When Deirdre and John were here this weekend and telling us about Paris, I was remembering times I spent in Europe, back when mothers went to the market for the day's food, carrying a straw bag and bringing home enough for the meals and a little more. My aunt actually married a German man and lived this life.
Marketing in the morning, large meal at midday, light “collation” in the evening, warm rolls delivered early to the doorstep, eaten for breakfast with unsalted butter and coffee (although I personally don't like coffee. I know).
We were thinking about how, if the mother is the manager of her home, the family eats simply but well.
I don't know why being the manager of the home (leaving aside being its heart, and just purely looking at things job-wise) is considered… nothing.
Have you been to a hotel recently? Maybe to stay, or for a reception? Can you imagine even thinking, “This hotel is great. It's comfortable, welcoming, clean, and refreshing. The food tastes homemade. It's wonderful that this hotel has no manager.”
The amazing thing about being the manager of your own home is that it's just such a pleasure. Listen, everything has its downside; nothing is perfect. But the freedom to decide when, where, and how to do things, taking into consideration only the opinions of those you love, why, that's a pleasure.
Well, it can be!
One thing I'm worried about is that if we are always trying to get out of the very things that go into managing a home, we will be missing the point.
I'm all for being efficient. You can read about “Save-A-Step” cooking right on this blog. Please do, because I tell you all about how you can make your steps in the kitchen pay off for you, so that once you hit your stride, you are often only cooking one item per meal, using other things previously cooked to round out the plate. Also, look on the sidebar to understand how menu planning really works — how it frees your time.
However, I caution against getting caught up in the idea that you can put in a mighty effort once in a while and then just not cook at all for, say, a month.
First, really? I'm not sure I would enjoy eating a completely defrosted and re-heated dish every day, and I am quite sure that the leftovers of such a meal would not be palatable. And you need good leftovers for lunch the next day (I'm assuming that we Americans are just not going to eat that European way, more's the pity). Throwing food away is an admission of defeat.
In terms of the tastiness of food, it's usually the case that freshly cooked is better than defrosted/reheated, although I will not begrudge anyone the occasional emergency casserole tucked away in there.
{Rosie made a truly epic batch of chicken enchiladas that were much enjoyed by moi just before one of the weddings. There were enough people there so that none was left. Chili freezes well (and that was a good menu — chicken enchiladas, chili, cornbread, salad, guacamole — the hordes left satisfied). We'll have to get the recipe. They froze well.}
But I am not convinced about a lot of things, especially things that are meant to be à la minute: Stir fry, e. g. Stir fry is fast. Stir fry is meant to be sort of crispy in the veggies, super light and fresh. What are we saving when we freeze stir fry? I posit that we are wasting, as the mush will have to be chucked.
But, second, what is it that you are rushing to do? Sometimes there are weeks of day camp or crazy practice evenings. I get that. A well stocked freezer, as I describe in the Save-A-Step style of cooking, will help. But even if you could conjure up edible meals every day from the freezer, which I doubt, why would you want to do that? So that you could be… where?
The pleasure is in the process, my friend. Embrace it, and your whole life will slow down admirably. The rhythm of each day is where we find our peace. When we rush, we lose a lot. For instance, children need the time when they have finished their dinner-readying chores (cleaning up their toys, unloading the dishwasher for you, setting the table, taking out the trash, making sure the animals are fed) either to run out and play or to relax with a book.
It makes them feel secure to have you puttering around in the kitchen, calmly getting things ready. It makes them feel loved. And you yourself love your life more when you are working deliberately, without booming and busting. You love your life more when you are competent at what you do!
Okay, now for the promised secret to wonderful summer salads.
The secret is the platter!
A Salade Composée is a wonderful French invention. It takes previously cooked foods — a starch, such as rice or potatoes, a protein, such as chicken or fish, and vegetables, and offers them in the form of a salad.
But you need the platter to get your creativity flowing.
Let's think about it a little.
Let's say that one night this summer (Sunday, maybe) you grilled a big batch of chicken. With that you served some zucchini, green beans, asparagus, beets, greens, or just about anything you can think of, cooked just right with butter and lemon or olive oil and rosemary. You made all the veggies you had. On the side were lovely boiled red potatoes, skin still on, maybe tossed with parsley and butter as well. With foresight, you boiled up twice as many potatoes as necessary. You also had a green salad, so there is only about half a head of lettuce left in your fridge.
