Cook Once, Eat Twice… or More

I like to have cooked food on hand in the refrigerator, or now that we are no longer living on the sailboat, in the freezer.  This is especially true in the warmer months of the year, when I am likely to push the envelope on spending as much time outdoors as possible, and cut it fairly tight on getting lunch or dinner together.  And so too on days when I work a split shift, it is nice to get something on the table quickly. 

I do like to make up batches of things such as soups, pulled pork, shredded chicken, and even dishes such as Butter Chicken, Chicken Tikka Masala, and chilis or stews… these things freeze really nicely and thaw easily to get a meal together in a hurry.  Add some rice, or sweet potatoes, and a veggie, and dinner is ready pretty quickly.

Another thing I like to do is roast several boneless skinless chicken breasts at the same time.  We may have a couple for dinner with veggies and potatoes  the day I make them.  Then I put the leftover pieces in the fridge and use them in a variety of ways… my favorites are sliced for salads, and for sandwich fillings for The Captain.  If I know I am going to use them in a particular way, I might marinate them with appropriate spices before cooking, but usually I just bake them plain.

Extra lean ground beef is another protein I like to prepare in batches.

We normally buy our beef in one-pound packages and freeze them.  I like to thaw a single package, and place the meat into a large skillet along with about a half cup of diced onions and 4 or 5 cloves of peeled, smashed and minced garlic.  It only takes about 15 minutes to cook… I may or may not season with salt and pepper…  and then I let it cool a bit before dividing it into 2 portions.  Each portion will be used to make a meal for the two of us, and there are so many ways to eat it.

If you want a pasta or zoodle sauce, you can saute more veggies such as mushrooms and bell peppers to add to the prepared meat in a skillet. And then add some some canned tomatoes… diced or crushed, and some Italian seasoning.

Or you can put the meat mixture in a skillet and add a shredded coleslaw mix and some grated ginger,  and after the cabbage has cooked, add either a teriyaki sauce or a mixture of tamari (gluten free soy) sauce, some rice vinegar and a drizzle of sesame oil.  Pineapple bits or mandarine orange slices oranges on top, or a few cashews really dress it up.

Another of my very favorite meals is  to heat the meat mixture and place it on a plate with some guacamole and salsa on the top of it and serve sweet potato ‘chips’ alongside.  We eat this a lot.  If I know I am going to be serving the beef this way I often add extra garlic while I am cooking it.

You can also use it as the base for chilis, or soups, or even use it to top pizza, or perogies, or fold it into an omelet.  So versatile and so tasty and filling.

What is your favorite food to batch cook and have on hand to make quick meals?

Batch Cooking Primer

I spent some time this past weekend doing some batch cooking and it inspired me to write a post about it.  I know lots of people already do this on a regular basis, but there are others who are a bit intimidated by the thought of it so I hope to simplify things somewhat.

For me, there are few basics to think about before I get started. 

1.  What are you hoping to accomplish with your batch cooking? 

• Do you want to use up some things in your fridge or pantry before they go bad?
• Do you want to make some dinners for the next week? 
• Do you just want to make some meals to have on had in your freezer?  
• Perhaps you think that you are turning on the oven to make one thing anyway, so you might as well make the most of it and keep cooking?

2.  What are you making and what are you planning to do with it?

• Are you going to put your prepared food in the fridge for use over the next few days?
• Will you need to freeze what you prepare?
• Do you have room in the fridge or freezer to store the food you pepare?

3.  Consider your storage container options

• plastic containers
• glass containers
• zipper lock freezer bags
• individual portions or multi-serving portions

4.  Make a plan of attack

• list the items you plan to make
• check to make sure you have the ingredients you need
• make a shopping list and buy the items on it
• make note of the order you will do things, a timeline of sorts

5.  Execute the plan

• assemble your ingredients
• do all your veggie chopping at once
• clean up as you go along
• HAVE FUN! and SMILE a lot

5.  After you are finished

• put things in containers
• label for the freezer
• ENJOY your accomplishment!

As an example, I will share with you how my recent session went.

