Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Lesson Learned: No Big Batch Cooking on Weeknights


I made four lasagnas tonight.  We did not eat dinner until 8:40... and the baby ended up eating leftover breakfast quiche and going to bed without dinner at all.  Will not batch cook on a weeknight again... lesson learned.

Really, it wasn't all that bad.  I have a lovely husband who watched the little one while I messed up the kitchen (and did the clean-up for me too - love him). And, I have always been one to enjoy trying new cooking methods and recipes.  While reading Real Food on a Real Budget by Stephanie Langford (great ebook and on sale right now!), I was inspired to try doubling what I cook and freezing the extra.  Then I thought - why double it when I can triple it! Great idea, right?

Hmmm. I went from deciding to do this, to shopping during my lunch break, to bringing home groceries and baby to an already dirty kitchen at 6:30pm, to breaking out every clean dish in the house and making them dirty.
  

I did not consider a few important details:
  • We only have 3 working burners on our stove.
  • My pots are not large enough to hold all that food anyway.
  • I have done zero prep.
  • I have a one year old.
  • It is 6:30 pm... and this is a very detailed recipe.
  • Tripling the recipe makes A LOT of food.... 

Delicious. Lots of Lasagna.  Lasagna Primavera from Everyday Food.


The price breakdown:

2, 30oz Ricotta $3.69 [$7.38]
2, Box Whole Wheat Lasagna Noodles $2.19 [$4.38]
1, Gallon Organic Whole Milk $5.99
5, 12oz Frozen Spinach $0.88 [$4.40]
1, 2lb Mozzarella Cheese $6.99
1, 32oz Frozen Peas $1.99
1, Pkg Organic Carrots $1.59
1, Head Garlic $0.33

On Hand:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup olive oil
Salt/Pepper

Total: $33.05 or $8.26 each for 4 home made, fabulously overflowing lasagnas.


Overflowing..... There is a positive side to all this craziness.


No comments:

Post a Comment

Please, do not reproduce any content from this site without my written permission. You can reach me directly at lonestar(dot)knits(at)yahoo(dot)com. Thank you.