Well, on Tuesday you could make a different kind of salad dish, perfectly suited to summer, even with that little bit of lettuce, if you have the proper plate to serve it on.
That is where this platter comes in. It's 20 1/2″ X 14 1/2″ — the size that caterers use. I got mine, almost on a whim, because you know that I'm not the kind of person to think that a platter will necessarily solve my issues, at the now sadly bygone Linens N Things. This is the one I could find now, and it's a lot pricier, sad to say:
It's really big. Here it is with my big cake platter for scale:
That cake platter is what I made my Salade Niçoise on. (That is the best known of these types of salads, and it's just so good.) Until the wedding season, I kept forgetting about my big white platter, which is stowed away in the china closet.
The beauty of the big platter is that you can truly Compose your Salade, as opposed to piling it in a deep bowl and ending up with undifferentiated mix. This allows you to make the most of your ingredients, for when things are arranged beautifully, they are appealing to the appetite.
If you happen to have a lot of lettuce, why, then, first fill your platter with that. In the photo with the chicken, I did have lots of lettuce and it was one of those incredibly hot days when you can't eat any starch other than some crispy pita triangles. But if, as in my chicken dinner hypothetical, you only have a small amount, use it on the edges. Put your starch in the center. Shred your chicken around that.
You know how to make a salad fun already. Rummage around your fridge and pantry for these things, any or all:
Dried fruit (such as cranberries)
Fresh fruit (such as thinly sliced apples)
Crumbled bacon (I try to squirrel away two pieces at Sunday breakfast for just such things during the week)
Thinly sliced red onion or green onion
Sundried tomatoes
Chopped nuts — my preferred are almonds, pecans, and, voluptuously, pistachios
Hard boiled eggs, sliced
Leftover corn kernels
Crumbled tortilla chips
Shredded cheese — my preferred are cheddar, feta, or blue (and I really do prefer a tangy, vs. oozy, American buttermilk blue, and it's cheaper than French)
For the starch, you can use anything like:
Potatoes
Rice
Bulgur
Couscous
Pasta, although I think I would only like pasta tossed with pesto for this type of thing.
Whatever it is, it needs to be room temp. Rice needs to be reheated and then cooled down, but not served straight out of the fridge, which is not tasty. At. All.
For your protein, you can use any meat or fish, and you don't need much for this to feel like a full meal. Leftover grilled steak, yummy! You can supplement with lentils, chickpeas, or black beans. Of course, any beans would work, but those would be my faves.
The secondary secret, known to the French but not so much to Americans, is to add those cooked vegetables. As long as you cooked them properly to start with, so that they are done through but not mushy, they will be fabulous with a salad dressing on top.
Rosie took this photo of a shrimp Salad Composée that I pulled together another night when we were in the throes of wedding prep and suddenly I realize that many more people would be home for dinner than I had exactly thought through. We were so busy — she just pulled out her phone at the last minute:
All I had was a 2-pound bag of shrimp in the freezer and literally half a head of lettuce (I was really caught off guard somehow, despite all my planning!). To feed about 8 hungry adults? Can you imagine if I had given each person their own few pieces of shrimp and one shred of lettuce? That's what it would have looked like on the plate, although somehow, we ended up with leftovers after this! And, fortunately, one of the guests, dear Lauren, was on a gluten-free diet, so we lucked out with the choice of starch.
I made zucchini fritters to round things out, and I think you can see zucchini in the salad as well.
Anyway, top everything off with a liberal dousing of homemade vinaigrette. Match the type to your food. For a light seafood Salade Composée, try one with lemon added to the vinegar. If it's leftover grilled steak, use balsamic vinegar and lots of mustard. A good cookbook (such as The Way to Cook) will explain exactly what to do, but here is a little recipe for you to get started with:
Vinaigrette Like Mother, Like Daughter
3 parts Extra Virgin Olive Oil (in this case, about 1 cup)
1 part vinegar (in this case, 1/3 cup of red wine vinegar and lemon juice mixed together — just lemon alone is often not quite acidic enough)
1 clove garlic
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried mustard powder
I used my immersion blender (hence my choice of wide-mouth jar, which allows the blender to just fit right in there). It emulsifies the mixture to the point that it seems downright creamy. By the way, mustard helps with emulsion as well. However, a vigorous shake of the jar works fine if you don't have a blender.
