Squash Puree

This is a laborious process, but I think it’s worthwhile, since it’s a great thing to do if you have any plans to do any baking that requires pumpkin or squash puree.  Rather than buy the canned stuff (which I admit requires far fewer steps), you can get yourself a few butternut squashes.

Cut the squashes (any winter squash, really) in half, take out the seeds, and bake – open side down – in the oven or microwave until tender.  Then scoop out the flesh.  After it cools a little, use the food processor to puree it until smooth. 

Freeze in small containers for later use.

Ok, you’re right, it’s a lot of work.  I’ll admit that doing this little project hurt my back a lot, and was probably not worth it.  But the squash was free, and I have a lot of plans to make pumpkinny recipes this winter.  

Energy: An Unrealistic Luxury

Very seldom do moments of inspiration and energy coincide with opportunities to get things done around the house.  In the morning as I go through my routine preparing to head off to work, I notice that the bathroom sink needs to be cleaned or the beans in the cupboard rearranged.  I make a mental note to do the work when I get home, but at the end of the day I am drained and want only to lie on the floor and listen to Elliott Smith until bedtime.  Another day passes and the sink is still dirty and the cupboard in chaos. 

If this goes on long enough, the little tasks accumulate.  Each moment in the apartment I am haunted by the mocking sneers of tasks undone.  Weren’t you going to take out the compost?  Shouldn’t you have dusted the sills?  Look at all the crumbs under the toaster! 

Some things I have learned.  One of them is this: Energy is an unrealistic luxury in a life of chronic pain.  Sometimes you just have to do stuff anyway.  Other times you need to let yourself off the hook.

I’ve found that some tasks around the house really only take a few minutes, and if I can just get them started despite the pain and lethargy I feel, they get done rather quickly.  I can wipe down the bathroom sink in a minute or so.  Once it’s clean, it no longer taunts me with accusations.  I feel a load lift from my shoulders.  Wiping down the kitchen counters and stovetop after washing the dishes keeps that voice silent.  I can vacuum while the clothes are in the washer, in such a small apartment that takes only a few minutes.

Other times, I’m just too discouraged, in too much pain, or too tired to do much more than brush my teeth before bed.  On those days, the dust and grime accumulate.  Sometimes I have the presence of mind to talk back to the heckling dust bunnies; sometimes it’s okay to leave work undone for another day.  Other days I let it get to me; I let it make me feel inferior to the women with spotless houses – like I am fundamentally flawed and weak – like there is no point in trying – like I’ll never be able to keep a nice house – like I ought to have a cleaning lady but can’t afford one – like I’m doomed to live in squalor forever.

Two days ago I scrubbed the toilet.  Today I took out the spray bottle and cleaned up the sink.  For now my head is above water. 

Too Many Bananas?

With bananas, unlike fresh cilantro, I do not get stressed out about buying a lot at once.  I used to always try to find the smallest bunch of bananas, only getting four or five at a time for fear that they would go brown before I could eat them all.  These days, I always grab the biggest bunch on the shelf, even if they’re already yellow.

See, bananas are pretty versatile.  They make a convenient snack to carry to work or on a hike.  But if they start getting ripe and you start to panic, you can always throw them in the freezer for later use.  You don’t even need to prepare them first.  Just throw them in there in their skins. 

Once they start getting brown, they become perfect for baking.  And if you’re going to cook them anyway, it doesn’t matter that they’re frozen.  You can use the frozen bananas in breads and cakes.

Lately, I’ve been cutting up the frozen bananas and using them in smoothies.  Once again, bananas are proving to be convenient in the sense that I don’t even need to use a whole one each time.  I can cut a frozen one in half or thirds and throw the remainder back in the freezer for later.  The most inconvenient part is that a frozen banana is hard to peel.  If I’m making banana bread, I let it thaw before stripping the skin off (the fruit inside is kind of grossly floppy and soupy in this case, but it’s fine for the purpose at hand, since you usually need to mash it anyway).  If I’m using it for a smoothie, I just use a knife to shave the peel off before throwing it in the blender with some milk, juice, and whatever else. 

This little discovery is so simple, I’m amazed that it took me so long to figure it out.  And it has definitely made the purchase and consumption of bananas way less stressful for this girl who hates wasting food, but often misjudges how much stuff to buy at the store.  

Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

This turned out to be a bigger ordeal than I bargained for.  But I think the results will be appreciated – by me – in the weeks to come, since I ended up with enough tomato soup to last me 12 to 15 meals. 

If I keep up with this blog for any real length of time, and if you read many of it’s entries, you will find me repeating this bit of wisdom gleaned from years living alone with chronic pain: Cook large batches of food that can be frozen in one or two serving size containers, and you will thank yourself on those days when you don’t have the energy to fix a meal. 

Many weekends, I devote a big chunk of at least one afternoon to fixing an enormous quantity of some dish that is freezable.  In doing so, I concentrate all the pain and torment of cooking into a few hours, and disperse the food and enjoyment over several weeks. 

I found a recipe similar to this in a cookbook given to me by a friend.  I made a double batch and a few changes.  Because the second-to-final stage involves whisking cold milk into the soup, I was able to quickly transfer the end product into freezer bags and throw it in the freezer without waiting for it to cool.

You'll notice that my measurements are pretty arbitrary, I tend to tweak recipes as I go based on how much of each ingredient I have on hand and how much energy I feel I have for all the preparations.  For example, I put quite a bit more basil in this than the original recipe called for, mainly because I had a pretty hefty bunch of basil to use up and didn't want to waste it.  

Here’s the recipe:

2 – 5 tbsp olive oil.

1 – 3 onions.

2 – 5 garlic cloves minced. 

8 -12 large, ripe tomatoes; peeled and diced.

2 – 3 cups chicken broth.

4 -6 tbsp fresh basil leaves.

6 cups milk (I like to use whole or 2%, fat makes food taste good).

6 oz can tomato paste.

Salt and black pepper to taste. 

Heat oil in large sauce pan / stew pot.  Cook onions until softened.  Add tomatoes, broth, garlic, and about ½ tsp salt and ¼ tsp black pepper.  Bring to boil, then lower to simmer for about 10 minutes, or until everything is tender. 

Puree in small batches with basil leaves.  (You could also save the basil leaves till the very end, adding them [finely chopped] as you’re warming up the soup to serve it.)

When entire batch is pureed, transfer back to pot, adding tomato paste and milk.  Now would be a good time to taste it and see if it needs more salt and pepper. 

Now you can either transfer the soup to containers for freezing, or warm it up to serve it.  When warming it up, be sure to avoid boiling it.  Because it contains milk, it will get that gross film on top if it gets too hot.

I froze this soup in zip-lock bags, flat on the freezer floor.  Once the bags freeze, you can move them around in the freezer.  Because they end up thin and rectangular, it can be really convenient. 

I also made sure to label the bags.  In addition to the name of the dish, I like to write instructions to myself on how to serve the food.  In this case, the soup is ready to eat.  I just need to thaw and heat it.  Sometimes I’ll write something like, “Serve with pasta,” or “add carrots.”  

If I'd thought ahead, I would have labeled the bags before I filled them.  My handwriting was much messier than usual because I wrote on a bag filled with liquid!