I've seen on a few posts where some of you marvelous ladies do once a month cooking. I'm interested in this as a way of saving time (never seems to be enough of THAT!) but I'm not really sure about how to do it. I understand the concept - cook a lot of stuff and freeze it, but could you give me some examples? What kind of stuff do you cook?

-- Cheryl in KS (cherylmccoy@rocketmail.com), October 05, 2001

Answers

Once a month ! I have a feeling cooking day would be hell .I make double batches of stuff like lasana{sp} ,soups ,stew ,mac & cheese,and put the extra in the freezer .Hates off to whoever can do it in a day or two.

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@slic.com), October 05, 2001.

I'm with Patty. I wonder how many months these ladies can keep it up. I don't have a cooking "day". But I get alot of good ideas from their concept.

Here's some websites to look at:

http://members.aol.com/oamcloop/

http://www.mindspring.com/~debv/OAMC_101.htm

http://www.realfood4realpeople.com/oamc.html

http://hardys.freeservers.com/oamc.htm

http://www.frugal-moms.com/dir/Cooking/Once_A_Month_Cooking/

-- Ann Markson (tngreenacres@hotmail.com), October 05, 2001.

When I was a bachelor I would do once a week cooking. I would do it all on sunday and have all my meals planned out for every evening. And of course I would eat leftovers for breakfast. Items included several different cassaroles, chili, stew, not sure what all I did.

-- r.h. in okla. (rhays@sstelco.com), October 05, 2001.

You might want to consider NOT cooking, and adopt an all-raw diet: http://www.instinctive-living.com/ http://www.odomnet.com/live-food/index.htm

-- Rick#7 (rick7@postmark.net), October 05, 2001.

A lot of times I double up on the recipe and eat the same thing 2 or 3 times during the week. That way I only have to spend chalf as much time cooking.

-- anita (anitaholton@mindspring.com), October 05, 2001.

I do once a month cooking, and since there's just two of us it usually lasts for 2 months. I usually spread it out over 2 weekends so I don't get too tired. It is a lot of work but knowing that I won't have to cook again for another 2 months is worth it to me. I have two different plans that I use, one is for hamburger and the other is for chicken. That way I can wait until the store has a good sale and then swing into action.

I usually buy around 15lbs of hamburger when it goes on sale. Half of it gets made into meatloaf and meatballs for stroganof. I make five 1- lb meatloaves and 2 freezer bags of meatballs. The rest of the hamburger gets made into spaghetti sauce. I freeze some of the sauce alone, the rest gets made into baked ziti and lasagne. The secret to freezing pasta is to only cook it partially, and I don't even cook the lasagne noodles at all. I make 5 small pans of lasagne, 5 bags of baked ziti, and 5 bags of spaghetti sauce.

The chicken plan is more of a pain but I still think the results are worth it. I usually buy 7 or 8 chickens at a time, depending on the size. Four or five of them go into the stock pot with water, celery, and onion to cook until the meat falls off the bone. After the meat cools I cube it and use it for a chicken, broccoli, and rice casserole, chicken pot pies, and soup. I make 4-5 bags of casserole and 8 big pot pies. The remaining chickens are slow roasted with a special spice rub, then cut into quarters and frozen for quick reheating.

You really need to have a plan to get everything done without exhausting yourself. Don't try to grocery shop and cook all in the same weekend, buy as much as you can ahead of time and just get the perishable items a day or two before. Several large pots, a large frying pan, and a good sharp knife are a must. Some people use a food processor but IMO they're more trouble than they're worth. Cut up all of your veggies the night before if you can. If you've bought the meat earlier and kept it frozen, don't forget to defrost it! (Ask me how I know this one!) Put a big trash can in the middle of the kitchen, tell your spouse and kids that the kitchen is off-limits for the day, put on some comfy shoes and some peppy music, and have fun!

Start off small, especially if you're trying new recipies. It's no use having a freezer full of stuff that no one will eat. (I made this mistake too) I'd recommend reading "Frozen Assets" by Deborah Taylor Hough, it will help you get into the proper frame of mind to carry this off.

-- Sherri C (CeltiaSkye@aol.com), October 05, 2001.

Cheryl,

I posted the following over at Country Families but thought someone on this forum might like to see it too.

I use to do the once a month cooking regularly and then stopped when when moved and our freezer went out. Now that we have a new freezer, I will probably start again. I didn't mind the cooking, it was the shopping trip I disliked. Our family liked having all those meals ready though.

Just take recipes that your family likes, figure what ingredients you need times four, make out your shopping list for these items and shop (ugh). After returning home you get things started cooking like your soup broths (cook soup bones, celery, carrots, whole onions, garlic, etc. until everything is mushy and then dispose of the veggies - can give to the chickens - put the broth in the frig. overnight and the next morning you skim the fat off and now you have a nice big batch of broth full of vitamins. Freeze the broth in freezer bags and when ready to use just add any meat or vegetables and noodles or rice for a great soup or stew). Also, cook up any chickens that you will be using for meat and refrig. overnight. The next day you debone your chickens, brown meats and cook pastas, cut all your onions and veggies at once and then start assembling your meals.

If you don't mind using aluminum foil you can line 9 x 13 pans with it, put your casserole or lasagna in it and seal with more aluminum foil and then freeze. Take the frozen meal-in foil out of the pan and then you have your pan back for any baking you might do within the month. When it is time to cook the meal simply plop the frozen-in- foil meal back into the pan and cook.

You can remove the air from ziplock backs that you are using by sealing the bag all the way across except for the area that you have a straw stuck though. Now suck the air out and quickly seal the rest. This helps you be able to stack bags better. Be careful when sucking the air out of bags containing hot liquids.

Every item you freeze should have the cooking instructions written on it and attach ingredients that you would add later such as bags of shredded cheese or croutons.

It's nice to have two months of recipes so that you have a variety of meals. It's any easy method to learn and customize for your family. I jumped right in there and did the whole month the first time and it's not that difficult.

An example of meals we used were enchilladas, burritoes, chicken soups, beef stew and beef soups, cream soups, casseroles, taco meat prepared, poor man steak, and many more.

Hope this gives you an idea of what is involved.

-- Terry - NW Ohio (aunt_tm@hotmail.com), October 05, 2001.

Sorry people...I love to cook -> do it all at our house (for 5). I'd miss it if I only 'cooked' once a month.

Russ

-- Russ Whitworth (rwhitworth@sprint.ca), October 05, 2001.

I love the idea of only cooking once a month. A problem I see is with storage in our big chest type freezer....How do you stack everything so you can always see what is available? Or do you make some sort of an inventory list and cross things off as you use them so if an item isn't crossed off, YOU KNOW IT'S IN THERE SOMEWHERE! Harmony

-- Harmony Bullington (harmonyfarm57@hotmail.com), October 05, 2001.