I made a mental note of the things I wanted to accomplish:

• roast Beets that are in the pantry so they aren't forgotten about and go bad.  Peel and freeze some, store one in fridge for use this week
• while the oven is hot anyway, bake Italian Meatballs and freeze in meals for 2 people
• cook Goop for dinner that night and then freeze leftovers in one container for another meal for 2 people
• cook Barley for Captain’s dinner and save leftovers in fridge in 2 individual servings for use this week
• cook Red Curry Slow Cooker Pork for dinner the next night and then freeze leftovers in 4 individual servings

And then I got busy…

I started the Red Curry Slow Cooker Pork going first.  I knew I needed to use my large skillet to brown the pork and then I would have to wash it before I could use it to cook the Goop. 

Then I scrubbed the Beets and got them roasting in the oven. 

While they were baking I mixed the Meatballs and put them on a baking sheet.

And I started the Goop by putting ground beef in the skillet with onions and garlic.

I chopped and added the vegetables to the Goop skillet.

Beets cooked, I set them aside to cool and put the meatballs into the oven.

I add the tomato sauce to the Goop and turned it to simmer.

I started the Barley cooking in a large saucepan on the stove top.

I removed the peels from the Beets under cold running water, and then bagged them and put some in the freezer, and one in the fridge.

After the Meatballs were cooked, I portioned them into 8s and put them in containers and into the freezer.

The Goop and the Barley were done about the same time – saved one portion of Barley for The Captain’s dinner and put the rest in individual containers in the fridge.  The Goop would feed us twice so I saved half for our dinner, and put the rest in a container in the freezer.

The Pork was done a few hours later and I saved some in the fridge for one meal for the two of us the next day and then portioned 4 servings into individual containers and put them in the freezer.

Here are some pics from my kitchen adventures...

Roasted beets

Italian Meatballs ready to go into the oven when the Beets came out

Goop steaming on the stove top

And all done

Barley cooked

Red Curry Slow Cooker Pork done too

Good with Barley for The Captain

And over roasted Ambercup Squash for me

Beets sliced on salad with light Feta and Pecans

The Captain enjoyed this Barley done like Chicken Fried Rice

Red Curry Slow Cooker Pork with potatoes for The Captain

And with Acorn Squash for me

And some Barley with Butter Chicken for The Captain

Do you batch cook?

Any hints to share?

Fresh Pineapple… How to Prepare and Ideas for Eating

It had been some time since we enjoyed a fresh pineapples in our kitchen, but we have had 2 of them very recently… about 2 weeks apart. 

Fresh pineapple is so delicious, but I think I always am afraid it is going to be too messy, or that there will be too much of it and it will go to waste.

I am happy to say I was wrong on both counts!

First, The Captain prepped both of them in the following manner:

1.  Cut the top (leafy) end off.

2. Cut the bottom end off.

3. Stand the pineapple on end and slice off the brown skin, and make sure to remove the spiky bits around the ‘eyes’.

4. Lay it on an edge and cut it in half lengthwise.  Skip this step if you want to have round rings/slices.

5. Slice each piece crosswise as thin as you like.

Some pineapples have tough core sections, while others don’t. so cut away the core if yours is one of the tougher ones.

It will stay nicely in a covered container in your refrigerator for 2 or 3 days,as you find lots of ways to enjoy it.

Second… here are some ideas to eat up that fresh pineapple:

Mixed into an Asian-style slaw.

Added to homemade Hawaiian pizza… check out my low-carb grain free flax crust.

Mixed with other fresh fruit… here banana slices and blueberries.

And of of course you just eat the slices just as they are!

Fresh pineapple is a Weight Watcher’s best friend.  It is a zero P+ food on the program and comes in at only 76 calories, with 2 g of fibre, for a whole cup!  You’re welcome.

What’s your favorite way to eat fresh pineapple?

10 Tips to Doing Your Holiday Baking Without Gaining Any Weight

This time of year can pose a real challenge to those of us who do Christmas or Holiday Baking!

We are often surrounded by tasty, tempting ingredients and recipes that we don’t normally face during the rest of the year… we are looking to make salted caramels, shortbread, molasses cookies, butter tarts, pecan and mincemeat pies…. and on and on.  Every year it seems there are more and more calorie and sugar laden goodies to try… more recipes in our favorite magazines and blogs and it can all become quite overwhelming… and let’s be honest… fattening!

