Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Real Food Kitchen Hack: Mirepoix Bags

I have had a serious cold the last three days, affecting only my vocal chords and throat.  I cannot speak.  I can squeak out little replies once in a while, but it hurts like the dickens.  Which means no reading books aloud/doing homeschool/talking in gentle soothing voices to boys who need gentle soothing talks. 

Despite my lack of speaking ability, I was able to get grocery shopping done, with Michael's help.  I think I mentioned a couple weeks ago that we got a Costco membership.  We're still learning the in's and out's of what we would buy and actually use there and what we should avoid.  I've avoided bulk shopping for about six or seven years, because when we had our last membership with Sam's Club, there were very few items that were "clean" enough that my body could handle them.  (I have a sensitivity to MSG, and we don't use any products with HCFS) and our membership was not worth the miniscule amount of money we paid for it.  But this time, the membership was semi-free...if you count toilet paper and a few food items as payment.  

So yesterday, we went on our Costco run and bought 10 pounds of carrots, 6 pounds of celery, 15 pounds of onions, 4 pounds of sliced pineapple, 5 pounds of spinach, 6 pounds of frozen strawberries, and 12 pounds of chicken thighs.... among other things. 

Now, we don't have the largest kitchen in the world,  about a third of the size of our last kitchen, so all of that bulk purchasing required fairly immediate preparation.  Today was the day for the veggies and chicken.  Tomorrow, I'll hopefully bag up the pineapple, strawberries, and spinach along with some bananas and other sundry items into little individual smoothie bags.  We have been blessed to have a deep freezer, so that's where all of this will go when it's prepped, 

I got half of the onions and carrots and all of the celery cut this morning.  This is my one kitchen hack that I take credit for, because I thought of it without pinterest or reading a blog or book.  (But many others have thought of the same thing.)  

Mirepoix bags.


I sound all fancy, don't I?

I should probably use that word again, because I just learned it.  Mirepoix.  It's the mixture that most soup bases start with:  carrots, celery, and onions.  I have made many a mirepoix bag, but never knew the official name for it.

Now you know, too.
Your life is more full and richly satisfying, isn't it?

I now have seven quart sized bags that I can just throw into a crockpot or stockpot in the morning to get my soups or broths started.

This afternoon, my mom is going to come over to help watch the boys while I hopefully can get a nap in.  Grateful for that.

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