Haiti Mission (Impossible) – Cook 150 Meals in Two Days
Boy, are my feet killing me! Today, I am finally able to sit, soak up my success and rest. Here is the mission, which I had no choice but to accept. Earlier this week, without any prior warning or consideration, I volunteered to cook over 150 meals to send to Haiti for a mission team of 14-16 people.
Mission, accomplished. Sugar, exhausted. But I have to say, I am pretty darn proud of myself. And if tired feet is my only problem, I guess you could say I’m pretty darn fortunate too!
Here’s the story: My husband John and his mission team from the church will board an Air France flight for Port-au-Prince, Haiti, tomorrow before sunrise. I knew I had only two days to buy over 50 pounds of meat and other ingredients, cook, package and then freeze the prepared meals to be flown down to Haiti with the team.
Fresh food is hard to come by down there so I know my food will bring some comfort to the volunteers. They won’t be able to share my food with the local population. Any kind of resources brought into the devastated areas, even under armed guard, can result in riots and serious injury. But my hope is that the food I have prepared will translate to better attitudes and morale for the volunteers out in the mission field, which I hear is very difficult right now. (see video below).
I have to admit that when I took on this task, it wasn’t as altruistic as you would think. Because John is one of the volunteers, I jumped at the opportunity when it presented itself. OK, it didn’t exactly present itself. I heard they needed food and I basically took over the whole food thing. It’s my thing! I’ve been so nervous about him going and I knew that (1) cooking for a few days would take my mind off of the trip and (2) knowing he would be eating my food somehow made everything better.
The team will be in a house outside of Port-au-Prince at night where they have electric and running water but no access to any fresh meat, vegetables or fruits. So without prepared foods, their only option is military MRE’s (“meals ready to eat” or as some in the military fondly call them: “meals refusing to exit”). Yuck!!!
I have never had an MRE but they don’t look very good. Any meal that can last for 10 years in a pouch and be dropped from a supply plane from hundreds of feet can’t taste very good or be very good for you, right? After the volunteers eat those things during the day, I am sure my food at night will taste like a slice of heaven.
I’m sure by now you’re wondering how I had time to shop, cook, and freeze over 150 servings of food in two days. It wasn’t easy but it all started with a plan.
I have thrown a lot of parties with the help of my mom for 80-100 people or more but we never had to shop and cook it all in such a short time and I have never had to do anything that big by myself. I was fortunate enough to have two free days that I could devote to this. It all worked out like the “perfect storm” of sorts this week.
Somehow (praise God), there were no pressing appointments, work assignments or major sporting or school emergencies that prevented me from stepping up to do it. If this had come up in any of the last 30 weeks, I would have not had the time do it. So, you would think that if I had two days off I would have just put my feet up and maybe go get a manicure instead – not my style. I enjoy staying active and I love a challenge.
Whenever I plan a big event, it starts with a list. Whenever I take out a pen and pad, my husband laughs because he knows I’m planning some sort of party. It all starts the same way. How many people? How much food? What will I make? I love that. Just looking at the paper gets me excited. The possibilities are endless and for me the planning is just as fun as the cooking. So, I applied the same principles to the Haiti Mission (Impossible).
. . . What I came up with is eight different entrees:
1. Sausage and Peppers with Potatoes
2. Beef stew with carrots, turnips and peas in a beer brown gravy
3. My Grandmothers Italian Meatball Stew with potatoes and Green Beans in a read sauce. (Love this recipe and it made me think of her all day)
4. Chicken Primavera in a light cream sauce
5. Bolognese sauce with mushrooms
6. Pulled pork with a side of mixed veggies
7. Oven baked chicken with veggies
8. Oriental Pork with Broccoli
