Part IV of the Continuing Saga of My Bar Pan
January 13, 2009|
It started with a post about going through deployment alone, with no pets or kids. I baked one biscuit on a small bar pan so often while my husband was gone that it permanently stained the pan. It was my badge of independence...until my husband broke the pan. But Homefront Six kindly sent me a new one right before I started deployment again. I wanted to get to work on a new biscuit ring.
Apparently my eating and baking habits have branched out a bit in the past four years.
No obvious ring.
That's the result of seven months of cooking individual portions on that little pan.
I did want to add an I-Love-This-Product to the post. Much of what I baked on this pan came from Omaha Steaks. We received a shipment from them as a gift a few years ago, and I reordered from them before my husband left because all of their products come individually packaged. For a geographically-single person, an individually shrinkwrapped hamburger or steak or pork chop is just so easy. As are individually wrapped frozen stuffed baked potatoes, which got baked often on that bar pan (notice the potato-shaped quasi-ring on the right side). It's perhaps not the cheapest way to buy food, but it was an easy way for me to cook real food without eating the same casserole for eight nights in a row.
Homefront Six, that little pan got put to good use. Thank you for thinking of me. And it will get even darker and more seasoned when my husband leaves again.
Thus ends the saga. Oh hey, I should've called it The Fellowship of the Biscuit Ring. Heh.
I like that term - Geographically Single. :-)
Posted by: Cat | 01/13/2009 at 16:37
Have you tried Sam's? They also sell the shrink wrapped meats, and big boxes of individual servings. Love those little cheesecake bites!
Posted by: Ann - AF spouse | 01/13/2009 at 17:06
I have a vacuum sealer, and it's my lifeline during deployments--it has certainly more than paid for itself.
When hubby is deployed, a few times each week I cook like I normally would, and then I vacuum seal individual servings and freeze. When I'm ready to eat, all I have to do is drop it into a pan of boiling water for two or three minutes, and Ta-Da! Dinner for one. And it's cheaper than buying them that way to begin with, and I still get to make all of our faves. ;)
Posted by: Kacie | 01/13/2009 at 17:16
It's funny how little inanimate objects can become friends, and symbols of the deployment. Your bar pan looks well seasoned!
Posted by: wendy's Tiki Hut | 01/13/2009 at 18:50
I should see about investing in a vacuum sealer. I'm trying to watch what (or to be more specific, how much - not all pieces of chicken, or steak, or whatever, are the same), and while I don't live alone, I often find myself "on my own" for dinner. Until recently, I would just stop by the drive-thru on the way home from work. Can't do that anymore. If I had complete meals, properly portioned, just ready to drop in some boiling water, that could be very convenient, and time-saving...
Posted by: Miss Ladybug | 01/13/2009 at 23:32
Omaha Steaks. Great idea for deployment eating!
I love your bar pan. I love that HFS sent you a new one. She is such a good friend. :D
Posted by: Butterfly Wife | 01/13/2009 at 23:37
Omaha Steaks. Great idea for deployment eating!
I love your bar pan. I love that HFS sent you a new one. She is such a good friend. :D
Posted by: Butterfly Wife | 01/13/2009 at 23:37
I'm glad it got a good workout! I love the phrase 'The Fellowship of the Biscuit Ring' - that's cool!
Posted by: HomefrontSix | 01/14/2009 at 14:15
Those are all such great ideas. My husband just deployed last week and I know I havent been eating well. Its my first deployment but its his 4th. Finding something to eat everyday has been the biggest challenge for me. I moved in with him 2 months ago and just got used to cooking dinner for 2 people..I bought cook books and found recepies online. Now im down to cooking for 1 person. I will definitely go to the store to find a smaller baking pan and go to sams club for the single wrapped items. I tried to cook chicken yesterday in my 9x13 pan and it looked so pathetic. One single chicken breast in a gigantic pan. I felt so sad and defeated when I saw that.
Ive already been looking into buying a vacuum sealer because Ive been told its a good way to send my husband home baked goods like cookies. Im trying to resist the urge to bake and send them but I know that he wont be at his final destination for another few weeks and the cookies would be bad by then. Now I can bake for myself and vacuum seal it. And I too love the term geographically-single person. I completely feel that way :)
Posted by: CopingArmyWife | 01/14/2009 at 16:03