Once-a-month cooking

Ooof, I just finished my bout of cooking. The idea of once-a-month cooking is brilliant: once a month (or another interval, depending on the size of your freezer, ability to cook quickly, etc) you buy loads of groceries, cook them in various ways, freeze them, and enjoy for as long as they last without having to set your foot in the kitchen until they're finished. It took me a while to get a hang of it (in some ways, I'm still learning the best ways). Here's what you need: a standalone freezer, tons of freezer-friendly containers, a variety of freezer-friendly recipes, and a few days that are relatively free.

I used to freeze everything in Ziploc bags, because they take up least amount of space, but a) they're expensive, b) environmentally-unfriendly, and c) I found a better way: IKEA Distans Food Saver (7x2). They're four cups, which is exactly what I need for my family of four, given that one cup is one serving.

How to find freezer-friendly recipes? Almost everything you can make is freezer-friendly; exceptions are vegetables that contain quite a bit of water; for some reason, boiled eggs; and things that separate into water and fat (such as cream). The best way though is to try freezing a small portion to see what happens to it. I also found that rice (and other grains like buckwheat) freeze weirdly: it requires extra minutes in microwave when heating, otherwise it tastes strange.

For the month batch I try to select a variety of grains and meats, never making less than 6 dishes, usually more (this month it was 14). Grains are things like brown rice, buckwheat, couscous, pasta and meats are chicken, turkey, pork, veal, and beef (occasionally in the form of franks or ground). I prefer recipes that mix meat and the side, but I'm game to try anything that's easy to cook and adds to variety. I usually sit down and put together a list of recipes, a shopping list and a cooking schedule so I can use this group of recipes again in the future. I currently have seven groups of recipes that I rotate so the dishes do not become tiresome.

I usually do an evening of active grocery shopping, followed by a day of cooking. Sometimes if I don't have a whole day, I split the cooking into a chopping day (preparing all ingredients) and actual cooking day (to ensure that I cook all of my 350F recipes at the same time, all of my 400F recipes, etc, to maximize the use of the oven).

Now both of my freezers (refrigerator and standalone) are full, and for the next month or so my cooking is going to consist of taking a container out of the freezer the night before, making an occasional salad and frying an occasional fish (I like it fresh). Leaves more time for the kids.

Here are some of the recipes I used this time.

PARMESAN RICE PILAF
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 garlic cloves
1 cup uncooked long-grain rice
1 can chicken broth
2 tablespoons of preshredded fresh Parmesan cheese
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup white wine
marjoram
Cook rice. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add garlic; saute 30 seconds or until lightly browned. Boil onions in broth and white wine till most of the liquid is gone. Mix everything.

OLIVE OIL SPAGHETTI
Spaghetti, salt, garlic, olive oil, cheese, parsley (optional)
Cook spaghetti with salt and water. Strain. Chop garlic & parsley. Pour olive oil into deep pan, put garlic, fry for one minute, add spaghetti, fry for 5 minutes; turn off, add cheese and parsley.

BEER BEEF
2 lb beef, 3 tbsp oil, 1 tbsp lemon juice, 3 medium onions, sliced; 2 cloves of garlic, minced; 1/2 c flour; 1 cup beef bouillon; 1 can of beer; 3 tbsp brown sugar; 1 tbsp parsley; 2 tsp thyme, salt
Slice onions, cut beef into serving size pieces. Brown on both sides in 3 tablespoons oil to which you have added 1 tbsp lemon juice. Remove steak to casserole. Layer onions and garlic over meat. Sprinkle flour over top. Preheat oven to 325F. Now combine bouillon, beer, sugar, parsley flakes, thyme, salt. Pour over steak and bake uncovered in 325 degree oven for 3 hours.

BAKED CHICKEN NUGGETS
4 Servings, about 3 ounces each; Chicken thighs, boneless, skinless 1-1/2 pounds; Bread crumbs 1 cup; Vegetta; Garlic powder 1/4 teaspoon; Onion powder 1/4 teaspoon
1. Remove skin and bone; cut thighs into bite-sized pieces. 2. Place breadcrumbs and spices in plastic bag. 3. Close bag tightly and shake until blended. 4. Add a few chicken pieces at a time to crumb mixture. Shake to coat evenly. 5. Preheat oven to 400F. Lightly grease a cooking sheet. 6. Place chicken pieces on cooking sheet so they are not touching. 7. Bake until golden brown, about 12 to 14 minutes.

EASY MINI-SALMON BURGERS
1 can of salmon, 4 oz breadcrumbs, finely crushed, 1 onion, finely diced, 2 eggs, 1 tsp lemon juice, 2 ts dill
Trim canned salmon of large bones and skin as desired. Mix well with other ingredients. Form into patties and fry lightly in oil until golden brown.

