Labor Free Labor Day Cooking
It's almost a misnomer but there are plenty of ways that
you can make the cooking for your Labor Day meal virtually labor
free compared to years long past. At least the cooking that will
take place on the actual holiday. This is a good deal in most homes
as the ones doing the cooking really don't get to enjoy the holiday
and still have to go to work the very next day. By doing most of
the labor for the meal preparation ahead of time you will have very
little to do on Labor Day itself other than setting up the table
and reheating the items that need to be heated.
The first thing you absolutely must do in order to enjoy a truly
labor free Labor Day is plan ahead. Plan a menu that is full of
items that can be prepared ahead of time and either stored, refrigerated,
or frozen in such a manner that very little work will be required
to have them ready to serve on the day of the main event. Some
excellent ideas for this include foods such as vegetable trays
(the veggies can be chopped a day ahead of time and stored in
zipper bags in the fridge, sausage balls (these may be prepared
well ahead of time and frozen), and frozen desserts.
Once you have the menu planned you need to do the shopping a
bit ahead of time. Shopping close to the holidays is a little
more hectic, a lot more crowded, and you are twice as likely to
either not get the items you need or forget something from your
list. Another thing is that you should have a list and just like
Santa check it twice to make sure that everything on your list
has been purchased. If not, you need to either go back into the
fray and get it or (if the store is out) make immediate plans
to stop in another store and pick up the missing item. You do
not want to be going on a mad hunt for an open store on Easter
morning.
Once you've done this, consider meals that can be made relatively
trouble free in the crock pot. This means a few minutes of trouble
in the morning, for each crock pot treat, and hands free cooking
the rest of the day. Barbecue ribs and baked barbecue beans are
popular crock pot items that require little prep work and taste
great at the end of the day.
If grilling is indeed something that is an important labor day
tradition try to do all the marinating and rubs the night before
so that the grilling is straightforward and everything is ready
to go in the morning. While you're at it, you may want to toss
a few of the veggies you set aside for the veggie tray onto the
grill as well for another no fuss strategy and the work only had
to be done once.
Another thing you need to do to limit your labor contribution
to the Labor Day cooking is recruit help for the process. Invite
friends and family that will be joining in the experience to bring
specialty dishes that they prepare. This leaves you free from
the need to prepare that particular dish and, equally important,
from the need to clean up after the dish was made. If you have
kids and a husband put them to work for the preparation and the
clean up efforts. There is no rule written that says you have
to do it all and you shouldn't be expected to. Make others contribute
their fare share and take a moment to have a nice cold glass of
tea.
If you do all of the things mentioned above you will find yourself
anticipating rather than dreading Labor Day and that your efforts
really pay off quite well in the end. In fact, you may have time
to hit the hammock for a little while if you're lucky.
Author: Mind Farms
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