How to Cook Twice and Get Four Meals

Since it was Memorial Day, I tried out a 5 hour slow bake ribs recipe.

Some of you have asked me about the cooking club referenced in the last post. Ok, it was only two people but in my mind, I imagine I have a legion of followers who marvel at my genius.

As a busy mom, I am always looking to maximize my time without compromising too much. The challenge was this : How do I serve my family homemade meals but cook as little as possible? The answer is getting other people to cook for you! So I solicited my neighbor to test out my little Cooking Club. I would cook on Monday and Wednesday and deliver the meals to her. In return, she cooks on Tuesday and Thursday and delivers to me. The result: Cook twice, get four meals. It's not that much extra work to add 2-3 more servings to a recipe if you are already cooking for your own family.

We're on week three and I am really enjoying it! I find myself stepping up my game because now I am cooking "for company" so I follow all the steps in a recipe instead of cutting corners. It's bearable because I know tomorrow, I get to relax and have a hot dinner delivered to me.

Here's some helpful tips if you'd like to start your own cooking club:

1) Keep it small, three members max is my suggestion. Since I am assuming your partner is taking you out at least one night a week (if he isn't, why not?!?) and/or you have other social plans - realistically only five meals are needed. Having too many members will make scheduling around "off" nights hard to manage. If you have three members, you can alternate who gets the coveted one night per week slot. IE: Member A = Monday/Wednesday, Member B = Tuesday/Thursday, Member C = Friday OR Sunday. The next week Member A gets the Friday OR Sunday duty and so on.

2) Be honest and give constructive feedback. We all have different taste. Some people love spicy, others love salty. It's OK to tell your friend to take it easy on the oil, spice, etc. BE NICE about it! (Part B of this is portion. Admittedly, I have a hard time judging this.)

3) Make sure you pick members with similar taste (this will help with #2).

4) Go easy on spices until you get the hang of everyone's tolerance. My neighbor is on a special diet that is salt free so I have to be extra careful. Actually, they are on this crazy diet that restricts a lot of things (I have not been able to make any of my pasta or rice dishes.)

5) Agree ahead of time on some ground rules. I shop at Whole Foods for the majority of my groceries, so I expect the members of my group to adhere to a similar quality. Don't get me wrong, you don't have to shop at Whole Paycheck, I mean Whole Foods to start a club, just set some guidelines that work for your group so that everyone is on the same page. PS, this includes delivery time and disclosing your weaknesses.

6) Stick to a schedule, once you start trading nights because of a soccer game or that once a month bridge game, things will quickly unravel. Other members are depending on their delivered meals. As noted on my last post, I cooked a pot of chili on my "off" night since I knew I'd be too tired.

7) Have fun! If this becomes a hinder rather than a help, this is not right for you.

8) It may easier to adhere to a schedule if you start this during the school year rather than the Summer or the holidays.

9) For convenience, members should live close by so deliveries can be swift and painless. Co workers also make a good choice.

10) Email your meal plan on the Friday prior to the next week to prevent duplicate recipes.

I would love to hear from you if decide to give it a go.

What the Bone Song and Vintage Trailer Restoration Have in Common

a few of the vintage trailers in the yard

Upon arrival on the first day of my internship, I got a quick tour of the yard and warehouse. There were dozens of vintage trailers in various stages of restoration. From 14 ft all the way of the 42+ ft. (I must apologize for the subpar photos in this post taken with my iphone)

I was put to work immediately on a glorious 42ft trailer which was to become the new office. The task of the day was to remove some damaged wood panels. I was handed a cordless screw driver and some plastic putty knives to pry off the trim. I decided to do what I always do when faced with something I've never done before, dive in and figure it out along the way.

exterior of 42ft trailer I worked on today

You know that Bone Song they teach in elementary school to help you memorize your skeleton? The one that goes something like, the hip bone connected to the back bone, and the back bone connected to the neck bone and so on....

Well, removing wood panels reminded me of that. Because you start out thinking, "OK, this is gonna be straight forward", but then you quickly realize that everything is connected. In order you to remove one panel, you have to remove the seams, that are connected to the trims, and to the baseboard. Then there are screws and a million finishing nails. And just when you think, "Aha, this is the last nail", you find two more. Oh, and you can't just rip the panels off in frustration because they are needed intact to make templates.

As you can see by the wet ground, it was also cold and rainy. Altogether I removed seven panels.

Of course it crossed my mind that maybe I had bitten off too much. Why did I choose to drive 90 minutes to an unfamiliar town to do manual labor? Couldn't I have learned this by watching HGTV? All I know is that I was dead tired by time I pulled into my driveway. Thank goodness I had the fore sight to make a pot of chili the night before in anticipation that I would be too beat to cook dinner. Plus it was my night in our cooking club. More on this later.

Birthday Goals

Medal and Bib from 5K run

Last year, I decided to choose one thing I hate or was intimidated by and try to master it by my birthday in August. Well, maybe not so much master, but rather, set a modest goal and reach it. Last year it was running. Anyone who knows me know that I DO NOT like to run (except to a shoe sale at Neiman Marcus...and even then, it's a brisk skip). As a motivation, I registered for a 5K run benefiting Special Olympics and solicited sponsorship from friends and family. The last mile just about killed me but I did complete it.

I was struggling with what goal to set for myself this year, but then I randomly came across a local company that restored vintage trailers. The wheels in my head started to spin. I knew that it would be a matter of time before another repair would be needed on La Palace. After all, I've already spent ~$700 in resealing the seams and repairing the holes left from my awning mishap. If I didn't want to deplete my savings, I had better start acquiring some skills!

So.....how does one go about convincing a company to hire an unskilled and inexperience laborer? (Read the About Me page to better appreciate this) Lots of begging. I think the owner finally decided it was easier to give me an internship than face my harassment.

Getting around the campsite

I pulled out my electric bike from hibernation this weekend and attached a Burley trailer to it and took City Camper Boy on fantastic bike ride. It just made me remember how much I love my bike!!

I stumbled upon Velo Electric in San Carlos accidentally and I highly recommend anyone in the market for an electric bike to talk to them. This father and son shop has the best customer service. You will feel like you've been transformed to the 1950's when shop keepers greet you with a smile, remembers your name and returns calls promptly. I had so many questions that visited the shop three times before making a purchase. They made me feel welcome each time.

But back to how this post pertains to camping. My Eco Bike folds compactly, so if you don't have room for a bike rack on your trailer, you can easily pack this in the trunk of your car or even store it inside the trailer itself.

Velo Electric also carries the Brompton Folding Bike hand made from London and oh my gosh people, it is SUPER cute. Folds down to 21" and is super light at 29 lbs.

Comes in as many colors as a bag of Skittles. I like the hot pink and tangerine! If I didn't already have an Eco Bike, I would totally get one of these. Great for camping and getting around university. For those of you who commute on the train, this is perfect.

Their new store in the Town and Country mall in Palo Alto, CA will be open soon.

A reminder that I do not get compensation of any kind from vendors mentioned on this blog.