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Tuesday, April 30, 2013

In the Kitchen


It's great to have Freezer Meal Days (as I had recently with 3 daughters and 1 son, who all live nearby), and it's also good to have some shorter sessions In the Kitchen. Taking a portion of a day to focus on preparing some baked goods, some mixes, and even a few freezer meals.

It just makes sense. Especially when there are so many other things that call our attention each day, making it difficult to spend much time cooking on a daily basis. Having some prepared dishes and mixes makes life so much easier.

Last Thursday I spent about four hours In the Kitchen. And this is what I prepared in that time:

stored in the refrigerator, they are great to have on hand for breakfasts

6 loaves of Honey Whole Wheat Bread 
prepared with my Bosch machine; and stored in the freezer for the month ahead

2 batches of this Pizza Dough recipe
  my first time to make this (dividing the dough into small rounds for eight 12-inch pizzas); 
I mixed up the dough with my KitchenAid, and let it rise 30 minutes before freezing
I'll store these in the freezer for Friday nights when we often have pizza

 one for supper that day, and three meals (for the two of us) in the freezer for future days
 (I also have some bags of cooked rice in the freezer - I pulled one out for our meal last Thursday)



Whether one is in "empty nest" years (where there are many others things to focus on besides cooking), or one has a houseful of children (where we are busy with our kids from morning till night) - it's always a good idea to have some prepared-ahead meals to be able to pull out when needed. I am finding that I prefer to have periodic sessions In the Kitchen, rather than spending a lot of time cooking each day.

Linking up with:
Tasty Tuesday
Time to Sparkle
Live Laugh Linky
Saturday Show and Tell

4 comments:

  1. Nice work, Mom! You got a lot done in four hours. You'll have to let me know how you like that pizza dough. I like that idea. :)

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    1. Thanks, Carrie! I'll let you know about the pizza dough!

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  2. Nice to meet you on the Sunday link-up. The bread looks great! What model of breadmaker do you use? I would like to buy one, but need a good recommendation. God bless!
    following from: http://www.chronicallycontent.blogspot.com

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    1. Lisa, I use a Bosch machine which mixes and kneads the dough (6 loaves at a time), and then I bake the loaves in the oven. I used to use a breadmaker, but switched to using the Bosch when I inherited one from my mother. Thank you for your visit ... and have fun buying a bread machine!

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