Column and photos by Ali Carter, Wisconsin Potato Growers Auxiliary
We’ve been in a bit of a busy season here in the Carter household. Managing shifting schedules, hosting loved ones and traveling for the holidays have been exciting, but also sparked the desire to simplify life for a bit.
Over the years, I’ve learned that a little upfront effort can save one from stress and becoming overwhelmed later, and this is quite true when it comes to meals and batch cooking.
With batch cooking, rather than preparing one, two or more portions for a meal, you prepare many portions of food at once, then store those in the refrigerator and savor them throughout the week.
Winter mornings are the most rushed time of day for our family, so I tend to batch cook breakfast more than any other meal.
A large pan of baked oatmeal sliced into squares and wrapped in parchment paper to be warmed as needed, a stack of breakfast burritos waiting in the refrigerator to be quickly heated through and eaten by a kiddo on their way out the door for school or a plate of Hash Brown Breakfast Muffins help to eliminate potential chaos during our mornings.
Hash Brown Breakfast Muffins take few ingredients and little time to prepare, and they store easily and reheat well, making them ideal for breakfast batch cooking.
We’ve been nibbling on these muffins for the last few days, and they’re not only delicious for breakfast, but also make for good mid-afternoon snacks.
