kitchen duty

Every year when cheap peppers grace the grocery stores, I consider devoting a day to freezer cooking. Why peppers? Well, I was 8 1/2 months pregnant exactly four years ago, and the only thing I knew was that stockpiling food was a good idea. I purchased this cookbook, and planned a few days of cooking. One of the recipes was for 12 stuffed peppers, and although they weren't great out of the oven they were divine when cooked from frozen (I'll never understand why the difference). So for me peppers = September = a good time to fill the freezer with hearty food.

This fall I have another reason to be practical enough to devote an entire day to cooking. Sadie left her daycare in August and as much as it was time for her to move on, I desperately miss having her close to me during the day. The daycare was across the street from my work, and as soon as I walked out of my building at 6pm, in less than 5 minutes I got to be a Mom (which I have to say, is the best stress-buster of all time). Then Sadie and I would have a leisurely TTC ride home, catching up on our day. Now, everything has changed. Sadie spends her days at JK and with a good friend in the neighbourhood (and I have to note - Sadie loves, loves, loves this new arrangement!) and Jay picks her up because he's closer to home. Work is ridiculously busy, so I don't leave until 6:30 at the earliest and then I carry my work problems home with me on the subway. I walk in the door somewhere closer to 7:30, and have to get dinner ready immediately. Needless to say, this is why I need a freezer full of quick food. I want to spend time playing with Sadie and talking to Jay - not figuring out what to make us all to eat.

A simpler solution would be purchasing meals (frankly, it's not a perfect scenario to sacrifice one whole day of an already too short weekend) but I'm having no luck there. With Jay's poultry allergy, and Sadie's egg/dairy allergies, there is limited choice in Toronto. We live close to Urban Fare, but the one time we tried a casserole Jay had a reaction (even though chicken was not listed). And the vegetarian delivery service we used to love, called Jay's Gourmet, has ceased to exist. So I figure I need to make the food to guarantee that the ingrediants won't force either of my loved ones to use their Epi-pen. Which means I'll be in the kitchen with a whole lot of canned sauce and ground beef, playing Willie Nelson and wearing an apron. Truthfully, it's not so bad, though I realize there are way more cookbooks I could try. Branching beyond ground beef would be a good start if I need to make this a regular habit.

Which it seems like I will. Let's hope the can opener holds up.