Friday: Brazil Lunch, Apple Cider Focaccia & Frozen Ground Beef Dinner Insurance

Got up this morning and did our standard breakfast: bacon, bagels and cereal.

We didn’t have a completely normal school day today because we had our smaller geography co-op with friends this afternoon. We get together every couple of weeks, study a different part of the world and try to incorporate some food from wherever we’re studying.

Which meant I had a little time this morning to tackle something I absolutely hate doing.

The Clothing Bin Situation

I went into the basement with my 11-year-old and started going through clothing bins.

I can only do this with about one or two children at a time because the mess makes me crazy.

And this particular time of year is especially ridiculous.

It’s cold.

It’s hot.

It’s cold in the morning and hot in the afternoon.

So everyone’s drawers are overflowing because apparently we need access to every season simultaneously.

We went through what fits, what doesn’t, what needs to move to another child and where we actually have gaps that I need to buy something.

Not my favorite job.

But done….until the next kid is ready!

A Little Brazil-Inspired Lunch

For lunch, I made a fresh batch of rice.

My teen and Chris were both working from home today, so I made them platters with rice, the last of our leftover grilled chicken breast and vegetables.

Then I packed some of the rice to take with the four younger kids to geography co-op.

Today’s country was Brazil, so we were trying to serve the kids a lunch inspired by some of the flavors and foods we’d been learning about.

I brought rice and salsa.

There was also a Brazilian-style chicken wing idea that would have been more authentic, but I looked at my day and thought:

I am not making chicken wings.

Also, I wasn’t particularly convinced all the kids would eat them.

So I brought popcorn chicken.

Sometimes we’re going for exposure, not a culinary reenactment.

But I did make the dipping sauce to go with it. It was sour cream with freshly grated garlic, lime juice and fresh lime zest.

I couldn’t eat it because of the dairy, but several of the kids tried it and liked dipping their chicken into it.

I’ll call that a win.

And Before We Left, I Started an Experiment

Remember the apple cider we bought at Blooms and Berries last weekend?

I decided I wanted to see if I could turn my regular focaccia into a sweet apple cider focaccia.

This was definitely an experiment.

And I already know one thing I’m changing next time.

I made a half batch of my regular focaccia dough because I wanted this to fit into a 9×13-inch pan rather than my usual half-sheet.

Apple Cider Focaccia — First Test

For my half batch, I used:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon instant yeast
• 1 1/4 cups apple cider, replacing the water
• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• About 1 teaspoon cinnamon

I used the same basic method as my regular focaccia: mix the dough, let it rest about 15 minutes and then do my stretch-and-folds at roughly 15-minute intervals.

And here’s where I made my mistake.

I put the cinnamon directly into the dough.

Don’t Put the Cinnamon in the Initial Dough

As soon as I did it, I remembered:

Cinnamon can interfere with yeast activity.

And sure enough, this dough just didn’t rise the way my normal focaccia does.

It wasn’t a complete failure by any means. It rose. It just wasn’t giving me that big, beautiful, airy focaccia rise I wanted.

I even eventually put it into the bread-proof setting in my oven to give it some extra encouragement.

So next time, I’m keeping the cinnamon out of the actual dough.

The apple cider can bring the apple flavor to the dough, and I’ll add all the cinnamon later.

That’s what experiments are for.

Turning It Into Sweet Focaccia

After we got home from geography co-op, I lined a 9×13-inch pan with parchment, added olive oil and transferred the dough.

I gave it another opportunity to rise in the pan, but again, it wasn’t getting quite as puffy as I’d hoped.

Then I dimpled it like regular focaccia and took it in the sweet direction with butter, cinnamon sugar and vanilla.

After it baked, I made a simple glaze with powdered sugar, butter, cinnamon and apple cider and drizzled that over the top.

And let me tell you:

The house smelled incredible.

Was the texture exactly where I want it yet?

No.

Did my kids care?

Also no.

They loved it.

So this one is absolutely worth another test. I think simply moving the cinnamon out of the dough and into the topping may get me much closer to the fluffy focaccia texture I want.

And now I need to decide what we’re calling it.

Apple Cider Cinnamon Focaccia feels right to me.

Dinner Insurance: Frozen Cooked Ground Beef

For dinner, I hit the easy button.

I pulled a package of fully cooked ground beef out of the freezer.

I recently shared a Reel about freezing ground beef after you cook it, and so many of you told me you do the same thing.

But I also heard from people saying:

How is that really any faster than freezing it raw?

Guys.

It is.

Maybe I need to do an actual side-by-side experiment.

Take one frozen block of raw ground beef.

Take one frozen package of already-cooked ground beef.

Put both into pans and start the timer.

Which one gets dinner onto the table first?

I am betting heavily on cooked.

How I Reheat Frozen Cooked Ground Beef

I put the frozen cooked beef into a pan with a splash of water and a pat of butter.

Put on the lid.

Give it a few minutes.

As the outside starts to thaw, break it apart, move things around and let it continue heating.

Depending on how thickly you’ve frozen your beef, you can have hot, ready-to-use ground beef in roughly 5–10 minutes.

I’m not waiting for raw beef to thaw enough that I can break it apart.

I’m not waiting for it to actually cook through.

I’m not draining a bunch of grease.

I’m just reheating something that’s already done.

That’s why I call this Dinner Insurance.

Spaghetti Night

Once the beef was hot, I removed some so I had plain ground beef available for anyone who wanted it.

Then I added a jar of Rao’s to the rest.

I cooked spaghetti for the family, heated frozen green beans and roasted a spaghetti squash for myself since that’s how I like to do spaghetti night when everyone else is having regular pasta.

Then everybody could build dinner however they wanted.

Pasta and plain meat.

Pasta and meat sauce.

Vegetables on the side.

Spaghetti squash and meat sauce for me.

And, naturally, pieces of our apple cider focaccia experiment.

Dinner done.

And now we also have Apple Cider Cinnamon Focaccia waiting for breakfast tomorrow.

A geography lesson, a focaccia experiment and Dinner Insurance all in one Friday.

Not bad for a day that started in the basement sorting children’s clothing.