A
Typical Day in Early July
or,
How
To Prepare A Simple Crock-Pot Meal in Only Eight Hours
It’s
that time of year again. Meals can be prepared directly from the
garden. Delicious, fresh, no processing, no shopping. Here is how
to make a simple crock-pot meal in only eight hours.
First,
know that after days and weeks of rain, the garden is a bit soggy.
Nice for pulling weeds and root crops out of the ground, but not nice
for getting rid of the mud that has attached to everything.
Arrive
at the garden at 9 AM, having already been up since 5 AM in order to
pack lunches, prepare breakfast, see the children off to work, clean
the kitchen, and start the daily laundry.
The
first ingredient is potatoes. Two weeks ago they didn’t exist.
Now many are larger than my fist. Pull out the required number of
plants. Detach potatoes. Carry to outdoor faucet. Rinse. Repeat.
Again. And again. Take to the kitchen. Scrub. Cut in chunks, put
layer in bottom of crock-pot. Throw in a few spices. Set extra
potatoes aside. Wipe down sink.
Return
to garden. Repeat process with carrots. And with onions. And with
green beans.
Lastly,
pull out the dying pea plants, pick off the last pods, shell, and
wash the peas. My children prefer to eat these raw, so they are not
added to the crock-pot.
Now,
turn to the excess of each item gathered in dishpans on the counter.
Cook the potatoes, cool, and refrigerate for making breakfasts the
rest of the week. Bunch the carrot tops for Daisy the pony. Scrub
the carrots for a salad. Box washed onions and refrigerate for later
use. Fill canning jars with beans, set the canner to cook. Blanch,
cool and freeze the beans that didn’t fit into the jars.
Step
out to the flowerbed that hosts lettuces and radishes. Harvest,
rinse, and toss in salad bowl with grated carrot. Mix a vinegar
dressing. Refrigerate. Find leftover bits of meat in refrigerator,
dice, add to crock-pot to heat.
Wash,
dry, and put away all dishes. Wipe counter and table. Just in time
to greet children as they begin arriving home from work with grimy
lunchboxes and water jugs. Empty lunchboxes and jugs (immediately,
as one came home recently containing a whole ant colony, complete
with uncles and cousins), wash and dry containers. Put jugs in
freezer to chill for the morning. Wipe counter.
Set
table for supper. Pull out bread and jelly and dessert left from the
last meal. Add the salad. Set crock-pot in center. Prepare a
cheese sauce. Call children to table. Sit down (at last!) and thank
God for all the bounty He has provided. Pass the food. Glance at
the clock. Realize it only took the children ten minutes to eat!
See
children off to Bible study. Clear the table. Put away leftovers.
Wash, dry, put away all dishes. Wipe counter. Pull out four lunch
boxes, line them on the counter. Begin packing the non-perishable
aspects of tomorrow’s lunches.
Children
return from their Bible studies. Each digs out a snack from
cupboard, fridge, or freezer. They gather around the table to
discuss their day. You settle back and enjoy this time, whether or
not you are invited into the conversation. Children head for their
beds, calling a good night over their shoulders.
Clear
the table. Stack the dishes in the sink. Wipe the table and
counter.
Realize
you spent eight hours on supper preparation. Realize you were
working with food, either in kitchen or garden, for most of the past
eighteen hours. Realize you are exhausted, and aside from a few
packs of vegetables in the freezer and a few jars on the counter,
there is no visible measure of what you accomplished this day.
Fall
into bed, thanking God that you have had this moment, this day. A
season of your life that will soon be over. The thought is reason
for both cheers and tears.
And
that is how you make a simple, healthy, garden crock-pot meal in just
eight hours.
(Sarcasm intended!) J
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