January 2022. The book publishes in three months. The baby arrives in six weeks. The two biggest events of my life are converging and I'm standing in a three-square-foot desert kitchen trying to decide which to panic about first.
Both. I'll panic about both.
The reviews keep coming. The second one, from a food magazine: 'Rachel Abernathy is the voice military families have been waiting for. Her writing about deployment cooking is essential reading for anyone who has ever eaten alone and wished they weren't.'
The third, from a military family organization: 'Dinner at 1800 should be handed to every new military spouse at their first PCS. It's the survival guide nobody gave us. It's the book that says: you're not alone. You're never alone. There's food on the table and a woman on the other end of the phone.'
A woman on the other end of the phone. Mom. Always Mom.
I've been nesting. Hazel's arrival is six weeks away and the nesting instinct is even stronger the second time — maybe because I know what's coming, or maybe because the three-square-foot kitchen is even less equipped for two children than it was for one, and the reorganization is necessary rather than instinctive.
Caleb's room is being rearranged to accommodate a crib (Hazel's crib, secondhand from the base exchange, $35, sturdy). Caleb was skeptical: 'Baby BED? In CALEB'S room?' Yes, baby. Baby bed in your room. You're sharing. Military kids share. It's in the contract.
The batch cooking has resumed — freezer meals for post-birth, just like with Caleb. Chili. Soup. Meatloaf. The crockpot chicken (always the crockpot chicken). Enough food for two weeks, labeled in my handwriting (which looks like Mom's, which I've stopped fighting).
Mom's nightly call: 'Are you resting?'
'I'm batch cooking.'
'That IS resting. For your soul.'
Batch cooking as soul rest. Donna Abernathy, philosopher.
Made Mom's beef stew tonight and froze half. The stew that started in Norfolk, traveled through five kitchens, and now sits in a freezer in the Mojave Desert, labeled in handwriting that looks like my mother's, waiting for a baby named Hazel.
Six weeks. The reviews are good. The freezer is full. The crib is in Caleb's room.
Hazel is coming. The book is coming. Everything is coming.
Bring it.
The beef stew went into the freezer, labeled and stacked, and I still had the slow cooker sitting out on the counter — so I kept going. These slow-cooked potatoes with spring onions are the quiet workhorse of my batch-cooking rotation: no fuss, no hovering, just the crockpot doing its thing while I rearranged Caleb’s room and answered review emails and tried to remember to sit down. They pair with everything in the freezer, they reheat beautifully, and they taste like something a mother would make — which, I suppose, is exactly what I’m about to become again.
Slow-Cooked Potatoes with Spring Onions
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 5 hours | Total Time: 5 hours 10 minutes | Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 3 lbs baby Yukon Gold potatoes, halved
- 1 bunch spring onions (about 6–8), sliced, white and green parts separated
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 2 tablespoons sour cream (optional, for serving)
- Fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish
Instructions
- Prep the slow cooker. Lightly coat the insert of a 6-quart slow cooker with cooking spray. Add the halved potatoes in an even layer.
- Build the base. Scatter the white parts of the spring onions and the minced garlic over the potatoes. Pour in the chicken broth, then dot the butter pieces across the top.
- Season. Sprinkle salt, pepper, thyme, and smoked paprika evenly over everything. Stir gently to combine.
- Slow cook. Cover and cook on LOW for 4 1/2 to 5 hours, or until the potatoes are completely tender when pierced with a fork. Do not cook on HIGH — low and slow keeps them creamy, not mushy.
- Finish and serve. Stir gently, taste and adjust salt. Fold in the green tops of the spring onions. Serve as-is or with a small spoonful of sour cream, garnished with fresh parsley.
- For batch cooking/freezing. Cool completely, then portion into freezer-safe containers. Reheat on the stovetop over medium-low with a splash of broth, stirring occasionally, until warmed through.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 175 | Protein: 4g | Fat: 5g | Carbs: 29g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 210mg
About the cook who shared this
Rachel Abernathy
Week 298 of Rachel’s 30-year story
· San Diego, California
Rachel is a twenty-eight-year-old Marine wife and mom of two who has moved five times in six years and learned to cook a Thanksgiving dinner with half her cookware still in boxes. She married young, survived postpartum depression, and feeds her family of four on a junior Marine's salary with a freezer full of pre-made meals and a crockpot that has never let her down. She writes for the military spouses who are cooking dinner alone in base housing and wondering if they're enough. You are.
