Nesting Day

Every once in a while I find myself where I have a good part of the day
to just be home and enjoy being in the kitchen.
On this particular day I was thinking ahead and realized that I'd need some quick meals
to pull out of the freezer in the weeks ahead.
Getting a batch of buns going is a no-brainer around here.
When there's buns, there's a possibility of a sandwich or accompaniment for soups and casseroles.
While the bun/bread dough is going through it's stages of rising, is a good time
to cook some dinners for the freezer.

I did a big recipe of rice and beans with an Italian sausage base. This I divided into four containers.
In the weeks ahead each container will be the base for a quick soup
by simply adding chicken broth and kale.
 

Meatballs are another great idea for future meals. When I take a bag out of the freezer, I cook them up with a mushroom or pasta sauce.



Once cooled, these two large meals can be divided into six meals.
.
Sometimes, when doing a batch of buns, I'll take a handful of the dough to stretch into a pizza pan.
I bake it until just a very light color, top it with jarred spaghetti sauce, chopped cold cuts, cheese and basil . . . then freeze it to bake another day.

Do you sometimes think of how you can make the most
of fresh bread or buns on the day you bake?
On a cooler day, fresh bread goes so well with a casserole or a pot of soup . . .
sometimes I can't resist pairing it up like that.

 

 On this particular day I also found something sweet to add to the menu.

We enjoyed our comfort meal



and a few sweet slices with coffee - before the pan also went into the freezer.
I'll be posting these bars soon.

It's funny, the things that can make us feel like we've accomplished something.
Maybe it's finishing a craft, finally sending that parcel off or
writing a few cards . . . whatever it is . . .
in the end . . . aren't you always wondering why it took you so long?