Stocking Up
2 easy meals to double - half for now and half for the freezer
I guess I’m in that phase of my pregnancy called “nesting” where you wash all the baby clothes, put them away, and make freezer meals. All the pregnancy blogs will tell you it’s this “burst of energy” you get at the end. Mmmmm I wouldn't describe it exactly like that. More like “I’m just too big and slow to do just about anything else but waddle around my house, so may as well cook”. And obviously Dean’s school shut down for ten days from an exposure, so we’re back to running a sad excuse for a daycare here. But I did manage this week to stash away two really solid recipes in the freezer for when this baby makes its arrival in the next few weeks. And even if you’re not pregnant, these would be great dinners and lunches to have waiting for you in your freezer.
Meatballs & Burritos
I picked meatballs to make and freeze because they’re easy and the reheat is simple enough that anyone, not just me, can pop it in the oven and boil some pasta. They freeze really well too. I made a double batch of Smitten Kitchen’s Everyday Meatballs, we had one for dinner and the other went into a glass container with the locking lid for the big chill. This is a GREAT recipe. It’s easy because there’s no frying. Take note that when she places the meatballs into the sauce she doesn't touch or mess with them. This is so they don't break apart from constant stirring - heed her warning. I used half ground pork and half ground beef. Totally delicious and simple. A lot of people who bring you food when you have a baby, bring dinners. Which is unbelievably kind - if you know someone having a baby, the best gift is a home cooked meal that is EASY TO REHEAT. But lunches get kind of neglected. So I thought a bag full of individually wrapped small burritos would be great. I always have hot sauce, salsa and sour cream on hand to go with. And you can eat them with one hand if necessary- big bonus with a newborn. I’m spelling out below how I made 10 pork, bean & cheese burritos for the freezer.
The Pork Carnitas:
Boneless pork shoulder roast (anywhere between 3lbs-5lbs) - ask the butcher to cut it into 2” cubes for you.
1 big onion, chopped up
4-6 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 big jalapeno, chopped up
Ground cumin, a sprinkling
A lot of salt
Toss that all together in a big baking dish. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for anywhere between 2.5-3.5 hours. You know it’s done when you pick up a piece of meat with tongs, give a little squeeze, and it just shreds apart. If I’m making tacos with these, I like to uncover the pan and cook for another 30 minutes until the top gets a little crispy. The meat will be swimming in juices and fat. That’s fine, that gets drained off as you use the meat.
Flour tortillas (I HIGHLY recommend you seek out the brand Vista Hermosa, You can buy them at Whole Foods or Fresh Direct. The flavor is unparalleled and the size if perfect for a small lunch burrito)
1 can of refried beans (just heat this up in a small pan with some oil or butter. This also acts as a kind of glue for the burrito)
Shredded Cheese (I used Queso Fresco, but anything you like would be great.)
Cilantro
I assembled each burrito with a smear of refried beans, some carnitas, some cheese, a sprinkle of salt and some cilantro. Don’t overfill or else it will be hard to roll them. Roll them up, tucking in the sides. Optional: I heated a tiny bit of oil in a non-stick skillet and I toasted each burrito, seam side down. This gives a nice flavor to the tortilla and also kind of “seals” them. Then I wrapped each one in aluminum foil and loaded them into a giant freezer bag. You can reheat them in the foil, in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes OR unwrap them and microwave them for 1-2 minutes.
Bonus: A Par Baked Quiche for The Freezer
I am on a never ending quest to find clever ways to use up all the “odds and ends” in my fridge and anything from the freezer that’s been lingering. Disclaimer: I’ve never frozen a quiche before, and I have not yet reheated this one. But I figured it was worth telling you what I did in case it’s amazing. I had 1 sheet of puff pastry from Trader Joes. Theirs comes in a roll and when unrolled, fits well into an 8” x 8” square cake pan. For my fillings I chose the following from my refrigerator: A box of spinach that was on its way out (I sautéed this quick in oil with thinly sliced shallot), a nub of fresh mozzarella, some marinated artichoke hearts, a few shreds of that Carnitas, chopped dill, chopped parsley, and half a container of Boursin cheese (I’m pretty excited about that). The custard consists of the obvious eggs, the last scoop of sour cream, heavy cream, salt and a pinch of nutmeg. All of this went into the oven at 350° for about 45 minutes. This was enough to just about set the eggs and get the puff pastry to a pale blonde color. It’s not cooked all the way, but just set. I took it out, cooled it down, wrapped it in foil and into the freezer. I plan to pop it back in the oven at 400° for anywhere between 25-35 minutes until fully cooked. We will see! But I have a good feeling about it.
