Emergency Meals

I had an excellent (at least in my mind) post all written in my head for today. I will write it up for next week. But something more pressing came up I wanted to share with you.

Yesterday I did something very foolish. I was rushing, I overloaded my laundry basket and in the rush to stash it away and get back downstairs I was not paying attention and jammed my hand into the door frame badly hurting two knuckles on my dominant hand. I know it was an accident but I feel so foolish!

My hand is fine. It is just bruised and sore. It is also wimpy, I am dropping lots of things...my husband requests that I leave emptying the dishwasher for him! :-)

But this has reinforced three habits very firmly in my mind, and again shown me the importance of them.

1. I always keep meals in the freezer that are thaw and cook, or easy to prepare. So we are not at the mercy of take out or toast and cereal for supper (although that is fun, but not when it is cold and rainy). Today I am pulling out orange chicken for supper. It is as simple as put in plan, cook, pour sauce over top, return to oven for 5 minutes, serve over rice.

While I usual make my own freezer meals this particular one is one I pick up at Costco once in a while for a treat. When we want Chinese food without the bill.

Along with the staples for quick meals like cooked beans, cooked chopped chicken, broth, stuff for soup and the like I try to keep meals in the freezer that are quick and easy, and it has been a blessing! Even if I am healthy and someone else in the house is sick it is wonderful to be able to not worry about meals knowing that something is there!

2. I keep my rice cooker on my counter so I see it. This might seem silly, but I have the room, and it encourages me to get it ready early, and then set the timer for supper, it takes guess work out of making sure everything is ready at the same time. I use it for a lot of things, much more than rice. But I had set it up for supper last night before I hurt my hand. One thing done. And if it is a nutty day I throw in some frozen veggies and we have veggie rice - two things taken care of!

3. Keep up with the dishes. Yes, our dishwasher ran last night and has to be emptied and reloaded, but because I was caught up on our dishes this is not a big deal, I am just stacking the dirty ones in the sink. Plus in my quest to get the plastic out of the kitchen we picked up some Corelle plates for the girls so I can use those too and not worry if I drop something...which I have...dropped something I mean...

I am so thankful that before Miss Pear was born that a friend introduced me to the concept of freezer meals, and that I learned the importance of keeping up with the kitchen early in my marriage. These things are blessing me so much right now!

What are your favorite tips for being prepared when life throws you a curve ball?