so-fun decorating. Still, love-love-love the spray-painted door pocket – what a great idea!
• 5 Foods You Have In Your Kitchen That Should Be In Your Hair // Some will be familiar to you, but eggs and molasses were totally new to me.

I made a really nice roasted butternut squash and vegetable soup last night and it was such a success that I felt compelled to share the rather-chatty recipe here with you.

Photo by Valerie Everett

Butternut squash is one of those vegetables that I love for several reasons. It has it’s own flavor, but it’s variable enough to be used in classic American fare or spicy Indian curry. It lasts forever on the countertop, which makes it the perfect standby veggie for those oh-my-god-we’re-out-of-veggies nights. It takes equally well to soups, curries, grilling, roasting, shredding-and-panfrying, etc. And most importantly, it always reminds me that fall is here, even in sunny California.

This is a great way to use up leftover vegetables hiding in the fridge, plus most of it is rather hands-off, which left me more time to curl up on the couch with Spice, reading and knitting.

I used a whole butternut squash (peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes), half an onion, a carrot, two stalks of celery, and about 6 garlic cloves. I roughly cut these up into about 1- to 2-inch pieces, tossed with some sunflower oil and roasted them in a broiler pan at 400-450 degrees for about an hour.

I started out at the 450 temp because I was also doing a couple of baguettes at the same for 25 minutes, thanks to the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day book. These two items really went hand-in-hand because the bread was resting nicely in the baguette tray during the 20 minutes it took me to chop the veggies and for the oven to heat up. Talk about kitchen synchronicity!

Since it would be roasting for an hour and lazy me wanted to get up from the couch as little as possible when it was done, I also set out a stockpot on the stove with 2 cups of water and a vegetarian stock cube on low heat. I did get up once to turn the veggies and get the bread out of the oven, but that was about it.

When the veggies were done (fork-tender, onions soft and browned a little on the edges), I transferred them with a spoon to the now-simmering pot of broth and let them simmer a little like that until the spouse-unit came home, about 10 minutes. Then I stuck an immersion blender in and pureed it until it was thick and creamy. I adjusted the seasonings with a little kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper and paprika.

Served with the warm crunchy bread, it was simple and divine.

I like to make cookies by hand, but sometimes I was just want a quick sugar fix. Store-bought cookies almost never do it for me, so I often go for the frozen cookie dough.

- 1 package Immaculate Baking Company Vanilla Sugar Cookies
- St. Dalfour’s Back Raspberry jam, Dundee Marmalade or jam of your preference

* Roll the square-cut cookie dough in your palms to round out the dough for a more homemade look.
* Press your thumb, knuckle or end of a wooden spoon into the center of each cookie to make a small well. Don’t push too hard or fast or the dough may “crack”.
* Add 1/4-1/2 tsp of your favorite jam to the wells.
* Bake as directed. (Something like 10-14 minutes @ 350 degrees.)
* Cool for few minutes on the cookie sheet before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Photo by Kyle L.

Crazy busy weekend here! Had friends over to grill and got a ton of organizing done around the house, thanks to the spouse-unit and a sleeping toddler. A little bit of fun stuff from around the web:

• In Search of a Pan That Lets Cooks Forget About Teflon // One of the reasons we’re phasing our our nonstick pans and moving to cast iron or stainless steel. Love Lodge cast iron, BTW! [NY Times]
• How to Make Coleslaw // I’m used to buying coleslaw and it’s generally hit or miss. After seeing this, though, I’m determined to make my own one day. [CHOW]
• How To Build A Great Blanket Fort // Soon to be built under our kitchen table with the help of many hand-dyed play silks. [Simple Mom & Sara's Toy Box]
• Krispy Kreme Bacon Cheeseburgers // OMG. I can’t tell if I’m disgusted or curiously excited by these. [Kitchen Cow]
• 10 Cosmetic Uses for Everyday Foods // Whether you’re being more natural with your beauty products or more budget-conscious with your pocketbook, this handy list of common kitchen items as effective facial products is great to have on hand.[CHOW]