Stocking Up for Baby

Stocking up for baby in the McCarthy household means cooking and freezing staples so we can throw together a quick and healthy meal once the baby is here. This is the best time of year to take advantage of the cheap excess tomatoes and basil at farmer's markets and home gardens. So far I have made fresh pesto with a huge $1 bunch of basil from the farmer's market infront of my school, tomato sauce from organic heirloom tomatoes from my neighborhood farmer's market, and Scott made and froze a huge batch of his mom's famous cookie dough (if you come visit the baby, we will pop some delicious cookies in the oven for you!)

The thing to remember when cooking and then freezing, is to pre-portion your food prior to freezing. For the cookie dough, we use an ice cream scoop and put scoops onto a cookie sheet, pop it in the freezer, and once the dough is frozen, we store them in gallon size freezer ziploc bags. When we are ready to bake, we take out as many "dough cookies" as we need and bake them (you can even bake them straight from the freezer...no need to defrost).

I took a cue from the cookie dough and froze the pesto in ice cream scoops too. I will let you know this winter how user-friendly that has turned out to be!

For the tomato sauce, I measure 1 cup servings and used the Food Saver to vacuum seal in plastic bags. Easy and ready to defrost and toss on some noodles when the baby is crying.

Here's the recipe for the easiest tomato sauce. Scott taught me how to make this years ago, and I love it! It's great for spaghetti (try adding some ground beef or turkey), good on pizza, ratatouille, or even on polenta. I made it from fresh tomatoes, which requires the extra step of blanching and peeling the tomatoes, but I usually make it with simple canned tomatoes. This is a very loose recipe, but easy enough!

Scott's Everyday Tomato Sauce

2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

olive oil

1- 28oz. can whole peeled tomatoes (the Trader Joe's ones are the best deal)

honey

basil

parsley

salt/pepper

Add olive oil to a medium sized dutch oven or heavy pot (enough to cover the bottom of the pot, about 1-2 tablespoons). Add the sliced garlic. Turn on the stove to low-medium heat. Let the garlic infuse in the oil for about 3-5 minutes, and then add the can of tomatoes (juices and all). Let simmer on stove over medium heat for about 10 minutes. Smoosh the tomatoes with a potato masher or whisk, or even a stick blender, until you get the sauce consistency you desire. Drizzle in honey to cut the acidity of the tomatoes (keep tasting to figure out how much you need...it's a different amount each time you make it!). Add fresh chopped basil and parsley (about a tablespoon of each). Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve over pasta. Enjoy =)

The key to this recipe is to keep tasting until you get it how you want it. In the winter, when I can't get fresh basil and parsley, I use the frozen cubes they sell at Trader Joe's (1 cube of each), or dried herbs. If you use dried herbs, add them when you add the tomatoes, rather than at the end. Sometimes I jazz it up with some crushed red pepper. Once you make it a few times, you won't need the recipe anymore...

My winter basil from Trader Joe's (they also sell frozen parsley and cilantro!)