It would be easier to just refuse to do it… and for a brave few, that is often the solution.

But for those of us who want to make special things for beloved family members and friends, how do we go about producing these fabulous food gifts without piling on the pounds?

Some people would advise you to only make things that you don’t like to eat yourself.  Others would say to bake when you are not hungry, or to put the bakedgoodies in the freezer right away so they are out of sight.  Good tips, but not very realistic.  Who hasn’t discovered that peanut butter cookies taste wonderful when they are frozen?

So what do you do when faced with raw cookie dough or chocolate cake batter?  How do you keep from tasting or nibbling or licking the spoons or egg beaters while you are doing the actual baking?  We all know that these little BLTs (bites, licks, tastes) can add up to hundreds of extra calories over a few hours… and if you do several baking sessions, you might be facing thousands of calories full of sugar and fat!

I think we should reward ourselves for all of this creative and love-driven work we are doing, by enjoying some of the goodies we are making.  I think it is extremely unrealistic to expect that we won’t do a bit of sampling… but I would suggest that we decide, before we even get started, that we are going to sit down with a cup of tea or coffee, or even a glass of wine, AFTER it is all done and enjoy ONE piece of our favorite confection…. one cookie, one piece of brownie, one thin sliver of pie. 

Keep your eye on that prize, and keep the tasting to a minimum.

I have come up with a few ways to avoid the BLTs and have been given some tips by some of my friends over the years as well… I would love to share them with you.

 

• Brush your teeth before you get started.  A fresh, clean mouth feels so good and you are less likely to start popping nuts or chocolate chips into your mouth when you have fresh sparkly clean teeth.
• Chew gum.  It is very difficult to pop bits of cookie dough into your mouth while you are chewing gum.  Let’s face it.  We don’t need to taste the cookie dough because we are often using recipes that we have made over and over and over again… we already know that dough tastes good!   I am not normally a gum chewer but I do find this tip really works for me.
• It does make sense to do your baking when you are not hungry.  But you might want to have an appropriate snack at the ready, right out in front of you where it is easily accessible.  Apple slices covered with peanut butter, or some cubes of cheddar cheese will help keep you going.  Make it something a bit special that you really like, and something that can easily be popped into your mouth instead of a piece of cookie dough.
• Have lunch already prepared so you don’t nibble instead of eating a real meal. If your baking session will last for hours, especially over lunchtime, or involves a friend, it might be a good idea to have something ready in the fridge, that you can take to a table to sit down and eat while taking a break from the baking.
• If you do bake with a friend, challenge each other not to taste as you go along.  Make a little game of it and charge each other a penalty for catching each other tasting, or have a non-food reward pre-determined for the one who does it the least. 
• Wear your workout clothes and shoes while you bake.   This is a really good idea for so many different reasons.  It will remind you about why you don’t want to be nibbling while you are baking.  And if you do get time for a quick break, you could get out for a little walk, or you can do some squats or pushups in the living room while the cookies are in the oven.  Or you can crank up some holiday music and do a bit of dancing.
• Make up rules before you begin baking.  I have a rule that I don’t eat while I am standing up. If I want to put something in my mouth I have to take it to the table to sit down first.  It has happened where I have taken a brownie batter spoon to the table to sit down and lick it, but by the time I got there, I realized how silly it was and avoided the deed! 
• Put the used bowls, mixer blades, spoons, spatulas, and other utensils into a sinkful of hot soapy water as soon as you are done with them, or at least rinse the batter off them so you won’t be tempted to lick if off!
• Imagine that someone is watching you in the kitchen.  Behave the way you would if you were being recorded or if the neighbor or your husband was spying on you!  Better yet, set up your video camera and make a vlog about it all. You will never lick your fingers! 
• Focus on the end goal… to make something lovely for your family and friends to enjoy.  The more you nibble now, the lessfinished product there will be when you are done!  If you  cannot control yourself while the cookies are cooling, get out of the kitchen.  Have someone else put the finished and cooled baking into containers and then get them out of sight as soon as you can.

I hope that some of these tips might help you to get through your holiday baking without adding on some holiday pounds! 

If you have any tips, I would love to have you share them with me.

And I would really like to know what you are cooking up for the holidays, too.