TURKEY POT PIE
2 lbs ground turkey; 5 ea potatoes, mashed; 1 ea egg, slightly beaten; 1/2 c mayonnaise; 1 tb lemon juice; 2 tbsp celery; 1 can green peas, drained
Cook & mash potatoes. Stir in egg. Spread in well oiled 9-inch pie pan. Combine mayonnaise and lemon juice; stir in turkey, celery, and peas. Spoon into potato crust. Bake at 375F 15-20 minutes or until hot through.

Picking toys and activities

A friend asked how I have time to pick daily activity and toys for the kids. Simple: I do it randomly. I've got a tiny little script, into which I load the list of all the toys I have out on the shelves, and which then spits out a random element of that list. If I can't think of what game to play with that toy in 3-5 minutes, I skip it and select the next random toy.

I use the same script to select an activity of the day. It gets trickier with activities though, because they usually require preparation time which I currently (and probably also in the future) do not have. So far, I've decided to have the following weekly activities:

1. math
   
2. learning to read
   
3. art/letter to family
   
4. sports
   
5. puzzles/tests
   
6. table games
   
7. water play ("bath")
   

So far, we've been able to actually do only one-three activities per week. I have to figure out how to do more with minimal prep time. It's also hard to figure out how to engage both kids who are right now very far apart cognitively. In the near future, I'd like my oldest to decide when he wants to do which activity, so he's more engaged with planning and feels more in control. Wish me luck!

Weekend plans, Mar. 14 and 15

Our weekend plans with kids (2.2 and 3.7 year old A. & L.), report on how they matched up with reality afterwards.

SATURDAY, MARCH 14
07:00-09:00 slow morning: wake them early (to enable early nap), get them dressed, make pancakes with them
09:00-10:30 watch Dumbo (for the first time!)
10:30-11:00 pack the gift & cherry pirozhki, drive to Shoreline Lake
11:00-12:30 celebrate daycare classmate's birthday
12:30-13:00 drive home
13:00-13:30 read books to both upstairs
13:30-15:45 nap time, no snack afterwards (will at jigsaw java)!
15:45-16:15 drive to Angelica's Bistro (863 Main Street, Redwood City)
16:15-18:00 walk to Jigsaw Java (0.1mi, 846 Main St.) (if doesn't work out or when closes, Barnes & Noble Booksellers (0.3mi, 1091 El Camino Real), Slavic Bookstore (0.6mi))
18:00-18:30 walk back to Angelica's Bistro
18:30-20:30 flamenco show & dinner *
20:30-21:00 drive back
21:00-21:15 sleep right away
21:15-23:00 parents' "free" time

SUNDAY, MARCH 15
07:30-08:00 get up, get dressed, get breakfast to go
08:00-09:00 drive to SF, listen to audio books
09:00-10:00 get in line for CA Academy of Sciences
10:00-13:00 get into the museum, get planetarium tickets and reserve restaurant right away, explore the museum
13:00-14:00 drive home
14:00-16:00 nap time
16:00-17:30 go to Ortega park, play ball
17:30-18:30 get back home, set table together, make salad
18:30-19:00 dinner
19:00-19:15 tonight's activity: math
19:15-19:35 tonight's toy: little people (try these activities)
19:35-19:45 clean up
19:45-20:00 watch cartoon, change into pjs, clean teeth; put A. in bed
20:00-20:30 read to L., put him in bed
20:30-23:00 parents' "free" time

Reality vs. plan - Mar.8

Reality vs. plan report (see posts below for plan for today).

Completely dropped the ball in terms of checking the hours for Silliman Aquatic Center. As we set out in our car toward Newark, it occurred to me to check. Well, hah, they were already closed. Thankfully, my 3.6-yr-old A. is already old enough to be able to understand my explanation without throwing a huge tantrum. So, instead we went to the Valley Fair mall to buy shoes. Of course, the mall was closing up too when we got there (duh, Sunday). My patient children got back into the car and off we went to the Santana Row. There, finally, we walked around, listened to the free concert, and read some books in Borders.

Verdict: check and re-check opening hours.

Reality vs. plan - Mar.7

So, reality vs. plan report. (See post below for plan for March 7.)

We woke up later (much later, at 8:30), because when the alarm clock woke me up at 7, I thought "Feh, sale-shmale, we'll figure something out" and went back to sleep. As it turns out, I was quite right to do so: the Outrageous Outgrowns sale sucked. Well, it might have been okay if we were looking for clothing, but we were looking for shoes. There was very little of that, and toys and books were pretty abysmal. So we ended up spending 15 minutes at most there, and were only 10 minutes behind schedule, which had padding planned into it anyway. We thoroughly enjoyed the Jungle, although it tired all of us out (which was the point). We climbed, and crawled, and rolled, and slid, up, down, left, right. This particular location is quite large (a plus) and noisy (a minus).