Taste this and see if it's to your liking. It should be rather more acidic than for a green salad, since you have the starchy and cooked things sort of counteracting the brightness.
There is no reason ever ever ever to buy salad dressing. And that is the final secret of the salad! Mwah!
Lela says
Now I want to eat cherries, shrimp and fritters….
LeeAnn B says
This is one to print out and enjoy all summer. I use the same method of salad assembly but the big platter would be an improvement over my bowl. Keep all the good stuff from sinking to the bottom!
Kelley says
Great idea for salad! And as always your posts make me feel better on a crazy day. They remind me that what I'm doing is important even if it seems repetitive and unproductive. I love being home with my kids, but you know how sometimes those days creep up. Thanks
Amy says
I happen to have just such a platter…thank you for all the delicious inspiration!
Linda says
I just always love your philosophy. Thank you so much dear Leila for sharing your wisdom. You're awesome. Glory to God.
Julie says
I have decided this is the year to make all salad dressing at home, and it tastes so much better than the bottled stuff. Thanks for the salad tips. This looks so much tastier than the bowl I have been using. I also appreciated your thoughts on being the manager of one's home. I find so many of your posts encouraging!
Claire says
Thank you, Leila. You are an inspriration. What a great post. I loved the part about the rhythm of the day.
Just what I needed.
Briana says
Whod'a thunk! A platter! Brilliant!
Mama Rachael says
Ah, don't diss the stir fry! its my ultimate use-up-what's-about-to-spoil meal that hubby loves and happily eats veggies in. I detail the process here — http://mamarachael.wordpress.com/2012/04/19/stir-…. I'm learning salads and am reading this post again, much closer, in the hopes of learning more. I'm not a salad eater… I'm carnivore all the way through. But this seems a good lesson to learn, for health, wealth and hot summers. Thanks!
Kate says
I would love to make and eat more salad meals in the summer, but my husband would complain. We have a large garden so we usually have a bowl of salad greens at dinner (which we eat at the end of the meal). My husband calls salad (or pasta) meals – “women's fare.” He wants something “substantial.” It's really hard when it's been so hot. Last night I made Brazilian black beans and rice. Only my husband and teenage son ate it. It was just too hot. The rest of us had salad and cucumber sandwiches. And my teenage girls complain if we don't have endless variety. I ignore them of course and remind them that food costs money and we do have a budget. How do your males deal with no meat and potato meals?? Or are you a domestic tyrant and ignore their complaints? (Just kidding).
priest's wife says
try this salad- you can put boiled potatoes and meat in it!
_Leila says
Kate, working out family menus that everyone likes (well, most like most of the time) and that fit in the budget starts with my menu-planning ideas that you will find on the sidebar. They are truly the time-tested way to find that magic spot where everyone gives input and faces reality: We can't always eat out, we have a limited budget, we can make a lot of the things we dream about getting at a restaurant, we can eat in a healthier manner.
One thing is that these composed salads are not like a usual tossed green salad, and often have little or no lettuce, making them significantly less girly!
Check out the posts on the sidebar about making menus, talk about it with your family, and see what you can come up with!
Colleen Martin says
OK, the platter is a great idea!!! Now, I have 5 children all under the age of 9 and my question to you is this…when can I expect my kids to start eating salads for dinner? Seriously…am I doing something wrong in how I feed them since they have to be bribed to eat their veggies (no veggies = no dessert) with the exception of a couple they don't mind. We serve one meal, make sure it's healthy – protein, starch, veggies, fruit – and they can take it or leave it. Did you always cook this way or has it changed as your children got older? I just dream about putting a big healthy salad like that on the table for dinner with no complaints!!!
_Leila says
Colleen, my children always loved Salad Nicoise! Somehow when it has a name, they like it better 🙂 In any case, serving it all on a platter in a composed way allows people to take what they like (within reason, as often there is only so much of one thing — usually meat– to go around) and leave what they dislike (red peppers or mushrooms, eg). Yet, they might inadvertently get a smidge and find out it's not so bad.
