I am a very nostalgic person, I love reminiscing about a lifestyle that no longer exists. I love old things, almost always preferring a found item to something new. When I was growing up, many of the homes we lived in had an ice door. Even the first home Shannon and I had in San Francisco had an ice door. This is where the ice man would deliver ice from the outside of your house into your ice box, the place you stored any items needing refrigeration. Growing up, my mother always referred to the refrigerator as the “icebox,” never the fridge or refrigerator. We also had a milkman, at least for a time from our local dairy. And, we would put the used glass bottles on the back porch for pick-up and await the next delivery of milk, cottage cheese and butter. Those are days gone by, but I love clinging to the memories and the feelings of homeyness and wholesomeness.
Ok, this might seem goofy to some, but I have been getting strong urgings to get a freezer for about 9 months now. It is this little whisper, get a freezer and your life will change. I know this might sound strange, but I think the freezer may end up being this HUGE catalyst for change in my life. Soooo, back in February or March, can’t remember exactly when, I attended a conference in Anaheim with all these amazing speakers on a wide variety of spiritual topics. There are over 40,000 people who attend, and there are probably 100 plus sessions you can sit in on…I ended up at two that were about the whole self, the whole body-mind-spirit. The main messages I walked away with were 1) detox your life and your home (do you really want chemicals with crossbones on them in your kitchen?) 2) Whole foods is the way to go. Ok, duh, right? The less processed, and in its original packaging the food comes in the healthier it is to put in your body and why eat things with ingredients you can’t pronounce and 3)You can’t make the changes without God being a part of it. I was particularly drawn to the 3D idea Discipline, Discipleship, Devotion or Eat Right, Live Well, Love God. I left Anaheim feeling God wanted me to buy a freezer!
After discussing with my husband and getting a lot input, I finally took the plunge and purchased a freezer or as my mom would have called it, icebox. It got me thinking about when I was a little girl and we went berry picking every summer to fill up my grandmother's icebox. She would flash freeze all the berries on cookie sheets and then put them in quart containers. She had read an article about Birdseye frozen foods, and decided this was the way to freeze. She also made and would freeze french meranges. Topped with berries and cool whip, it served as her stand by--ready to make a fabulous impression-dessert, and she made dessert for every dinner. My mom made amazing homemade granola and bran muffins in huge batches and then freeze them, they were breakfast just about every day. And, yes the granola was topped with berries.
I also started to think about how my mother-in-law would come to Paso every summer and collect hundreds of tomatoes from the ranch garden. She would go home, and cook up the most wonderful Italian sauce and then freeze in freezer bags which she doled out to all of kids for use for the rest of the year. And, I also remembered what a gift she gave me when my first daughter, Katie, was born. She came to our house in San Francisco and cooked for 2 days straight. She made all these delicious meals and put them in the freezer for us--things like stuffed bell peppers, and eggplant parmigiana.
So the freezer or icebox holds much more than prepared meals for me. I think it holds love. The love I experienced from my grandmother, mother, and mother-in-law through cooking healthy, fresh foods. Cooking is one way I love my family....I heart my icebox.Yesterday I had one of my “cooking” days. It hits me about once a month, sort of like everything else, and I just get the urge to cook until I drop. BUT, now that I have my new freezer, I can make recipes to freeze and eat later. Here are a few that I made:
Asparagus Soup: cook asparagus until tender, then with chicken broth, transfer to blender and blend until smooth, add a touch of white truffle oil to round out the mouth, s&p to taste. you can serve with a little sour cream if you want, or serve it skinny Yum-great with Sauv blanc.
Jalepeno Chicken (Lori’s): Ok this is sort of improvised from her original might be missing something—cooked cut boneless chicken breasts and thighs in stock pot with a little olive oil, and jalapeno juice to your desired spiciness(from the pepper jar) and cut up an onion or two to cook in there also. Once it is cooked and chicken is browned a bit, add chicken stock, cut potatoes, carrots, celery, diced tomatoes, Ted&Barneys to taste (really good s&p seasoning mixture), had fresh oregano, thyme, rosemary so I threw that in also. Spicy goodness.
Curry Chicken: 6 baked chicken breasts cubed, 1 can coconut milk (lower fat version from TJs), 1 can unsweetened pineapple, straw mushrooms, sweet corn kernels, and about 3-4 tablespoons of curry powder, ¼ satay TJs satay sauce. Cooked in the crock pot until ready to eat.
Grilled Vegies: sliced 2 giant eggplants, 6 zucchinis, 4 yellow squash, two cartons of mushrooms, about 3
onions, and four bell peppers. Lighly coated with olive oil and grilled. Freezing to make tortilla wrap sammies and to use as side dishes to anything else.
onions, and four bell peppers. Lighly coated with olive oil and grilled. Freezing to make tortilla wrap sammies and to use as side dishes to anything else.