Super Simple Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
My favorite thing to have in the freezer is a stash of unbaked cookies for when the mood strikes. It’s so much better than baking a full batch at once, because you don’t end up with a dozen cookies staring at you for the next 3 days. You can bake off just enough warm cookies for that day. The move is to make the dough, roll it into balls, freeze them on a parchment lined sheet tray, then once frozen transfer them to a container or freezer bag. When the time is right you pop them onto a parchment lined baking sheet and bake! It might add a minute or two to the baking time because they are frozen. This recipe is very straightforward, no fancy moves, it’s just amped up by browning half your butter, upping the amounts on some of the flavorings, and a sprinkle of flaky salt before they go into the oven. If you’re a newbie to the flaky salt on your cookie trend, I’ll take this chance to say “You’re welcome”. It takes a chocolate chip cookie to new levels. The recipe is below. For paying subscribers it will show up right away. For those who are signed up for only Free Newsletters, it’s behind a paywall. You can access it by becoming a subscriber- and this one’s a worthy reason to join the club. As a paying subscriber you not only get this recipe, but access to any past subscriber-only recipes - and there are tons of good ones in the archives.
Maternity Leave
Yesterday Food52 shared a wonderful recipe I developed for them, and we have so many new readers here today from that post - WELCOME! I’m so excited you’re here. What you’ll find in these newsletters is a very honest, unedited, off-the-cuff reporting of what I’m cooking that week for my family, tips on how to make it all happen, and an assortment of things I’m loving at the moment both food related and sometimes not. My family as of now consists of myself, my husband and a hungry 21 month old named Dean. But any day now we three are going to become four! I’m going to have to press pause on our weekly chats here. That also means that anyone who is a paying subscriber, not to worry, I am pressing pause on your subscriptions as well. So, if you pay monthly that will be paused. And if you pay yearly, your calendar year will pick back up when I’m back. So to all my new readers, just hang in there! I’ll absolutely be back with weekly newsletters filled with dinner ideas, funny stories about the trials of parenting, and typos (I love me some typos). In the meantime, follow along on Instagram to see what we’re up to and maybe catch a glimpse of these freezer meals in action!
What I’m Loving This Week:
Guittard Baking Chips: So if you’re going to make a very simple chocolate chip cookie, you need to (IMO) use high quality ingredients to really make them shine. To me this means good quality butter (quality butter tastes better than cheap butter!), good quality vanilla, and a chocolate that is a little higher end. Not to say you need to break the bank but a conventional chocolate chip tastes a lot different than something from a brand like Guittard or even chopping a high quality baking bar like Valrhona. Both of which are popping up in supermarkets everywhere these days. Whole Foods carries a good selection of better chocolate options. Trust me on this, it takes your baking to the next echelon when you get the good stuff.
Trader Joe’s Salsa Verde: I’d be surprised if this product hasn't already made this list in newsletters past. It’s rare that I don’t have a jar or two in my pantry. The taste and versatility is what makes me love this salsa, and that it’s $1.99 (I think). It’s very mild in flavor but my favorite move is to pop it in the blender with fresh cilantro and a small garlic clove. It becomes this really special salsa to use for chips, eggs, burritos, tacos etc. When I can get a good avocado (which seems like never these days), I also blend it with half an avocado for this even more special creamy salsa. Drizzled over quesadillas, YUM. And the real wild card use is using it as an Enchiladas Verde sauce. So I blend a jar of it with fresh cilantro, garlic, a bit of onion, a bit of jalapeño and some salt. You make enchiladas as you would, use this as the sauce and top with cheese - they come out FANTASTIC!
Wallaby Organic Whole Milk Greek Yogurt: We are a big yogurt, nut butter, fruit, maple syrup bowl for breakfast family. Mainly because I can assemble three bowls of it at once and everyone’s happy. But when I have my choice of yogurt this is THE ONE. My Mother-In-Law calls it “Whipped Cream”. It’s that creamy. Not sure how but the texture is so much more silky and thick than say Stonyfield or any of the organic brands. If you can find it in your stores, try it!
Well, it’s honestly bittersweet for me to say “Goodbye, for now”. Sweet because I need some time that I have nothing on my to-do list other than keeping myself and 2 babies alive and fed. I’m even trying to wrap up my dreaded tax prep this week to clear more mental space. But very bitter because truthfully the newsletter is my favorite creative outlet. I absolutely love the feedback I get from you readers and all week when I make something or taste something, I’m going “Oh! This is totally going in the newsletter”. Keep chatting with me on Instagram, let me know what you’re cooking, and I’ll see you on the flip side… with two babies under two…eeeeeek! XO Liv