s/o Jan meal planning: anybody here do once a week/month cooking?

[DB in NJ]

I've been thinking about doing this for years but i've never been able to find a plan i like. I have cooked a week's worth of main dishes on a saturday a few times, and boy is it a time saver during the week!

 

Do you have any links or advice to share? I'd really love to get in the habit of doing this next year.

[FriedClams]

I tried this - on a couple of different occasions - and for my family it was a fail.

 

Here's why it failed for us/things I'd recommend:

 

1. I'm not great at remembering to pull stuff from the freezer to defrost. I think if you do it you need a routine - pull for the next day at dinner the night before, etc...

 

2. We don't love casseroles. We will eat them, but I'm more of a meat, veg, starch girl. Lots of the recipes I found were casserole type stuff.

 

3. I'm a little mood dependent for food. I'm good planning for a week, but more than that is too much.

 

4. It was hard for me to manage my freezer. It is deep, so I'd lose stuff. If you do it, stay very organized.

 

5. I like salad with dinner, so there was still regular shopping and fresh prep daily.

 

6. We eat pretty simply, so it didn't save me a ton of time. Frozen taco meat - great - but it takes 10 minutes from scratch. Pasta sauce is always a time saver, but that one is easy without too much planning.

 

7. Label really well.

 

8. Clean out your freezer regularly.

 

9. I'd start with 2-3 meals a week and then build up from there. Food is just different when done from frozen and you sometimes want a break from it.

 

10. We also don't *love* our crock pot. I'll use it, but its not a huge thing for us. My DH thinks all food tastes the same in a crockpot so I don't use it often - which was a problem for done once a month recipes.

 

11. Be ready to deal with freezer burn. I was facidious about my packaging and it was still an issue. Count in all the bags, jars, wrap, or vac seal bags with your savings.

 

I hope that helps. I really, really wanted it to work for us, but it just didn't. I still make and freeze muffins, waffles, cookie dough, etc. since we actually use it. I keep a good pantry and freezer. But, for all the work it just didn't pan out for our lifestyle. I help its a huge success for you!! Please share any great recipes you find!

 

 

 

 

[Lisa in SC]

I do it from time to time. More often, however, I bulk prepare a specific type of food. For example, if there is an awesome sale on chicken breasts, I buy a ton. Then, I cook as many as will fit in my crockpots, shred the meat and freeze. The remainder gets portioned into meal amounts, placed into freezer ziplocks, covered with marinade and frozen. The marinated chicken will be grilled or baked later. The cooked, shredded chicken will be made into enchiladas, chicken soup, fried rice, Thai chicken, etc. I do this with all the meat I buy...ground sirloin, London broil, whatever. Ground sirloin is divided and either pattied and frozen or browned for chili or whatever and frozen. I buy large quantities when the price is lowest and then get it ready to be an easy base for meals. If I make a lasagna, I might as well make 2 and freeze 1. Stuff like that. Like I said, I do once a month cooking upon occasion, but the method I just described works better for me.

[DianeW88]

I do it when I know I won't have time to make a lot of meals. It works really well. In fact, I'm going to make ten or so this month.