For those interested in freezing quick preparation meals here are several cookbooks:

- Once-A-Month Cooking by Mimi W. Wilson, Marily S. Wilson and Mary Beth Langerborg.

- The Freezer Cooking Manual for 30 Day Gourmet: A Month of Meals Made Easy by Tara Wohlenhaus and Machael Phillips. Web site is www.30daygourmet.com.

- Frozen Assets: How to Cook for a Day and Eat for a Month by Deborah Taylor-Hough.

- Cooking for the Week: Leisurely Weekend Cooking for Easy Weekday Meals by Diane Morgan and Leigh Belsch.

- The Once-A-Week Cooking Plan: The Incredible Cooking Program That Will Save your 10-20 Hours a Week (And Have Your Family Begging for More) by Joni Hilton.

- Prevention's Freezer Cookbook: Quick Dishes For and From the Freezer by Sharon Sanders.

- The Complete Do-Ahead Cookbook: Southern Living, edited by Ann H. Harvey.

- Month of Meals: One Day to a Freezerful of Entres by Kelly Machel and Brian Moore.

Most of these should be available through on-line book sellers such as Amazon.

One thing I do is when I run out of bacon is to buy the largest package available which has a lot of lean. I then cook the entire package in a batch and freeze the almost cooked strips. When I want bacon for breakfast I just break off some strips and cook them at the same time the eggs are cooking. Haven't had a complaint from breakfast guests yet.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), October 02, 2000

Answers

These are some great books, I've gotten several from the public library, and copied the recipes I thought my family would eat. I usually don't have time to devote an entire day to cooking, but do one thing one day, and freeze it, then another when I have the time. It sure makes it easier when you have been gone most of the day, and come home and have to feed animals, get dinner on the table, etc. Thanks for posting that list, there are some others on there I'm going to try! Jan

-- Jan ini Colorado (Janice12@aol.com), October 02, 2000.

I have read reports about small catering companies who specialize in these pre-cooked meals. Their clientel get a menu to select from with frozen meals delivered once-a-week. Each meal comes with preparation instructions and what extra ingredients, spices, etc. need to be on hand, such as fresh fruit. Clients are generally two- income families who still prefer eating at home in the evenings. An income opportunity for someone? Include farm-fresh eggs, unpasturized milk sold for animal use only, butter, cheese...

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), October 02, 2000.

I've love to once a month cook!!!! Still have a couple of weeks worth of stuff in the freezer. It's nice to come home from a 12.5 hour shift in the emergency room and have dinner almost ready.

You listed a couple of books I hadn't seen, thanks so much. More stuff to look at!

-- RNMOM (tegan@ida.net), October 04, 2000.

There are lots more than the ones listed. Just go to an on-line book service and search on key words such as, once-a-month, once-a- week, freezer meals and replacement meals.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), October 04, 2000.

I've read three of the books listed above. I think once-a-month or once-a-week cooking is a great idea, but the fact is that my family doesn't like a lot of the foods in the books. Spoiled? You bet! And since I'm inordinately proud of my cooking ability (runs in the family) - I aim to keep them spoiled. A lot of the meals have some preparation done for them when the groceries are bought or on one of my days off. Once-a-month shopping though - now that's the best idea!

I used to shop weekly for Mama, but she would prepare a calendar of menus each month as a guide for me to use in my shopping. I was allowed to move meals around to meet the store specials; and it was a good learning experience for a teen - learning how meals are put together and budgeting -- and discovering that even if chicken IS on sale, no one wants to eat it five times in one week!! Nowadays, I shop monthly, but I still use Mama's calendar idea to plan the meals. I have a master list of meals that my family really likes and I pick and choose where to put them based on my work schedule (RN; 12 hr. night shifts, work every other weekend), my daughter's schedule (football games, cheer, pom and tumbling practice and job schedule), and Pop's social schedule. I always make up some cassaroles for the freezer each month for those unexpected over-time days or company showing up on tuna-salad night. I post a weekly calendar on the fridge that includes everyones schedule plus the menus for the week. If I need one or two things from the store, it goes on a post it note at the bottom and Pop or Hubby picks it up on the way home.

Hubby went with me for the first time last month to do the shopping - we went into the store and I gave him "his" list (ad match items) and pointed to a cart. One hour later, we were on our way to the feed store to pick up the rest of the months supplies. Three hours later, we were home and everything was put away. It was a good learning experience for him - he's just recently gotten "into" the pantry idea. I may have made me a convert! (And now he knows why we have tuna salad on "store" night!)

-- Polly (tigger@moultrie.com), October 04, 2000.

Hey everyone! It's so great to be able to communicate with you all. Had to shop today in town and whew, is it nice to get home to the homestead. I thought I would mention an idea here. The once a month idea is great, but one thing I do is everytime I am about to cook something, I ask, can I cook two of them? (Examples, two batches of rice, or pasta, or soup, chili, etc). Then, I go ahead and cook two, and freeze the extra one. You would be amazed at how quickly your stores will add up. Also, I can ground beef and beans (separately, and pressure canned only) and find that these two items really come in handy. Think of how many of your meals may begin with "brown a pound of ground beef and drain" - chili, sloppy joes, many casseroles. When it's canned, all that work is already done. The beans I find a godsend too. They can be used in so many dishes as well, and I find now that I have them canned, we are using them so much more. And by the way, BEANO is truly a great product, allowing me to eat beans whereas before there was nooooo way! Good luck.

-- Katie (ktthegardener@yahoo.com), October 07, 2000.

<<. Also, I can ground beef and beans>>

I was just thinking that I would like to try canning ground beef, but didn't know if it was feasible or not. Do you brown it all first? Can you explain how you do it?

Thanks!

-- Terri Miller (tchr4hm@juno.com), October 07, 2000.

<<. And by the way, BEANO is truly a great product, allowing me to eat beans whereas before there was nooooo way! >>

We have found that when we sprout our beans, we don't have the problems with the nasty digestive problems with them.

-- Terri Miller (tchr4hm@juno.com), October 07, 2000.