Making shabbat meals less complex - what to eliminate?

etky

Sun, Jun 17 2018, 8:47 am

Raisin wrote:

If she has limited freezer space, dips, kugels and desserts are pretty space efficient. even in a small house an extra freezer is a great investment and not expensive. It can be kept in a kids bedroom even.

On the plus side if she lives in Israel she doesn't need to fill up her freezer with meat and chicken and milk like I do...

I agree that a small freezer would be a good investment. I have one and it makes life so much easier. It's not in such an accessible space but I make it work.
Basically, anything that can be wrapped and frozen in stacks is space efficient.
It's more efficient not to freeze in bulky containers if possible.
Kugels and cakes get wrapped in foil, bagged, labelled and stacked.
Soups get frozen this way too. I transfer them (once cooled) to a large, well sealed ziplock bag which I lay flat in the freezer. Once frozen the bags can be stacked or stood up one next to the other. I freeze rice and orzo like this too.
The thing that I find most inconvenient and inefficient space-wise to freeze are challot.
So instead of freezing them already baked, I make the dough, let it rise and then divide it into portions. I put the dough balls into a zip-lock bag and on Friday I just defrost the dough, braid and let them rise for a second time before baking.
I do this with pizza dough too.

etky

Sun, Jun 17 2018, 8:59 am

amother wrote:

I would just buy the dips. Each person is maybe eating one spoonful? It's not worth the stress.

ITA. Personally I think dips are superfluous but if OP deems them necessary than that would be the first thing I would buy.
Truthfully, I would buy the challot too. If you don't have a block of time available to make them in bulk it is just too time consuming to do them every week at the stage of life when you are just learning to 'do Shabbat'. Especially since good challah, in many locations, is so readily available to buy.
I only started baking challah once my kids were somewhat older and it wasn't such a struggle anymore to put Shabbat together.
Even now, at my stage of life, many of my friends don't and never have baked their own challah.
It's totally acceptable in my circles to serve store bought.

Frumwithallergies

Sun, Jun 17 2018, 10:03 am

So many wonderful suggestions listed above. I completely agree and cleaning up takes more time than cooking; the physical space (counters etc) also make a huge difference.

That being said, my home-made hummus does not freeze well.

However, I make huge vats of salade cuite (a tunesian or Moroccan version, depending on my mood) ie cooked tomato or pepper / tomato salad. I cook them until they caramelise. They freeze beautifully.

Hummus can be done with canned chickpeas + a little olive oil + a little mayo+ a few galic cloves (pealed) to taste in a magic bullet or processor. You'll burn more calories if you do it by hand Smile

.

I agree with the fish ideas. I never do gefilte. I buy a slab (salmon, cod etc) season and bake.

Chicken is always also baked, either with duck sauce or bbq sauce or thyme....
Potatoes go in at the same time as the chicken to roast.

I lose time on salads. In my husband's tradition, salads are a must, and many (like one per person).
Green salad
Spinach salad
Kale salad
Broccoli salad
Red cabbage and tuna salad
Hummus
Salade cuite
(dips don't count as a separate course; fish is on the table at the same time as salads)
I also sometimes do kani salad or stir fry mock shrimp (sliced thin) with garlic and soya sauce, garnish with thin slices on green onions).

The key here is that these salads (which I rotate) all have dressings which I make in big batches and keep in my fridge, labelled.

I buy bodek fresh what is available, and I clean and check the rest. Kale is nuts to check, but very heathy and yummy; leftovers are great in an omlette on sunday or monday, so I never feel I'm wasting if I have leftovers.

I often choose cakes / muffins that freeze well and make in batches.

Shavua tov!!

Raisin

Sun, Jun 17 2018, 10:55 am

etky wrote:

I disagree. I would rather (and my guests too) have a simpler meal with less dishes and challah. People really like homemade challah.

Smoked salmon is totally fine for a fish option too.

amother

Teal

Sun, Jun 17 2018, 11:13 am

Raisin wrote:

I disagree. I would rather (and my guests too) have a simpler meal with less dishes and challah. People really like homemade challah.

Smoked salmon is totally fine for a fish option too.

I guess I just find everyone is a bit more health conscious these days. Maybe it's my age (40s) but I see most people are reluctant to take more than 1-2 small pieces of challah. Certainly none of my guests has ever preferred to fill up on my homemade challah over food. (I see this in other homes too- so it's not my specific challah!)
That's also why I dont make kugel anymore - no one really ate it, I guess they preferred to save their empty calories for dessert.
I agree that guests have no problem with simple meals, but in my case they dont focus on the challah.

amother

Seashell

Mon, Jun 18 2018, 8:30 am

Don’t make potchke desserts like cookies and pies. I bake easy cakes and put a glaze on top after they come out of the oven.

I bake challah and cakes on Wednesday, and freeze them. DH does the shopping on Thursday. Friday I make baked chicken, chulent and potato kugel. DH checks lettuce Erev Shabbos.

My menu:

Friday night:

Challah
Baked chicken
Potato kugel
Tossed salad
Cake
Grapes

Shabbos day:

Challah
Chulent
Potato kugel
Pickles
Salad
Cake
Fruit salad (cut up fruit on Shabbos)

Shaleshudos:

Challah
Chummus
Cut-up veggies

I’m slow in the kitchen so make a simple menu. My goal is to spend no more than 3.5 hours per week on Shabbos prep. My food is good b”H and plentiful b”H, people seem happy.