The sides are what make it possible to serve this sort of thing to the kids. If they have a bit of the salad and a bunch of fruit and bread and butter, well, that's not the worst meal, especially as I'm sure they had a good breakfast (right? See the sidebar for breakfast thoughts that transcend cereal) and a good lunch (ditto). They'll be fine.
Pippajo says
Ah, I love Summer salads! We eat them like crazy! Our latest favorite ingredients are leftover corn sliced off the cob and avocados. Mmmmmm, slice up some grape tomatoes and chop up some cilantro, add some lime zest and a bit of the juice and throw them together with the corn and avocado and some vinegar and oil, maybe some black beans…
Also, wouldn't you know vinaigrette is one of the few things I can whip up with no effort at all? I guess that comes from having an Italian grandmother. We almost never use bottled dressing. I love blue cheese but would rather have it crumbled on my salad with a good vinaigrette. Oh boy, now I want a nice, big salad!
Lori @ IMK, IML says
At our house, these are called Mom's Weird-But-Good Salads. Good job describing how to compose a Salade Composee.
mamabearjd says
Oh such a good idea – I have a big inherited platter that I never think to use.
Margo says
I love this! We eat big salads for dinner often in the summer. . . however, mine are not so pretty and NOT on a platter. I just put all the elements in little bowls and let people compose their own plates. I learned the hard way that a dressed salad must be finished at the meal because it is garbage as leftovers. And I hated to see pretty salads going in the compost. How do you handle this, Leila? Your salads always get finished?
We had a lovely Vietnamese salad the other night, served to guests too – and I forgot to take a photo so I probably won't blog about it. It's a platter of lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers. Thin slices of beef, stir fried very quickly with lots of onion, then served all over warm rice with a vinaigrette with the pan drippings (!) and Thai basil or cilantro. It's in the More with Less cookbook (please tell me you know about this cookbook – and maybe even own it. Many of salads come from there)
Sara says
Margo–I love that cookbook! It's been one of my favorites for years. I love the ethnic dishes in there like Basic Meat Curry (great way to use up little bits of leftover meat), Vietnamese fried rice, the Indian dishes too & whole wheat buttermilk pancakes. I do the same thing with salads around here b/c leftover salad w/dressing does not taste good and my kids like to fix their own salads.
_Leila says
I agree that usually, dressed salad doesn't store well. But that's when it's very lettuce-y. These salads are usually light on the lettuce, and you can manage it so that the lettuce they contain gets eaten (by the adults?) and the rest will store very well. Dressing on meat, potatoes, rice, veg — it just makes it better the next day, say, in a pita or with tortilla chips for lunch.
I do prefer to compose the salad on a platter to discourage excessive pickiness. They can still steer clear of certain things, but there's the chance that they will try it THIS TIME, and that is worth it.
allthemasons says
Oh my gosh, those salads sound heavenly. I will have to do one of these summer salads for a date night in. We have littles who won't appreciate the salad. S
Jackie says
This is brilliant! I love the beautiful simplicity of it. This post totally blessed me! Thank you.
LJ says
I can certify that this salad was PHENOMENAL. And gluten-free. 🙂
Katie says
I don't have a big platter, so I often serve salads just like this on their individual plates. The kids like being able to pick what goes one theirs, though I don't let them omit the veggies (or too many of them).
Maria says
I love your point about the value of having a home manager. Yes!
About the platter, people might be able to find an inexpensive one at TJ Maxx/Marshalls/Home Goods. In the summer, they very often have ceramics from Portugal.
_Leila says
Yes, Maria, I bet those stores would have something like this! Make sure it's a big one!
PNG says
I love when I'm on the same page with you! I just ran off to IKEA last evening looking for little things to round out the house…you know, make everything run a little bit better….extra glasses, bookends, etc. I found this platter: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/001884… which I immediately loved and that Paul commented on, too. He and I love platters for feeding our large family. The kids are getting better at eating salads like this….large taco salads, caesar salad, and greek salads. I love your ideas in this post and the recipe…thank you!
Jodi says
The salad looks marvelous. Thanks for the how-to. I love to cook. My challenge now is learning how to cook small. We went from a family of 6 to a family of 3. 3 marriages in 3 years, plus our children always managed to bring a friend home for dinner. All that to say I still make too much, so we wind up eating the leftovers for at least 2 days. No one complains, but I need to find a better way. My biggest fear, though, is someone will drop in and there won't be enough. *Sigh*
Nicole says
It has never occurred to me to use my immersion blender to turn my vinaigrette into an emulsion. I just tried it while making lunch today… what a difference! Thanks for the tip.
