Last week, Faith wrote a wonderful post about What We Eat While We Wait For Thanksgiving reflecting on all of the other meals we can be cooking as the big day nears. There's no excuse to just sit and wait for it to arrive. But what happens if you find yourself in a fall cooking rut?
You've grown tired of squash, you've been making soups like nobody's business, and you're slowly growing weary of fall muffins and quickbreads. This may not be describing you, but it is describing me. As I plan and plan for Thanksgiving this year, I'm finding that all of the recipe searching and list-making is making me not want to step into the kitchen on an average old Wednesday evening.
When I was in graduate school and I had a big presentation, instead of studying or really preparing a few days before, I'd do nothing. I literally couldn't look at my books or papers, but I knew deep-down that it'd all be o.k. And it always was. My way of coping with the stress was to retreat for a few days. So I know Thanksgiving will be just fine. It always is. But retreating until then will mean one too many take-out pizzas and there are so many great vegetables and fall fruits in season right now.
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I had this happen to me last night! My roommate and I describe it as "mennui", where nothing feels right and you slowly begin to despair about what to make. What made last night even worse was that I went to the grocery store without deciding what it was I wanted to make for dinner and spent an hour and a half aimlessly wandering the aisles, trying to piece together a meal from all the things I was seeing, and ended up spending way more money than I wanted to. (In the end, though, the chestnut ravioli I ended up choosing--with brown butter and toasted sunflower seeds and a big salad on the side--was a hit, but just getting there was a huge pain!)
My favorite cure to mennui is to make my tried-and-true favorites, because I know I'll be satisfied no matter what. It used to be that if I couldn't decide what I wanted, I just wouldn't eat!
This year I wised up and made sure the freezer was stocked with quick-and-easys like burritos to get through the beginning of school rush with sanity. Next year I'll wise up and RE-stock it before Halloween knowing that once holiday season hits I'll be only too happy to know I can go home and just toss frozen ravioli in some boiling water.
@gumshoegracie, p.s. I love the term "mennui."
Right now, dinners are easy because I'm emptying the freezer to make space for Thanksgiving. I planned ahead for this by making double batches of dinners for the past month. For example, last night we came home exhausted and hungry; I put homemade and home-frozen mushroom and cheddar pupusas in a pan, warmed refried beans in the microwave, add some salsa and a side of broccoli, and --- taDA! --- dinner is served!
And if I have energy, time, and ambition left over from these easy meals, there's plenty of cooking I can do ahead of time and freeze for Thanksgiving: pies, gravy, cubed bread for stuffing, well-reduced broth, caramelized onions.
Filling my fridge and freezer with meals almost ready to eat is a great way to curb the drive to order Take out. Which is, by the way, my typical solution when I don't know what to cook. Either eating from my fridge/freezer or getting take out a time or two is a great way to stop stressing about the planning and just enjoy the food. Typically, after a night or two of low-stress I'm quite willing to go back into the kitchen and start cooking; that is - of course - assuming someone else has cleaned off my kitchen counters. :D
This was definitely me last night too. So I relied upon some Soy Vay marinade for the chicken breasts and roasted some veggies in the oven. It was also a win/win as it helped me use up the last of the Soy Vay. Easy peasy. Tonight will be something just as low key: spaghetti squash with marinara and frozen turkey meatballs. Using the freezer and pantry for meal inspiration as I clean things out to make room for my shopping this weekend.
my favorite way to beat the harvest-blues is to stay away from american cuisine for the weeks leading up to thanksgiving. chiles and lime cleanse my palette until turkey day.
whipping up a spicy southeast asian curry or a pan of veggie-laden enchiladas will still take advantage of the season's bounty without surrendering to the monotony of quick breads roasted root vegetables.
1. borrow an inspiring cookbook from a friend (I've got a copy of "Cook with Jamie" on hand which has been the source of a dozen recipes in the last fortnight)
2. if you have a veg box/CSA share, there's no end of inspiration for seasonal menus (google ingredient + recipe) and let's face it... you have to cook it before next week's batch arrives!
for example, last night I couldn't face a cold salad and googled how to cook lettuce... the lettuce soup was excellent and super easy. and the lettuce stir-fry I found is going in the queue for next time.
3. share cooking duties with someone else.
my husband cooks about half the time, which means there's a constant source of new ideas and also much-needed respite from the stove.
4. leftovers are a great resource. cold risotto or mashed potato become crunchy pancakes, leftover roasted veg makes lightning fast soup, leftover meat or fish becomes sandwich filling or cracker topping. if you don't want to see it for a while, freeze it and come back to it on a night when you really can't be bothered. ;)
I'm trying to keep vegan leading up to Thanksgiving-- we'll be out of town for almost a week, and I know everything I'll eat on the road and at my in-laws' is bound to be pretty heavy, so I'm trying to keep it light. This means a lot of raw fruits and vegetables, nuts, dried fruit and soymilk, tea, coffee, WATER and my favorite vegan stew (the recipe for cranberry beans and kale on the back of the Bob's Red Mill bag of borlotti beans) with some crusty bread from the local bakery.
For my husband, this means a mixture of vegan food, some leftovers, and lots of frozen burritos and corndogs. (It's all about balance.)
Also, just trying to use up whatever odds and ends we have that will go bad by the time we return home. (Who has ample time to plan meals around the holidays, anyways?)