With lots of time to tackle various tasks as I thought of them, I discovered something new about myself. You see, I have decided that my newest domestic undertaking is planning and preparing freezer meals. I have an abundance of reasons for this new endeavor, but I'll save those for another post. I have been around freezer cooking my entire life because it is something that my mom does very well, but it contains its own set of rules, principles and knowledge so it hasn't been something that I have found easy to acquire. But I digress - in my pursuit of all information related to freezer cooking I learned that I actually enjoy the process of cooking complicated food. I think this is probably something that I should have known about myself long ago for the simple fact that I am happy every time I get to spend a Saturday morning chopping vegetables, or a calm Monday afternoon simmering homemade pasta sauce, but I guess I always assumed that my joy came from the discovery of whatever new food I was making.
For me, discovery is essential to my love of food and love of cooking, however, I now know that there is a degree of difficulty that needs to be in place for the discovery to be worth the journey. I realized how true this was for me when I started paging through the abundance of freezer cooking cookbooks I had put on reserve at the library. While I was excited about the many tricks, tips and recipes each book had to offer, I noticed that all of the recipes I flagged have much longer ingredient lists and require a lot more prep time than the recipes I passed by. If the recipe contains little else besides ground beef, onions and cheese, I know I won't be pulling it out of my freezer to eat over and over again, even if it's sitting there waiting to be consumed. Conversely, if the stacks of prepared food in my freezer contain enough interesting flavors to keep me coming back for more then I might successfully squelch my overwhelming desire to eat cheeseburgers every time I drive past McDonald's.
Due to the fact that I truly love any opportunity to plan or organize any aspect of my life, It didn't take long for me to make a list of all of the freezer-friendly meals I will be eating in the near future. In fact, I was so excited that I whipped together the cranberry quick break found in the Everything Freezer Meals Cookbook by Candace Anderson. It was so tasty that I had a hard time convincing myself that freezing half of it was the original goal. All of that to say, this tangy bread, splashed with orange flavor is not only worth your effort, but room in your freezer as well.
Cranberry Quick Break
2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3/4 cup orange juice
zest 1 orange
I cup granted cranberries
small dash grated nutmeg
1. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, combine sugar, egg, vegetable oil, orange juice, and orange zest. Lightly stir in cranberries and nutmeg. Combine wet and dry ingredients together, stirring just enough to combine. Pour batter into a greased 9" x 5" loaf pan.
2. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes/1 hour or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
3. Once fully cooled, wrap well with plastic wrap and freeze.
Reheating instructions: defrost bread at room temperature for 2 -3 hours and serve at room temperature.
I had a lot of reasons to smile today, this bread being only a small part of why I am so thankful for who Jesus is in my life. One year ago I was still struggling to finish grad school, today I carry with me the freedom of that degree and the peace of intimately knowing a God who fights on my behalf. From graduate school to freezer cooking, Jesus is the One who prospers us and He delights in making all things new.
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