GRILLING MEALS WHEN HOME WORKING

Grilling meals while home working provides hands free cooking and healthy choices!

It has been months since the new normal occurred. You thought working from home would be brief but it is now clear this situation has no end. Reality has set in that you are working, educating, entertaining, eating and sleeping from home.

One benefit is you no longer are commuting. For those that use mass transit like a subway, bus line or rail line to get to work now find they have more time to devote to family and meals. For those that have had to drive to work now have freedom to cruise online recipes and those old cookbooks. This is your opportunity to make the most of those meals while not making cooking a chore.

Grilling Flavors that Bring Them to the Table

Families love to gather for a grilled meal. There is something about the smell of the grill and the taste of grilled foods that make a meal feel special. That feeling can continue any season of the year when you plan meals or portions of meals prepared on a grill or smoker.

Here is where you can get creative. Any recipe you find can usually be done on the grill. You read that correctly! Whether it is a dessert, side dish, main protein – it really makes no difference. The grill or smoker is an extension of the inside kitchen just with more flavor. Cookware can go on a grill or smoker too. Use that Dutch oven, the Pyrex dish, and sheet pans. They are perfect for the grill.

Large Proteins Mean More Than One Meal

You might be intimidated by that large pork shoulder or whole chicken but these are perfect proteins to invest the time in grilling/smoking while you work. The easiest means of cooking outdoors is to use indirect heat on a gas grill and hot coals (no flames) on a charcoal grill. This allows you to dial in the perfect roasting/grilling temperature so the equipment works just like your oven.

Best part – all the leftovers can be used for additional meals cutting down on the cooking even more. This is the way to serve healthy, filling meals to your family and be ready to sit down to dinner at a reasonable time.

Start with pulled pork or chicken sandwiches and then use the leftovers for tacos or burritos, baked eggs, noodles with vegetables, and so much more.

Don’t forget, if you use a large enough sheet pan or foil pan, when you grill the meat, you can add all types of seasonal vegetables to cook right along with the meat in the same pan! Leeks, onions, fennel, cubes squash, peppers, zucchini, carrots, potatoes, all work well for roasting with meat. Just add 1 to 1-1/2 hours before the meat is done or add from the start and remove when cooked.

Savings Abound Now You Are Home Working

Not only will you save on the time spent cooking but you’ll also save money. Larger cuts of meats often have lower price points. Some discount stores also bundle two whole chickens for a discount price per pound or two pork loins or beef roasts. Do a good assessment of the meat bins and find the best deals your family likes to eat.

What a great time to pass on cooking techniques and knowledge to those younger members of your family or those that never had an opportunity to learn.

What have you been grilling and/or smoking since working from home? Leave us a comment and subscribe to get our latest tips, techniques, recipes and the science behind the fire and smoke, for all live fire cooking methods.