Cook Once, Eat Thrice

Parents these days all have to pull triple duty.  Worker by day, chauffeur in the afternoons and cook at night.  Unless scientists discover a way to stretch each day by another hour or two, there just aren’t enough hours to get everything done AND carve out some time for ourselves.

We all need to look for any edge to keep up, or even (gasp!) get ahead of the curve. 

Technology is doing its’ part by disrupting many of the time-consuming aspects of parenting life, allowing us to be more productive with the little time we have.

Grocery delivery?  Check.  Automatic bill paying and online banking?  Check.  (No pun intended).  Ride-share to and from work so you can take calls and do work on the way?  Check.

However, there is one daily function that is as old as parenting itself and is in desperate need of disrupting.  It takes too long to plan, procure and produce.  It’s inefficient, expensive and rarely pleases everyone, even when done correctly.

Yep, I’m talking about…

Dinner.

Parents pull triple duty.  Shouldn’t your dinner, too?

Old School Solution

Repeat visitors to thedailypbj.com know that we have sung the praises of the slow cooker in the past.  It really is one of the most under-rated kitchen appliances ever introduced.

It’s not as sexy as a built-in espresso machine, and not as contemporary as the high-speed blender/juicer/smoothie maker that are all the rage now.  It lacks the PR of the panini maker and the air-fryer.

But, if you want to really save time, effort and money and carve out more time for yourself not just tonight, but 3 TIMES this week, it’s time to dust off your crock pot. 

You know you have one.  You just have to find it.  (pssst… look in your basement or attic)

Found it? Good.  Now, here’s how to, with very little effort or prep time, turn one 5-minute cooking session into the base for 3 meals that you can vary greatly, with a little creativity.

Cook Once

What you need:  Crock Pot, 9 decently thick pork chops, 2 cans of broth, seasonings and one onion.

Pork provides great versatility down the road.  Plus, you can usually get a great deal at the store on bulk packs.  So, you know…savings.

Use whatever broth is your favorite, whatever you have on hand or is cheapest at the store.

Seasonings – garlic for sure, but you can also throw in sage, thyme, oregano, basil or tarragon – whatever you like.  Or get crazy and toss it all in.  It’s all good.

Prep:  Plug in crock pot.  That’s pretty much it.  You don’t even have to thaw the chops ahead of time.  It’s beautiful!  If you are going to toss in some onion, chop it up some, but it doesn’t have to be perfect.

Cook it up:  Add a can or two of broth and a can of water.  Add your chops and onions and top it all off with your seasonings of choice.  Use a long, slow cook setting like 10 hours.  If you get it going at 8am, you’ll be ready to eat at 6pm.  Perfect!

After each meal, be sure to store all the leftovers from the slow cooker for use later in the week.

Eat Once

The first night we go Italian-ish.  Take a third of the pork chops and slice them into thin strips and sprinkle with fresh basil or oregano.

Cook up some egg noodles, toss with melted butter and garlic and finally top with shredded parmesan.

Steam up some zucchini and yellow squash.

This is a great dish to eat al fresco with a nice white wine (sparkling white grape juice for the kids) while listening to your favorite Mediterranean Dinner Jazz playlist on Spotify.

Eat Twice

For the second meal, I like to go a little Cuban-inspired with shredded pork, rice and black beans.

Take another third of the chops from the fridge and use a couple forks to shred.  The beauty of the slow cooking is that the meat, even right out of the fridge, is super easy to shred.

Throw the shredded pork into a skillet and season using salt, pepper, garlic and paprika to taste.  The paprika is the key here and gives the pork a good spicy, but not hot-spicy, kick.  Try smoked paprika for even more flavor.  Use some of the onions from the slow cooker leftovers.

Cook up some of your favorite rice and black beans.

Here’s the best part, this can be served up a bunch of different ways.  Mix the rice, beans and pork in burritos.  Put the pork on slider buns with rice and beans on the side.  Serve it up bowl-style.  There’s something for everyone.

This is a great dish to eat while watching the game and enjoying your favorite beer.

Eat Thrice

For the third option, you can do a little Asian-inspired cooking.

Shred the rest of the chops.  In a large skillet, heat up a couple tablespoons of sesame oil and throw in the shredded pork and a good amount of the leftover onions. 

Sprinkle liberal amounts of your favorite Asian spice – Chinese Five Spice, ginger, garlic or soy or teriyaki sauce.  There’s no wrong way, add whatever you like.  Taste along the way to get the flavors just right.  When done, sprinkle sesame seeds liberally over the pork.

Steam up some broccoli. 

Cook up a side of your favorite Asian noodles dish.  For ease or cooking, I like to cheat (I’m not proud, and hey, I’m busy) and use the Yakisoba stir fried vegetable noodles that you can find at Costco.

We like to serve this up family-style with a bowl of edamame for everyone to share.

That’s it!  A couple minutes of prep on day one and you’ve got the base for three easy, different, inexpensive and crowd-pleasing meals for the week.

There are many ways you can take this idea, too.  Pork is very versatile and nicely absorbs the flavors from your favorite spices and can be served up many ways.

Using an old school slow cooker to do the heavy lifting, and with a little creativity, parents can claw back at least a little bit of time for themselves at the end of crazy busy days.

Until technology disrupts dinner and I get my Jetsons-like robot maid to do all my cooking, I’m going to keep looking for ways to get my dinner to work for me.

And I’m bringing back the word “Thrice” at the same time.