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Hsiao-Ching Chou

Parenting Examiner
Hsiao-Ching Chou is a partner at Suzuki + Chou Communimedia, where she serves as a senior consultant in communications. For nearly eight years prior, she was the award-winning food editor at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper. She and her television producer husband live in Seattle with their daughter, who was born in October 2006.

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Refrigerator soup saves mompreneur

April 8, 12:24 AM
by Hsiao-Ching Chou, Parenting Examiner
 
 
I am in survival mode.  I scavenge for ingredients in my refrigerator and pantry that will be friendly in a pot of chicken broth, which I buy by the family pack from one of those big-box stores. On occasion, the broth is homemade. Regardless of the base, the method is universal: sauté savory vegetables, add broth, add scavenged items, season accordingly, simmer, taste, adjust seasonings, yell “chir fan le!” – “dinner’s ready.”

The reason I am in survival mode is because I have an 18-month-old daughter, a husband, my mother and a new business that divide my attention. Since Meilee was born, my mind has resembled my many refrigerator soups cobbled from ingredients at hand. It’s a hodgepodge up there.

What I had been calling “mommy brain” now has a more clever, if not scientific, name: momnesia. (It was covered in USA Today on March 3.) I don’t lose my keys or misplace the milk carton in the pantry. My forgetfulness steals my vocabulary. I often stop mid-sentence, a word mired in my sleep-deprived brain. Because I am a professional writer and a communications consultant, my momnesia does me no favors. I also forget names and, were it not for my laptop and BlackBerry, I'd forget appointments, too.

While I am able to function at a high level in a business setting, as soon as I get home, the "duhhh" mode kicks in. I open the refrigerator, stare at the contents and wonder what in the world I'm making for dinner. More importantly, I ask myself what I can throw together while my daughter, Meilee, is clinging to my leg and wailing because I'm not paying attention to her in the moment. These are the times when the ever-forgiving nature of refrigerator soup comes in handy.

The principles are simple:

  • Always keep chicken (or vegetable) broth in your pantry. I like Pacific brand in the aseptic containers.
  • Always keep celery, carrots and onions on hand. These are your savory vegetables that can create a base for any number of dishes.
  • Always keep an open mind to the possibilities that await in your refrigerator.

I started recording my "recipes" last year. There are no proportions because the amounts depend solely on what's available, which may be leftovers from a previous meal. Here is a list of ingredients for the refrigerator soup I made from 11.07.07:
       
Homemade chicken stock
Leftover roasted chicken
Leftover caramelized shallots
Scavenged lemon-parsley mafaldine pasta
Canned chickpeas
Carrots, sliced ½ inch
Celery, diced
Parsley
Thyme
Yukon potatoes
Touch of grated ginger
Freshly ground black pepper
Salt to taste

Topics: refrigerator soup , momnesia , mompreneur , recipes
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