Sometimes, cooking is all about the beautiful slow process of tasting and testing, simmering and stewing. And other times–like when you’re eight months pregnant with two little kids and a husband on military duty–it’s about stocking as much food as possible in your freezer before baby number three arrives.
This morning, I helped my friend Katrina make six freezer meals for her family (which really amounts to about 24 individual dinners) to have on hand when things get particularly crazy, very soon. We made the meals–two each of Dijon Pork Chops, Beef Potato Casserole and Cream Cheese Chicken–in a bit under two hours as our kids played and ate blueberry muffins. We got to talk and catch up a bit between the jackhammer noises of the renovation in the lower level, and when we couldn’t hear, we developed a sign language of pointing and motioning to communicate. I love this form of nesting, feathering the freezer, which will give mom and baby and the whole family more time when the big moment comes.