Barbara says
How do you do the crispy pitas?
_Leila says
Barbara, just cut the pitas into fourths, split them (although these were very thin, so I left them together), and brush olive oil mixed with garlic powder and salt over them. Bake at 400 for a few minutes. Then eat outside 🙂
Sara says
This is kind of meal I was planning tonight to use up a bunch of our veggies, but I had never thought to use leftover boiled potatoes, which is exactly what I have hanging out in my fridge right now. But like Margo above, I make up a salad with toppings on the side b/c my kids like to fix their own. Maybe I'll make a fancy salad for hubby & me and do it the old way for the kiddos.
Also, I would love to putter in the kitchen, I truly enjoy it, but right now I have six children 10 & under with three of them being 2, 10 mo & 10 mo. If I move too slowly electric cords are chewed or things are destroyed. Do I just need a playpen or make my older children keep an eye on the littles? Meal time (before, sometimes during) always feels CRAZY!!!! Any ideas?
_Leila says
Yes, Sara, a playpen is a wonderful thing, or any other strategy for judicious containment. See my posts on the sidebar under Reasonably Clean House for my pep talk. Also, your main prep will be in the morning. Before dinner, you are not starting from scratch. Read those posts!
With a playpen, you can feel fine about asking the older children to read to the younger ones or take them for a little walk while you do something like get dinner ready, since you also have a safe place to put them at other times.
Consider gating off a porch for a giant playpen, or fencing a small portion of your yard. With twins and a toddler, you NEED THIS. 🙂 XOXO
Sara says
Thanks for the tips, Leila—so wise. I appreciate others' thoughts on this, as sometimes my brain isn't firing like it should these days! I also like the idea of the big salad-on-a-platter to discourage pickiness—I hadn't thought of that, and I think it's brilliant. (Especially accidentally getting a tiny bit of something they don't like leading to trying something new).
Anne-Marie says
I think you were a little too hard on the freezer meal crowd, and I say this even though I am not a member of it. Of course freshly cooked food is tastier and has a better texture, but that's a small enough difference that it could easily be outweighed by the benefits a freezer meal system might bring. If a home manager finds that freezer meals enable her to serve home-cooked food, or to have time to read to her kids, or to mesh the kids' school schedule and her husband's work schedule, or to get the family to choir practice, then she's clearly pursuing the higher good.
Nancy says
A timely post for a very hot summer…salads are a staple here.
Elise says
so i always come here hoping to be encouraged and i am never disappointed… no matter what you're writing about. even salads. 🙂 today after reading i spent time on Amazon perusing salad platters and planned several main dish salads for the month, and my mouth waters as i type when i think of shaking a lovely vinaigrette and pouring it over crispy fried garlic and tender leaves… thank you. thank you!
your reminders about rushing and taking pleasure in the process and *puttering* (a word my mama's always used, so sweet) fall on a weary heart and i am, of course, encouraged again. blessings to you!
nt12many says
Love it. I am inspired. I always forget about adding the rice, beans or different meats. Thank you!
About the enchiladas. I grew up in New Mexico and the classic enchilada casserole (which freezes well) was this:
Layer in a 9 by 13 inch pan slightly sauted' corn tortillas torn to fit the pan, shredded chicken, minced onions, cream of mushroom soup (or your own white sauce), grated cheddar and green chili (if you have it), then another layer of corn tortillas and the ingredients again….end with the top layer cheddar cheese.
Bake at 350 covered with foil until bubbly. Serve with sour cream, salsa and other Mexican fixins'.
This can also be done with the ingredients rolled in corn tortillas or do it both ways with flour tortillas but corn freezes and thaws better.
Go easy on the white sauce/mushroom soup so it isn't too saucy..
If a family has a couple of these casseroles and a couple of lasagnes stashed in the freezer they are ready for any emergency!
blessings,
Jill Farris ” target=”_blank”>http://www.generationalwomanhood.wordpress.com
Sarah says
And, budget-ly speaking, I often substitute pinto beans for all or part the chicken in that casserole.