After we came home (youngest A. fell asleep in the car, but we woke him up) and had lunch, we drove quickly to the post office to get the kids their passports (so we can go to Canadian Niagara Falls in May), but it was by appointment only. We made our way home, had a great nap, did some quick-draw shopping (Costco, Walmart, Whole Foods), and went home for dinner. It's great to shop with kids: 1) they ask questions; 2) at Costco we get to try food samples; 3) also at Costco, they learn to sit side by side in the huge shopping cart; 4) they learn about things we buy and don't buy.

As always, activity of the day didn't go as planned: they simply refuse to play along a planned route. Which is, obviously, fine; I'm satisfied to at least push them in some way toward something new. I planned that we would use our play stove and cut-out food and spoons, and pretend to cook and serve the food. Well. Youngest 2.1-yr-old A. only wanted to play with the toy we bought at the morning sale; we thought it was Lego but it turned out to be some wheels-and-sticks constructor for much older kids. A. didn't mind it, he just spent the whole evening shoving little pieces in and out of the box. Oldest 3.6-yr-old L. took a bucket, one of the constructor sticks, and started cooking various toys on the couch. He would come up to me and ask what I wanted to eat, and then go to the bucket, cook it, and bring it to me. So, beads were pasta, jumbo lego piece was meat, toy man was salad, and so on. He even put on my IKEA soft slippers on his hands to serve as mittens against the "heat" of the stove.

Here are the recipes of the day.

For the morning, we had rice raisin kasha, a great and filling breakfast (freezes well, too). Ingredients: white rice, raisins, cream, milk, vanilla, a touch of sugar. Cook rice until almost done, drain, put back into the pot. Reduce heat. Add cream and milk, in proportion as function of how much fat you want in the dish (if no cream, milk and butter works fine too), add as many raisins as you like (the more the better), 1-2 teaspoons of vanilla, and a touch of sugar (raisins are sweet by themselves). Mix everything and let it stay on the heat until rice is completely cooked (if necessary, add more milk; the consistency of the kasha should be such that it's easily stirred with a spoon). Cover with a lid and let it sit for 10-15 minutes (gives the raisins time to plump). Yumm. Ours came from the freezer, because we rarely have time to cook anything of substance in the morning.

For lunch, we had my family's signature, builder's salad. Ingredients: boiled white rice, doktorskaya sausage (can also be boiled franks or boiled chicken), boiled eggs (optional), cabbage, mayonnaise, sour cream. Shred the cabbage (my mom does it manually, we do it in the food processor, you can also do it with a knife) and beat it a little with a mallet to make it give up the juice. Add rice in the same proportion. Add meat to be about 1/3-1/2 of the total. Add eggs, and dress with half-mayonnaise, half-sour cream mixture. For the best taste, do the salad the day before. We do it without eggs to cut down on calories.

Bad toys

My featured toy of the day didn't work out: fish maze with little metal balls and magnet wand to use to move them around (Educo Wood Magnetic Maze, Go-Fish-Go). The kids have never paid any attention to it, so today I showed them how to play with it. One minute of interest. So, I'm faced with a dilemma. The toy is supposed to be good for them (develops fine motor skills). Do I keep it hoping that they will grow into it? Do I give it away? Obviously, I face this dilemma with many toys. I'm a pack rat, so it's very painful to get rid of things. On the other hand, my pragmatism tells that if they've never played with it, expressed no interest in playing with it, no matter how much I tried to elicit it, then it's a classic sunk cost scenario. Off it goes then... *Sigh*...

Weekend plans, Mar. 7 and 8

As per usual, our weekend plan-hope with kids.

SATURDAY, March 7
07:00-07:30 get up, get dressed, take socks for all (30)
07:30-08:00 eat breakfast (rice raisin kasha) (30)
08:30-10:00 outrageous outgrowns children stuff sale @Santa Clara County Fairgrounds Gate D, 344 Tully Road, San Jose, CA 95111 (http://www.outrageousoutgrowns.com/)
10:00-10:30 drive to The Jungle (950 El Paseo De Saratoga, San Jose, CA 95124)
10:30-12:30 play climb at the gym (60+60)
12:30-13:00 drive home
13:00-13:30 lunch at home
13:30-14:00 play, read
14:00-16:00 nap time
16:00-18:00 food shopping with kids @WholeFoods and Safeway
18:00-18:30 set table together
18:30-19:00 dinner (30)
19:00-19:15 tonight's featured toy (20): stove (bring the measuring cups & spoons, pretend cook)
19:15-19:20 clean up (5)
19:20-19:40 tonight's activity: paper puzzles (20)
19:40-20:00 cartoon and pj; sleep
20:00-20:30 read to L.
20:30-20:40 put L. in bed

