With this unbearable heat in mind, I turned to my freezer for help with dinner. You see, I simply cannot bear to turn on the oven to cook when everything is already cooking outside! So, this morning I opened my freezer and took my sweet time (ahhhh!) looking at my leftovers shelf. Yep -- I am an organizing freak -- even in the freezer! There was Black Bean and Tukey Chili, Sliced Ham, Breaded Chicken Tenders (from last week's chicken cook-a-thon) and a package of Chicken and Rice Casserole. Of course everything is well wrapped and packaged, dated, and although written in my very own form of "Chef's Shorthand", clearly labeled according to contents.
Let's talk about labeling for a moment, shall we? Take a look at the picture of my soon-to-be dinner. First of all, notice that is it tightly wrapped in foil. That layer protects it from forming any ice crystals on the surface of the food. Foil, which is barrier #1, also locks in the flavor. Barrier #2 is a Ziploc Freezer Bag. This thick durable plastic further protects my dinner delicacies from the effects of the frosty freezer. No, I don't have one of those wrap-itty-do-da-thingy-ma-jigs...I just use Ziploc bags. I am a simple girl who learned long ago that too many gadgets are nothing more than, well, too many gadgets!
Back to labeling! While I do love my Ziploc bags, I also wish that they would provide more of that nice 'writer friendly' white space on which to make my mark. It seems like there is never enough room there to write everything that is necessary. Thus -- my 'shorthand'. The first one you see is 'Chx' for Chicken. I love 'Chx' and write it frequently, even when writing recipes! Another one I use all the time is 'Chx Bxt'. Can you guess that one? Yep - Chicken breasts! And boneless, skinless chicken breasts? BS Chx Bxt. (Please, take no offense, I'm just talking about chicken here! BS in my world means boneless, skinless!)
And finally, my favorite category of freezer labels: H & E. The dishes that are simply 'Heat and Eat' -- ready at a moments notice! Thus, tonight's dinner was easy to find on my leftover shelf, and I quickly knew that my 'Heat and Eat' Chicken and Rice Casserole would be a delicious main course. Fortunately for me, there were also some leftover Rhode's Wheat Dinner Rolls, and a bag of Broccoli florets just waiting to accompany my tasty little casserole. All of these fabulous finds are going into the microwave to be heated, where the heat will only go into the food, and not into my kitchen! Whew! I feel cooler already!
What rounds out that fabulous freezer feast I found? That's easy. Fresh, fresh, fresh, anything grown locally and fresh. Tonight it will likely be peaches and blueberries drizzled with local honey, or perhaps tomatoes from my Dad's garden drizzled with balsamic vinegar and a touch of extra-virgin olive oil. (That abbreviation has already been done, LOL!) Hey -- it worked for her -- maybe one day people all over America will be looking for dinners that they can H & E! A girl can dream...
Until we eat again, get into that freezer of yours, take your sweet time finding something yummy, and enjoy microwaving!
(Please remember to safely thaw all foods in the refrigerator, and to remove all foil before anything goes into the microwave! Oh, and no plastic in the microwave, either -- ewww, too many chemicals!)
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