Anna says
You are adding so much pleasure and joy to the dinner tables of your readers! What a service. I needed that reminder about the platter improving the undifferentiated heap. Thank you. And I have one thing to add– the freezer has its place as a keeper of time-consuming elements. The stuff I'm so happy to freeze is homemade concentrated broths, seriously caramelized onions, and curry “starter.” We eat so much curry, and the delicious and time-consuming part is browning the onions, toasting the spices, caramelizing the tomatoes, and waiting for things to thicken and cook down and get super-good. I make a huge batch (with some pureed carrots and or winter squash to bulk it up) every few months and freeze it in small containers. Then I can pick my fresh protein and veg at the last minute, cook rice, and be done with it. Happy family!
_Leila says
Yes, Anna, what you describe is the gist of the Save-A-Step idea. Do the prep in bulk rather than the meal itself in bulk.
Patty says
The beginning of this post about saving time reminds me of a quote from Farmer Boy (can you believe I just discovered and have now read the Little House books??). Father is explaining to his son why he prefers to thresh his grain himself, by hand, rather than hire the machine:
“All it saves is time, son. And what good is time, with nothing to do? You want to sit and twiddle your thumbs, all these stormy winter days?”
I've applied that to so much lately!
Rebecca Urban says
Leila, I don't disagree with you here…I share you idea that fresh is better, that we should find joy in homemaking, etc. That being said, I try to have 1 cooking day per/month where I freeze 15-20 meals…takes me 2-3 hours. I spend several days planning this – looking for healthy recipes online, shopping at stores for ingredients at the best prices. I see it as the best course of action during this phase of life. I have 3 children ages 4, 3 & 1. While I do find joy in cooking, I don't find joy in cooking dinner when the children are whining, the baby needs to nurse…I know many of my friends agree and share the same struggles I do around dinnertime. That doesn't mean I don't serve a fresh salad with dinner or a fresh vegetable…but I ask you, really, is it practical and doable to hold young mothers to such standards? I mean this honestly. Perhaps a post on how this can be applied to mothers in the early years would be helpful! Or maybe you think it can be…? That we're to still find the joy in cooking gourmet meals while trying to meet the needs of many young children?
_Leila says
Hi Rebecca! I think that your idea is a good one, and indeed I am all for efficiency with the littles! Please read my posts on all this (they are on the sidebar), addressed specifically to moms with young children!
I am simply cautioning against the idea that making dinner is to be avoided, something I do see on a lot of blogs and sites– the idea that somehow the \”difficulty\” of feeding the family every day can be overcome. With a lot of kids, it's a reality that can actually be a pleasure if embraced rather than avoided.
Especially with young children, the rhythm of the day is a blessing when you keep it simple and understand that you must dive into it.
In my meal posts I encourage young moms to think ahead and try to do the bulk of the work early in the day — to at least know what you are having by 10 am!
Your idea of doing a little extra work to make things go smoother later on is one I discuss in my Save-A-Step post and document, and I am all for it!
Patty says
Oh, and I just made a salad like this yesterday! Although, I specially roasted veggies for it and they were not at all cool when I dumped them in, but warm salads (or warm things over lettuce) are yummy too! And my kids liked it.
With bread and butter of course. 🙂
Adrianne Niall says
After a one month vacation I found it very necessary to make a menu. Not cooking for a month was relaxing but really put me out of practice. I used to have a menu but somewhere along the way it got lost. I was so happy when a friend reminded me of my old practice. I have many summer salads listed on my menu. We need to use all that lettuce growing in the garden. This has been the easy week of meal preparing in a long time! Shopping to the menu and even having meals prepared ahead of time have been so helpful. I really hope never to go back to not menu planning and prepaping meals again. We will see what happens when school starts and baby comes.
Adrianne Niall says
Leila, what do you do in the school year when you have a full day? I have days when I have to teach in the morning and can’t prep and then I am running out the door for afternoon of activies not gettting home until dinnertime or out all day at a field trip? What is on your menu on a night like that? Especially when pregnant and wanting/needing to nap at some point? I don’t bulk cook like Rebecca (although if it worked for me I might it just doesn’t. I can’t plan a whole day of cooking with my husband’s work schedule) but I do try to have some premade meals in the freezer for those nights otherwise we would be eating alot more store bought frozer meals or C&M Pizza. I did read your Saving Dinner post but it doesn’t really address these question. Or maybe you are saying double up on meals and freeze them if they are freezeable?
