Four years ago, God called me to teach freezer cooking to my friends. He planted a seed in my heart to host a Cook and Play Date. I invited women to my home for a freezer cooking session while our toddlers and babies had a play date. That’s what I call an ambitious get together. We cranked out 144 servings in one 2 and 1/2 hour time slot. It was a lot of work and a learning experience.
I’ve learned smaller groups are better and small quantities of food are easier. Less children having fun is a plus, too. This is my son and his best friend. They LOVE to cook.
A week ago, I went to a friend’s house and we made homemade naan together using the five minute Artisan dough in a shoe box. Click here for the easy dough recipe and pointers. I also have a tutorial on how to roll and cook naan here. This is an easy dough you mix up in a plastic shoe box. We both mixed ours ahead of time and had our dough ready to go on our Cook and Play date. I brought my shoe box of bread dough, cast iron skillet with lid, rolling pin, silpat mat, cooling rack, flour and my three-year old. We gave the kids small pieces of dough to roll and pat. They had a lot of fun re-rolling the same piece of dough, they had no clue.
Each of our recipes cranked out approximately fifteen naan circles. Have you priced them in the grocery store. I saw two pieces of flatbread for $2.99 at my local Ingles. We about thirty dollars worth of naan in an hour. Together we saved a lot of money and created memories for our kids.
After my naan cooled on a cooling rack, I placed mine in clean shoe box to transport home. I will put them in a gallon size freezer bag and have flatbread for my favorite items, like grilled pizza and chicken and flatbread. My husband likes to make his own homemade gyro with these. They are so easy and delicious. This would be a great beginner bread recipe for your next Cook and Play date.
Have you ever had Cook and Play Date? Do you have any ideas for items to make and take home?
