Her secrets -- bulk shopping and marathon cooking sessions. On a typical shopping trip she purchases 30 half-gallon containers of milk, and large quantities of chicken and salmon. Her super-sized shopping helps her reduce trips.
She keeps her freezer stocked with soups, home-made breads and other goodies. The rationale: cooking a large pot of soup takes no more effort than preparing smaller portions. And having a supply of prepared foods reduces kitchen prep time for this mom who holds down a part-time job.
She bakes bread for the taste and the savings. ''I don't buy baked goods,'' she said.
The freezer offers cold storage for uncooked noodles, cereals and other grain products. The freezer preserves freshness and keeps products bug free, a consideration in Florida.
Whether you store dry goods or meat in the freezer, the team at Whole Foods store recommends the following handling tips:
• Seal food properly. Food, especially meat and fish, should be properly wrapped and stored to avoid frost burn, leaks and cross-contamination.
• Don't block the fan. If a freezer is overstocked with food, a lack of ventilation could hamper the cooling units.
• Divide and seal fish and meat into meal- or individual-sized portions before freezing. Smaller portions defrost more quickly.
This is from my latest column in the home & design section of the Miami Herald.
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3 comments:
This brings back memories. I'll never forget the Fall of . . . let's say 1965 . . . my mom decided she'd make an entire SEMESTER's sandwiches for my sister's and my lunch bags. I always forgot, of course, to find my sandwich the night before. Maybe it was just as well. The way devilled ham sogged up your bread didn't make these sandwiches the most appetizing diversions from junior high school angst. Most noon-times would find me biting into my nearly frozen white bread devilled ham sandwich, making an incipient teen face to my companions and vowing to high-tail it out of the suburbs as soon as humanly possible!
That's a good idea. I don't own my own home yet, but I will consider this when I have a family of my own.
Last Sunday I whipped up a batch of 25 pancakes (blueberry whole-wheat buttermilk, yummy!) and they went into the refrigerator and my wife and I have been eating from this since then.
I am often a large batch cooker, the problem I have is often times putting things in the freezer is about the same as forgetting about it. My wife is much better at remembering what we have stored away. In any event we are soon to move and our food stores will become much more known then.
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