_Leila says
Adrianne, to answer your question, I do have other posts — check out the menu planning posts, which delve into the issues of days when you are busy and find yourself out and about. But I would also like to be that gentle voice that reminds everyone of what I say in my posts on Destruction-Proofing your family http://www.likemotherlikedaughter.org//2012/02/d…
and eating dinner together: http://www.likemotherlikedaughter.org//search/la…
Sitting down to a calm supper together as a family is truly one of the three things you can do NOW to immunize your family LATER against divorce and destruction — which can happen in the “best” households! This is worth putting aside other activities for, including “good” works that the mother finds herself, with the best of intentions, getting drawn into. Whether it's earning extra money or getting the kids to activities or helping others — all worthy things! — we simply MUST ask ourselves what our priorities are. If your priority #1 is not having a calm peaceful dinner together as a family at least four times a week (including Sunday), you are going to have more issues than whether your food is frozen or fresh.
I am all for being clever and having your stash in the freezer. I personally have THREE freezers! My message here is to regard the time spent preparing a simple, healthy, congenial meal with Mom not crazy and Dad and kids at peace as one of the three most important things we do with our time!
Adrianne Niall says
“Sitting down to a calm supper together as a family is truly one of the three things you can do NOW to immunize your family LATER against divorce and destruction — which can happen in the “best” households!” I guess if sitting with your family at least 4 times a week is the goal then we are really on the same page. The reason I freeze meals which to me and my family tastes fine (my husband would actually prefer these to crock pot meals) is so we CAN eat dinner as a family without mom getting stressed. We DO eat dinner as a family 4 usually more nights a week. The only exception is when my husband has to work late but then I am sitting with the children at the table. We do activities during the day mostly so we can be home at night to eat together with few exceptions. Actually because Michael works late we tend to eat later so it is only if he comes home after 7 that we eat without him. I guess this is what has worked well in our household. I looked at the other posts and will check out the menu posts when I have a chance. Thanks Leila.
_Leila says
Adrianne, your devotion to your family is a blessing to all who know you! I think that often the people who are trying the hardest are the ones who question themselves the most. Don't worry! If your family is happy, that's what matters!
karination says
Oh Auntie Leila, you give me hope.
Maria says
I'd love you to post your recipe for zucchini fritters. I tried one recipe last week and the fritters were too soggy. How do you get all the moisture out of the zucchini? Thanks!
Leila says
Maria, only seeing your comment now! So… 6 years later haha — you can press the zucchini shreds in a clean kitchen towel to reduce the moisture. Follow any recipe but don’t add any extra liquid. Basically you want to have a flour mixture that has a little leavening, like a pancake mix (which I have a bulk recipe for here on the blog). Maybe a little egg and you’re good to go. Of course I can’t remember now what I did here LOL!!
Catie H says
Hi Auntie Leila,
Temperatures are soaring here with no relief in sight, and we are definitely in salad mode! I plan to try the Caesar Salad from The Way to Cook this week. Any tips regarding the egg? She says to prick the ends and boil for one minute, then later crack and toss directly into salad. For some reason this is intimidating me!
Thank you!!
Love,
Catie
Leila says
Catie, I dunno about that. I make my Caesar salad dressing with the egg yolk, whisked with the other dressing ingredients. It’s a sort of almost-mayo effect: the yolk thickens the dressing somewhat, along with the mustard powder. If you use an immersion blender, just go in after all the dressing ingredients are mixed and blend for a few seconds — makes a nice creamy dressing for your salad.
I would skip that boiling egg step myself!
Catie H says
Thank you, Leila! I tried Julia Child’s before finding yours…. and yours is so much better!!
I wonder if she boils the egg to help kill bacteria since she also uses the white (and I think that’s what tends to harbor bacteria if there is any). But your method with just using the yolk results in a much better final product, in my opinion. Thanks again!
Matushka Monica says
I saw this short cooking video by Jacques Pepin about “Fridge Salad” and it made me think of this post) which is a favorite of mine). https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=354047546091067&id=100044574720071
sohanur rahman says
I recently came across your website and I must say, it’s a fantastic resource for all things related to creating a functional and harmonious home.