SUNDAY, March 8 - Happy International Women's Day
07:00-08:00 get up, get dressed, pack paints for a craft project and soccer ball
08:00-10:00 drive to De Anza Plaza, get breakfast @Boulanger, go to Santana row, read at Borders
10:00-10:30 drive to Shoup park (400 University Ave, Los Altos, CA 94022)
10:30-12:30 Russian play date
12:30-12:45 drive home
12:45-13:15 lunch at home
13:15-13:45 play, read
13:45-16:00 nap time, pack swimming things
16:00-16:30 drive to Silliman Activity & Family Aquatic Center in Newark
16:30-18:00 swim play (30+60)
18:00-19:00 dinner at Olive Garden Italian Restaurant (39145 Farwell Dr, Fremont, CA 94538)
19:00-19:40 drive home, play
19:40-20:30 all sleep-related stuff

I would also absolutely go to this puppet show Two Tales of Beatrix Potter - Jemima Puddle-Duck and the Story of a Fierce Bad Rabbit, but the Ticketmaster surcharge is insane (would come out to $100 for us - for a puppet show?!), and I don't have time to buy it in person.

Not-too-sweet Cookies

I don't really cook or buy cookies, but my kids love them as on-the-go snack. We used to buy the Russian tea biscuits just for that purpose, but we're trying to save money and those biscuits are not exactly the healthiest they can be either. In comes Google and cook's intuition. Here is one of the recipes that worked pretty well for us. Note: don't reduce sugar, I've already reduced it by half or more to make them just a touch sweet, but no more than that.


SUN BISCUITS

2 large eggs, 1/2 cup vegetable oil (add if too little), 3 tsp vanilla extract, 1 1/3 tsp lemon zest, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 cup flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt

In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs, then add in oil, vanilla, lemon zest, sugar. Combine until mixed. Add flour, baking powder and salt. Heat the oven to 400 degrees F. Prepare ungreased cookie sheets. Make little balls from one teaspoon of dough and place on the cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Flatten each ball with a glass bottom dipped in sugar (re-dip after each cookie). Works best if use a patterned glass (I use their Target sippy cups, which creates a sun pattern). Bake for 6-8 minutes.

Here's another, Nantaises Butter Biscuit. When doing this recipe, I halved the sugar, and to save time, instead of cutting out circles, I just made it into a log shape, chilled, and then sliced thinly into circles.

Organizing the fridge

Cooking for working family is tough. The worst-case scenario (for me, at least) is deciding on what's for dinner and cooking every single evening. Who has time for that? One day I'll post about my once-a-month cooking, but for now, here's how I try to organize the fridge. Because most of our meals are in the freezer until needed and I don't really cook much between the big cooking days, the fridge is fairly empty. So I take plastic containers, put the day's worth of food in them, and label it. Generally, I can do it only for 2-3 days worth of food. This labeling serves two purposes: 1) I don't have to think about it every day, and, more importantly, 2) The food is less likely to get lost in the fridge and go bad. Inside each plastic container, there usually are smaller containers or Ziploc bags that are labeled 'breakfast', 'lunch', and 'dinner'. If needed, I also write something like 'add tomato salad' or 'add mayo'. I use masking tape and a Sharpie to do the labeling.

Playdate vagaries

Today we hosted a large play date (12 people) at our house, mostly kids A.'s age (around 2 years). It was a bit of a bedlam, as to be expected. As for unexpected, that happened when I was reading children stories. The first few went ahead fine, but the with last one I hit a snag: a Russian children's classic Barmalei (by Chukovskiy). I forgot that many people don't read classic fairy tales to children, because they're afraid to traumatize them (or propagate outdated stereotypes). The story talks about a pirate and brigand who lives in Africa and eats children, the children cry, he doesn't relent, a crocodile eats him, he repents (inside the crocodile), the crocodile lets him out, and Barmalei is reformed. Millions of Russian children grew up on this story with no apparent ill effects.

It was particularly ironic to get evil eye from other parents at this particular author, as Chukovskiy wrote extensively about value of fairy tales in children's development and castigated 1930s (?) movement in USSR to abolish anything fantastical in children's literature so that they receive only what is educational and pragmatical.

Note to self, then: preview whatever I'm going to read to other children.