Once a Month Cooking

The theory behind once a month cooking is for an entire month’s dinners/meals to be cooked in one weekend a month. Then you just freeze the meals for use throughout the month.

You can tackle your once a month cooking in one of three different ways. You can choose to make double batches of your favorite recipes. You can choose to make as many as twenty different recipes. Or you can choose to make basic starter meals, and build on them during the month.

You definitely need to have a plan in order to handle once a month cooking. There are several websites available that offer planning and shopping lists for people who don't have the time or the organization skills to plan this way. For those who are organized make sure all plans are written down in advance -- the recipes, the amounts of food to be made, and the grocery list. You need to be sure that you have all the necessary supplies as well like freezer bags and storage containers. You will also need a notebook or a piece of paper on the freezer --it's needed to keep track of what meals are available.

Some plans suggest dividing the chores in to three days over the weekend -- it works like this: On Friday complete all the shopping. I recommend that you don't start the cooking after the shopping because you won't be motivated. On Saturday start the cooking process, and finish the cooking on Sunday. To make the plan even easier you can choose to divide the work with a partner.

Tips and recommendations for once a month cooking:

You need at least one crock pot to cook up tough cuts of meats for stews or barbeques. I recommend that you get as many as they can.

Pre-cut the vegetables the night before. Use a food processor if you have one.

Pre-cook chicken in a stockpot with veggies tied in a cheese cloth bag. Let the chicken simmer for several hours until the meat falls off the bone. You can freeze the meat that you don't use. Plus, the broth makes an excellent base for soups. If not needed right away, refrigerate the broth so the fat can be skimmed off, then place in ice cube trays for freezing.

Plan how the cooking session will go. What foods will start the day, and where the day will end.

If the individual has young children, try and get someone to watch the kids for the day.

Wash the dishes as the plan progresses. This keeps the mess under control, and prevents a pile up of dishes at the end of the day.

Once a month cooking can really help you if you are busy, you need to save money, or you just want the peace of mind of knowing the food for dinner is already prepared.

By Les Lambert | Posted on 2007-07-02 21:00:50

About The Author:

Les Lambert is the webmaster of http://www.yourhomecooking.info/ - a mouth watering website dedicated to cooking. Home cooking is made so much easier for you with all the articles, tips and recipes you will find there.

Definition:

Cooking is the act of preparing food for consumption. It encompasses a vast range of methods, tools and combinations of ingredients to improve the flavour and/or digestibility of food. It generally requires the selection, measurement and combining of ingredients in an ordered procedure in an effort to achieve the desired result. Constraints on success include the variability of ingredients, ambient conditions, tools and the skill of the person cooking.

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