Yeah, I know. I should have used the gift donations over Christmas for more practical purposes, but as they were given for the explicite purpose of going out for tapas (and I also wanted to get more photos for Sevilla Tapas) that is what I did.
Anyhow, check it out. Clockwise from upper-left: spicy chicken burrito sauce, bolognese sauce, pork & veg stew, pork & spinach garam masala, and chorizo & prawn risotto. Of course, by the time all this was made neither of us felt like eating it, so last night I made some beer-battered prawns and chips with the left-overs …
Everything has now been put into single-serving freezer bags. And Nog and I are talking about doing this once a month from now on, so that there is always something available for a quick meal … it’s also much more economical to cook like this. And, as you can see, the results look very tasty.
I’d consider hiring myself out as a personal chef but everyone I know with a bit of extra cashola has a housekeeper who comes in and not only cleans but also prepares meals. And she is paid peanuts. Oh well…
casa azahar 
So being a housekeeper cook is not a way to become rich in Sevilla? There goes my potential next profession.
Seriously, making food in advance is a very smart thing to do. Then when you run out of ready cash there is still tasty stuff to eat. We have found keeping a pot of soup going is a great way to eat. It is extremely economical, and you can throw your leftovers into it rather than put them in the fridge where they become science experiments.
So, the one I want is that risotto, that looks delicious. I sent you an envelope today and will be interested to know how long it takes to make it across the Atlantic to you.
LikeLike
The risotto is amazing! Made that version with the chorizo & prawns for the first time last week. Soooo good. Nog will eat most of the stew and bolognese (with pasta), I reckon. He needs a lot more “refueling” with carbs than I do. I just like having so many options at my finger tips and, unlike frozen meals you buy, I know exactly what went into these.
Someone on twitter talked about finding some chewed gum in her frozen veg the other day … bleh.
A mystery envelope, eh? I am intrigued. It shouldn’t take more than a few days to arrive.
LikeLike
I’d invite you to my house to cook an month’s worth of meals, but yeah, I’m one of those short on the cashola. And anyway, it’d be a very long trip. Guess I’ll have to cook for myself. Off to cook ham hocks and beans for chili tomorrow.
LikeLike
Well, this is really just a creative way of trying to not panic. Until now Nog has always been able to pay his way, and I can only hope that things pick up again for him in February. I’ve really done all I can to help him find students and build a life here for himself and, although I know I will continue to worry about him, I really need to focus on getting my own life back. If Nog can’t make it here after all the help he’s been given over the years then maybe he’d be better off back in the UK. I dunno.
Meanwhile, I have made sure that at least for the rest of this month there are some nice meals prepared. A step up from just “having enough food” in the house. It was actually quite fun doing this all weekend, and Nog does make a very good sous-chef. He’s even got very good at making a few stew dishes on his own lately. So I hope he will also get better at looking after himself in other ways.
It’s been over a year and a half since I’ve been able to support myself, and I think that has really shaken my confidence. It’s been very difficult trying to find work again since I finished the last chemo (as well as being Nog’s “agent”) and sometimes it feels like I’ll never get back on my feet again. That’s when I start to panic. And that’s when I try to think of something I can do NOW that will make the situation better, if only for now.
Hence 25 meals.
LikeLike
Wow, what a creative approach – and so practical too! I’m inspired. I can usually manage to turn any leftovers from Sunday dinner into something stewy or soupy for a few days lunches, but not on your industrial scale! Bravo.
The risotto looks yummy.
LikeLike
Nog was getting into the habit of making himself a stew on Sundays to have for lunches during the week. But this way he doesn’t have to have the same thing every day, and I don’t have to think about “what’s for lunch”. A good plan, but of course in the summer it won’t work as well.
LikeLike
That looks amazing :drool:
Wouldn’t some sort of cooking amazon work? Order your food online and get it delivered worldwide :drool:
And sorry I’m drooling all over your blog 😉
:drool:
LikeLike
Good thing it’s only virtual drool…
LikeLike
I wish doing this in my house would work.
My mother, even when I point out a meal, ready-made and ready to go forgets about it and eats whatever she can find in the fridge (ignoring the pre-made meal and then expressing surprise when I point it out to her for the 12th time) OR she takes it out, barely touches it (or forgets she’s taken it out and when I discover it the next morning dried up under the coffee table, doesn’t remember having taken it out… and it has to get thrown out OR takes a few bites and puts it back in the fridge without the lid where it either gets spilled or forgotten about. I put a lid on it and she takes the lid off to see what it is and doesn’t put the lid on again.
Even freezing small amounts doesn’t work because she looks right at it in the freezer and doesn’t see it.
My only option is to make a small meal, as is, and hope she eats it.
Also, she doesn’t often like the same things I do. She doesn’t like meat and she doesn’t like rice or noodles much. I like veggies but she eats so little that even buying my veggies is a pain. I did go out and buy a head or cauliflower and other veggies which I broke into small servings and froze. Then she got sick and wouldn’t eat anything but those liquid nutritional supplements. Everything got freezer burned.
It is so expensive to make one meal at a time but that’s what I have to do. Even the left-overs either get eaten by me at the same meal or they go in the fridge for her next meal and thus begins the food-left-out or lidless food cycle, again.
LikeLike
Sounds very frustrating for you. And you’re right, making one meal at a time is much more expensive. In fact, it’s almost as cheap to eat out here, which is why we often just go for a couple of tapas when we want something small and snacky. Not for the rest of this month though…
LikeLike
Today, spicy spaghetti bolognese with penne pasta. Yummy.
LikeLike
those dishes look amazing & yummy–I’m drooling on this side of the pond… in my kitchen, my issue is cooking too much food. “someone” in the house alwayz fears there is not going to be enough food for dinner but then there are alwayz leftovers. mind you, we just end up eating dinner for lunch the next day. the thing is though, I don’t alwayz want to eat the same thing the next day, but at the same time don’t want to be wasteful. however, my eating habits are changing now that we’ve started a weight loss competition at work. i’m watching what I am shoveling in my mouth and have been struggling with my one weakness…chocolate. I have yet to be tempted!
LikeLike
Heh, I am smiling at that “someone” being worried about there not being enough. Must run in the family. Of course the good thing about making WAY TOO MUCH is that then you can freeze it and not have to eat the same thing the next day. Also, having the various stews and sauces frozen in single sized portions helps with not over-eating, as it isn’t so easy to go back for a second helping.
I once knew someone who said they never ate leftovers because they thought of it as putrefying food. What a nut.
LikeLike