Tell me more once a month cooking

[chefwife8]

Good blogs to read, tried and true recipes. Personal experience how is works for you

Thanks

[Rachel]

Following.

[FloridaLisa]

Here's some of what I've done:

 

with ground beef:

 

*pat out seasoned hamburger patties and freeze. 

*brown hamburger meat and mix with marinara sauce and freeze for spaghetti

*use marina/ground beef mixture for baked ziti -- make up 2 casseroles and freeze

*use browned ground beef for chili, double portion and freeze in ziploc. 

*keep extra browned ground beef in ziploc for taco soup (You could go ahead and put this together. It's just so easy that I open cans and put together the day of.)

 

with chicken:

*roll chicken breast in butter, then mixture of Italian bread crumbs and parmesan cheese, wrap in foil and freeze for Chicken Parmigiana.

*chicken breast with slices of ham and swiss cheese, wrap in foil and freeze for easy Chicken Cord en bleu

*bake chicken breasts or thighs in oven, shred, and use for casseroles such as chicken pot pie, chicken wild rice, chicken something, chicken divan,chicken enchiladas, etc. Do you have some favorite chicken casserole dishes? I usually just make 2 of each casserole and freeze.

 

In the cold months, it's also nice to make and freeze soups such as chicken noodle, beef vegetable, etc.

 

I like using my recipes, picking favorites that use the same base (ground beef, chicken) and then making a double portion of each.  

 

Lisa

 

[KungFuPanda]

You can get your feet wet with Once a Week cooking to see how the concept works for you. If that's successful, you can double or triple your favorite recipes and try some new ones until you have a recipr collection you love. My favorite freezer meals are marinated meats for grilling. I just add salad and rice and we're good. Sadly, it's getting cooler so grilling season is coming to an end :-(

[Slache]

I do once a month prep work. I put the raw meat in a bag or pyrex with the ingredients, freeze it, and put it in the slow cooker in the morning so that all my meals are fresh.

 

I began doing it when I had postpartum depression, but it was so nice that we kept it up. An added bonus is that the only food we have not frozen is produce and food that belongs in the pantry, so we never really throw food away because of it spoiling.

[mom2samlibby]

If you just want to get your feet wet and try some freezer cooking, I like the book Fix, Freeze, Feast (by Katie Nevelle) It's very quick and easy.  It was created to use with bulk items that you can get at Sam's or Costco.  The recipes are pretty good and very easy to put in the freezer.  I did a mini session using that book earlier this year with 12 whole chickens.  Two I cooked and made a chicken/salsa recipe and the rest I left whole and added some marinades to.  It was great to have a chicken to pull out and pop in the crock pot or the oven on busy days.

 

Other books or sources, I've used are the 30 Day Gourmet (website & book), OnceAMonthMeals.com (website), and Don't Panic - Dinner's in the Freezer (book).   I need to do a better job of getting on a schedule of freezer cooking.  It is so handy to have meals in there for days when we are really busy or when I haven't been to grocery store in a while.  

[G5052]

I don't do once-a-month, but cook and freeze ahead some on Sundays.  When I make certain dishes that freeze well, I usually double them and freeze half.

 

My strategy is not as organized, but it works for us.

[kewb]

I do better with prepping and freezing ingredients rather than meals.

I try to keep the freezer stocked with cooked and seasoned ground beef, meatballs, chicken cutlets, steak in a freezer bag with marinade so it marinates while thawing.

Prepped veggies. For example, I buy a costco box of Vidalia onions. Chop them all up.Throw some butter in the bottom of the crock pot. Cook on low for hours. House smells delicious. When the onions cool portion into ziploc bags. Anytime you need sautéed onions pull out of freezer.

I will also freeze soups and chili.

[Plateau Mama]

My biggest tip (and I've taught classes on OAMC), is to freeze what you know your family likes. Don't find a meal plan with 30 new meals. Your family won't like them, you will feel defeated and frustrated. Find 3-4 meals your family loves and make a double or triple batch and freeze. Then make One of anything new, if your family likes it you can add it to your rotation. If not, not. A huge loss.