53 Car Hrs & Cooking 4 Friends
Life is hard; food doesn't have to be #145 [vol6, 6.4]
After spending 53 hours in the van in ten days I rolled into my driveway. My 12yo son went to Camp Timberline in Estes Park, Colorado. It’s the camp where his college brother spent two summers as a counselor.
What to do while he’s at camp?
Cook for friends! The first friend I stayed with I’ve known for 29 years. We were camp counselors together in college. Crazy enough, I’d visited Erin in the Czech Republic in 2008; she’d visited us in Fiji in 2018 but we had never visited the other in the US!
Erin has been a lifelong missionary. She worked originally with Athletes in Action, the sports division of Cru, as she was a Division I basketball player. Later she visited 11 countries in 11 months as a part of The World Race. Currently she’s a principal in inner city Denver and has a huge heart for her students and staff. She bought a Blackstone and has been cooking for staff gatherings!
Because she would be at work, I told her I wanted to fill her freezer and she didn’t object.
I didn’t only cook for her.
My oldest son is working this summer in western Colorado as a white water guide and media guru. I visited him the day after cooking for Erin.
What did I cook?
You may remember in July 2023 I visited another college friend and cooked 23 pounds of chicken for her after her oldest was involved in a near fatal accident.
From that experience, I knew taking my InstantPot was a must. (Erin also had one that I employed.)
I cooked 3 whole chickens, 8 pounds of ground beef, 4 pounds of dried beans and a pound of lentils. I took a pound of rice to John Isaac’s and cooked it in broth there. I also made tatziki and harissa.
The chickens gave delicious and nutritious broth that I cooked the beans, rice, and lentils in.
I made chicken pot pie with mashed potatoes, herbed meatball bowls, and taco meat.
Freezing It
I love SouperCubes. And have been inspired lately by Simply Sarah Hart on Instagram - the way she uses them for lunches or saving small portions of leftovers. Then using these small portions as components to make all sorts of “bowls.” If you’re cooking for one or two, I recommend her method!
Since Erin is single, I froze her meals and meal components in smaller portions. In fact, a silicone cupcake pan fit the bill. I also have a silicone muffin pan that I also used to freeze beans and lentils in small portions. Once the food was frozen, it popped out of the pan easily and into a freezer bag.
I froze the chicken pot pies in small aluminum pans. With mashed potatoes on top. I left her a recipe card for drop biscuits.
Fermenting
As soon as I could, I started fermenting carrots for both Erin and my son. They’re super easy and usually a crowd pleaser. I didn’t bring a scale so I salted to taste.
I also brought along kefir and the grains so both could have their own starter. I use kefir in place of buttermilk, as well as in smoothies.
Visiting John Isaac
The drive from Denver was supposed to take 2.5 hours but took 4 because of construction blasting. The interstate to Glenwood Springs is over the continental divide. Beautiful yet felt like a NASCAR race on an Indy500 track with construction over a mountain with semis and campers all around. Super stressful.
I made it. Seeing him was 100% worth it. He was quite grateful for the yummies.
Ft. Collins
From Denver I visited a friend in Ft. Collins. I was roommates with Rachel last summer at the School of Lunch Training Academy. Rachel wanted to ferment together, so we made “salty” carrots, sauerkraut and sliced radishes from her garden. Their family left the next morning for a camping trip so while they were gone I cooked a meal to surprise them once they returned.
Kansas
After the closing ceremony at camp, we made a bee line for Kansas. I knew it would be a long day. Our goal was to make it to central Kansas and stay with the friend who originally introduced me to Nourishing Traditions. Connie has been teaching natural workshops for years and opened my eyes to so many things I could do better (specifically that my skin is my largest organ and chemicals in my home are terrible for my health.)
I didn’t cook for Connie but I gave her some of my favorite salt from BajaGold.
Reading with My Ears
My husband is the most voracious reader I know. Driving to Colorado I listened to podcasts and even went long stretches in silence. Mid-trip he recommended I download the Audible app and listen to books. I’m hooked.
The first book I listened to was written by a chief usher at the White House for 6 consecutive presidents and first ladies from FDR to Nixon. Super fascinating about behind the scenes of the living quarters and I didn’t want him to retire!!
I’m over half-way through Radium Girls and at one point it was so sad I almost abandoned it. This book is about the 20yo girls who painted glowing radium on watches in the 1920’s and how their health was riddled from the radioactivity. Their lives ended in grueling deaths due to poisoning. For years the company claimed innocence.
Listening to this one has reminded me afresh how no one cares more for my health than me. No one else pays for the choices I make on a daily basis. And a quote I heard last summer:
Don’t sacrifice your health on the altar of convenience.
Other Recent Books
If you have a middle grade reader, or reluctant older reader, I highly recommend looking up books by Steve Sheinkin. I love reading these books as a refresher (or learning for the first time!) about history. He’s won awards for good reason! Most of these will be at your public library. In particular, I’ve read:
Bomb, The Race to Build--and Steal--the World's Most Dangerous Weapon (Newbery Honor Book & National Book Award Finalist)
Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War (National Book Award Finalist)
Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown,
Born to Fly: First Women’s Air Race Across America
Undefeated: Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team
He has more…
Life is hard; food doesn’t have to be.
Julie
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Love all these life updates!