This past Sunday I attended a family gathering, as I had mentioned in my Monday post. I have to say that it was a very special gathering because the purpose was to celebrate a 97th birthday! Yes, you read correctly. Her name is Mrs. Hamid and my mom and I have always called her Hamideh joon. She is my maternal grandmother’s first cousin and she currently lives with her son in North County, San Diego.

It’s safe to say that Hamideh joon is my buddy! A couple of weeks ago we were chatting and, as he always does, she asked me how the cooking for MPK is going and what have I made lately.  All of a sudden in that moment a bell went off in my head. I had been scratching my head about what to get her for her birthday besides the Persian calendar that I buy for her each year.  All of a sudden the answer was clear! I would freeze the food that I was going to make for the next couple of weeks leading to us seeing each other and take it to her so that she could defrost and eat them at her leisure!! Score!!

So wonder where the following dishes went after I made them and took pictures of them?

Kalam Polow Shirazi

Khoresht Bamieh

Adas Polow

Asheh Jo

Dolmeh Felfel

All of these fabulous dishes, for the exception of the Tahdig in the rice dishes which I ate myself and enjoyed it immensely, were packed away in my Freezer!

I let each dish cool down to room temperatures and then put them in Ziploc bags. I gently flattened them out and removed as much air as possible. I think flattening food in ziploc bags when they will go in the freezer is a great way to keep things organized and also make them fit better!

Frozen food certainly doesn’t taste as good as freshly made food. However, it can be a total life saver when things get hectic in our lives. When I used to work full time at an office job, tutor on the side, and attend classes in the evenings I used always make a little bit more than a regular recipe that I really liked and freeze the leftovers for when I had hectic weeks and no time to cook. It was a great way to save money as well because this meant that I didn’t have to pick up food on my way home.  All I had to do is take the bag out of the freezer the night before and put it in the fridge in the summer or leave it on the counter in a dish in the morning before I left in the winter months. By the time I got home my food was defrosted and ready to be warmed up!

On Sunday morning we packed up the frozen food in a cooler.

I placed the stuffed peppers on top. I chose not to freeze the dolmeh because it would have been a bit of a hassle. I then added some ice packs and off we went!

Do you have system for when things get hectic in your life and you barely have any time to cook?