in one hour

This was what was cooked: tuna noodle casserole for dinner tonight and leftovers; red rice, millet and quinoa for freezing; broccoli, squash and onions prepared for dinner (and leftovers and freezing), one dozen boiled eggs, and....

a sink full of pots. Why? Getting ready for the big day of course, whenever that will be. This summer I purchased a cookbook by Heidi Swanson call Super Natural Everyday. My hope was to incorporate more whole grains and veggies into our diet. Her book is amazing and her blog equally so. So many simple, delicious ideas. One entry on the blog discusses cooking extra grains and beans and then freezing the leftovers for future use. Of course this makes total sense, but takes a little extra effort (cooling, packaging and then cleaning) and is not part of my habit of cooking. So I thought today I'd see "how long" it takes to go the extra effort. Just a little over an hour, including the kitchen clean up. The grains, aren't mixed with anything so when its time to use them that'll be an additional 15 minutes to add veggies and seasoning but it nice to know they are there. Breakfast, lunch or dinner. Another key is to have a handy 6'3" helper who, 90% of the time does the dishes, empties the dishwasher and leaves a clean kitchen for me to work in. I washed all these pots (not quite fair to ambush him with all those pots) but having a clean slate each day sure helps with the motivation to cook. I am so thankful!