So this week has been a little tinchy bit crazy in our house. We are up several times during the night, early to rise (as in 4 and 5 am starts) and somehow my little one is in the best form I have seen him in weeks. He doesn’t seem to be tired despite the little sleep he is giving himself. However having said that, there are one or two behavioural issues that might be tied to the long days. My almost 3 year old (OMG how is he nearly 3???) likes to deliberately pee on beds and carpets, and is also demonstrating moments of seeming spoilt, ” I want a present, I want something nice”, “Nooooow” and ” I need it”, over and over and over and usually in one sentence.
So I try not to react, except to explain why he can’t have things or why he shouldn’t do things, and I wrapped up all of the toys that haven’t been used in a while and will re-gift them to him when he earns them and learns to appreciate what he has.
During times like these, some of my other parenting methods go out the window. For instance, some meals have been served on the sofa, to avoid meltdowns and food has been quite simple. I have offered up simple yet yummy pasta dishes, veg and proteins. The one thing I always turn to from my freezer in such times are my herbed oil cubes, little frozen cubes of mixed herbs and olive oil. Cooking for one or even one and a half people means there can be a lot of waste and I hate waste! So these little frozen cubes are fab to throw on some spaghetti or rice, cooked meats and vegetables.
Buying fresh herbs weekly can be costly, so I buy them, use them within my dishes and then before they lose their freshness, I chop the herbs up, throw them into ice-cube trays, cover with good olive oil and pop into the freezer and voila, you have a great herbed oil ready to use at a moments notice, perfect for any dish.
FROZEN HERBED OIL CUBES
I love meal prep and have a shelf in my freezer with little individual use pots filled with my Green Pesto, sautéed onion & garlic pots and tubs of these little cubes. I find them perfect for adding to rice, coating vegetables and meats but my favourite use for them, is on busy weeknights I cook up some spaghetti, take one or two of these cubes from the freezer, gently warm them in a pan and add to the spaghetti topped with parmesan. My child has never refused this dish so it is a winner for me.
- fresh herbs, either just one if you like or a collection of herbs such as dill, thyme, coriander and rosemary (these are my favourites)
- crushed garlic (optional)
- good olive oil
THE HOW
Finely chop the herbs, pack into ice-cube trays and cover with the olive oil, leaving a little room at the top for expansion on freezing. Pop into the freezer and when frozen, remove from the ice trays and place them in pots or bags and label. It really is that simple.
Do not forget to put them back in the freezer, trust me, I have done it 😉
Kitchen Feasts 