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Once school starts, parent-cooks are in demand PLUS: Carol Deptolla reviews Bowls
Summer has faded, and if you have kids back in school, your schedule may be radically different. Earlier wake-up times, buses honking, PTO meetings and basketball practice are just a few fall commitments that can change a routine. New daily patterns also impact mealtimes. Yet while there may be less time to prepare food and fewer moments to linger, everyone needs nourishing meals to power them through the autumn crush of activities. Here are a few back-to-school survival strategies to handle some of the tricky times, like breakfast when the carpool is coming any second, sack lunches you hope your kids eat and that bake sale someone forgot to mention until the night
before. Challenge No. 1: Breakfast
Despite the fact that children pop up like prairie dogs on weekends, Monday through Friday mornings have a different vibe. Waking up, getting dressed, eating breakfast, brushing teeth and putting on shoes should be simple, but often it’s not. Any variable that can be streamlined, should be.
If breakfast can be made ahead, or if the morning meal can be eaten on the go, then everyone may get a few more minutes to sleep, find keys or shoes or pack up their bag. Here are a few favorites (a recipe search at jsonline.com or Pinterest can find an array of recipes for each):
Muesli: This Swiss classic is basically raw granola. Combine four parts of a rolled grain (oats, spelt, barley, etc.) with one part seeds or nuts and one part dried fruit. Keep refrigerated in a jar. In the morning, simply pour into a bowl like cereal and add milk, yogurt and maybe honey.
Slow-cooked hot cereal: As the weather cools, a warm breakfast scented with cinnamon may lead everyone out of bed by their noses. Find the perfect recipe by searching “autumn spice hot cereal” and “jsonline.” Start it before bed and it’s ready first thing.
Mini-frittatas can be whipped up ahead of time. Combine beaten eggs, cheese and your favorite meats and/or veggies and pour into a muffin tin. Bake off and keep in the fridge for the week; just heat briefly in the microwave.
Sometimes big-batch cooking on the weekend is the answer. Stock the freezer for the week with homemade waffles or see the recipe here for Sausage and Egg Breakfast Burritos. For either, simply place in the oven, microwave or toaster and a hearty breakfast is on the plate in minutes.
Challenge No. 2: Cold Lunch
Some kids have less than 20 minutes to eat school lunch, and often they are distracted by friends or the prospect of an upcoming recess. The difficulty is finding something kids will eat (instead of trading away or tossing) that can be consumed quickly and will give them the energy they need to power through their afternoon math quiz. Here are some ideas: Leftovers: A thermos can keep leftover pasta or soup toasty warm until lunchtime. A small portion of a warm, favorite meal is a little piece of home in a big cafeteria.
Choose your own adventure: Keep three bins of lunch choices ready to go for kids to pack their own lunch. Kids can mix and match by choosing something from each container. Proteins like hardboiled eggs, cheese sticks and yogurt, plus cut-up veggies or fruit and some whole grains such as crackers, pita bread or a muffin make a complete meal that a child is more
likely to eat because he packed it himself.
Ditch the sandwich: Create a hummus plate or ploughman’s lunch by combining a favorite spread with olives, crackers, cheese, sliced salami, grapes, carrot sticks or apple slices.
Switch the sandwich: Instead of traditional lunchmeat or PB&J, try something different. See the recipe here for Brie Apple Ham Sandwich on cinnamon-raisin bread (for the less adventurous, just try apples and cream cheese.) The sweet bread makes it unusual, but it’s still full of calcium, protein and plants. Egg salad or smoked salmon may also be a novel change.
Challenge No. 3: Last-Minute Bake Sale
While the bake sale probably wasn’t planned at the last minute, you may not hear about it until the night before. Or the calendar didn’t sync and you just remembered. Either way, if you want to skip the boxed mix or grocery store bakery case, there are alternatives that are easy and lean heavily on pantry staples.
Popcorn snacks: Impress with easy popcorn balls made with microwave popcorn, minimarshmallows and any mix-ins you can find. Or
go sophisticated and savory with a mist of olive oil and grated Parmesan cheese.
Cereal: You can never go wrong with cereal bars — who ever turned down a Rice Krispie treat? The best ones are packed tightly for a dense texture and include a pinch of salt. Or try a different cereal
if you don’t have puffed rice on hand. Or make a homemade Chex mix with pretzels, Worcestershire, garlic and onion powder.
Bar none: Cookies are amazing, but save yourself time by making them in bar form. Almost any cookie recipe can be turned into a bar by pressing it firmly into a 13-by-9inch baking pan and baking a few minutes longer.
Make a batch of blondies, which typically have only a few ingredients, most of which can be found in a well-stocked pantry. Try this recipe for Kitchen Sink Bars, which is basically chocolate chip cookies with a wealth of surprising mix-ins such as pretzels, potato chips and toffee bits. Your imagination and pantry are the only limits.
It also makes a full baking sheet of treats, so you can prepare almost 50 servings in a single bake.