Make Ahead Mom - on the move

First... the picture to the right has nothing to do with today's post. I just thought it was a super cool wine opener found in the collection of many, many openers at the CIA. 'Course at second glance, maybe it could be some sort of visual metaphor for a woman in movement, like the title... but really, it's just cool. 

On to the post.... 

Perhaps it did not make a lot of sense to intro my new feature of the Make Ahead Mom during a week I left for a business trip. I wanted to be able to detail what wonderful get-ahead ingredients I worked on this weekend. The reality is that I enjoyed a healthy cooking conference in Napa Valley (poor me, right?). It was, however, completely filled with discussions about the need to plan menus and cook ahead in order to eat more healthfully. Score one for the Make Ahead Mom.  

Anyway, I am returning inspired to not only explore new tastes & flavor combinations, but more importantly find ways to cook them in advance. You know... mise en place, Make Ahead Mom style. 

The good news is that I left behind a freezer stash of foods that have already been prepped and will be ready for the warm-up when I get in this evening. I didn’t really have this particular day in mind when I cooked them, but that, my friends, is the beauty of the system. It's ready whenever you need it. 

Curried Chicken (or Chickpeas) in Coconut-Peanut Sauce is an extremely simplified adaptation of Chicken Curry. I was first introduced to this version’s simplicity when I worked at Weight Watchers Magazine. The version we tested was vegetarian, featuring chickpeas/garbanzo beans, but over the years I have adapted it. I don’t pretend to suppose that this is an authentic Thai recipe. But it’s easy. It’s economical. And it tastes great.

Make Ahead Method

• Make sauce doubling recipe, minus the addition of chickpeas or chicken
• After sauce cools, spoon individual servings into zip-top plastic freezer bags
• Seal bag, pressing as much air out as possible
• Lay bags flat and stack in a square baking dish/pan (Try to use a dish about the same size as your bags when they are laid flat. It helps keep them from sliding around in the freezer)
• After sauce freezes, remove bags from baking dish and stack in freezer
• Do the same method with a batches of rice, laying bags flat before freezing** 

**Taking the time to lay the bags flat for freezing is important because it

1. helps keep things organized in your freezer 
2. makes the most of your freezer space 
3. aids in thawing (referenced below) by exposing more surface area

When I’m ready to make dinner, I “pull” previously roasted and frozen chicken from one large breast (I usually thaw by placing in the ‘fridge the night before. It may sound like advanced planning & strategy, but it’s really more like “Well, I guess we’ll have chicken tomorrow night” and then I go from there. You could also substitute drained, canned chickpeas for the chicken as the original version did if your chicken reserves are empty.) 

I place a bag of sauce and a bag of rice in a bowl of warm water while I pull the chicken. “Pulling” chicken is super quick and ultimately a great task for a child to help with. Just be sure they have clean hands & maybe opt for plastic forks, depending on the age of the child. The good thing about pulled chicken - it’s free-form, no need to use knives and it’s very forgiving, in terms of shape and size. 

How you assemble at this point is really up to you. Honestly, I believe microwaves are meant for more than just popcorn, so I put mine to good use. I assemble each plate with the cold, just thawed ingredients and then warm accordingly. You could very easily place the sauce & chicken in a small pot to simmer over low and then warm the rice in a similar fashion. 

I say why bother? 

More dishes = more work = less time with my kids after a long week of traveling. I may love my time in the kitchen, but I love my time with my kids more.

...and with that, dinner is served.