Thursday, August 6, 2009

Once A Month Cooking

Today I jumped feet first into bulk cooking, or monthly cooking. Often I will make large batches and divide things up to freeze, but I've never done it in this quantity even though I've thought about it. Lana did this a few weeks ago and filled her freezer and I was inspired. So I set off. My comfort zone was bulk spaghetti sauce divided to use for different recipes, so I began there with my list and then moved on. I brainstormed with things I know and love, things friends have fixed, and a few things I had found on recipe blogs. I am pretty excited to have a full freezer, but Idon't want to eat it-I just want to look at it-and cook more so I don't run out :)

I spent $98.60, but subtract $12.60 for things that didn't involve what I cooked-so that makes it $86.00. I built my meals around chicken with bone in for $.99 a lb and the ground beef I bought was not the lowest fat, but the better meat, and was $1.99 a lb. The meals divide out to $4.30 per meal-I even purchased noodles, tortilla shells, etc. I will need to add a vegetable, fruit, salad, etc. but the biggie for me is not having to decide what to fix for a main course, or go spend a zillion dollars at the store to fix it. And I have a freezer full of veggies like squash, zuchinni, green beans, and corn, that were Russell's grandparents are always so gracious to share with us. I have decided that I will go get a few packs of chicken while it is still on sale and have some in the freezer for if I decide to cook "fresh" or have company-both of which happen occassionally. I also want to get some cheese-I don't usually buy pre-grated, but got it for $1.39 today :)

Beef round 1:
-Beef strogonaf
-Taco Casserole
-Tacos
-Shepherds Pie
-Sloppy Joes
-Taco Soup (x2)

Beef round 2:
-Spaghetti
-Baked Spaghetti
-Calzones
-Baked Ziti
-Lasagna

Chicken:
-Chicken and Dressing Casserole
-Chicken and Wild Rice w/ veggies
-Chicken and Broccoli
-King Ranch Chicken
-Chicken Tetrazini
-Angel Chicken
-Italian Chicken (think chicken spaghetti)
-Chicken and rice

5 comments:

Autumn said...

Thanks for the ideas girl...I really need to work on this!

momstheword said...

I wondered what you made! I have never done this, but I have made up extra meals and popped them in the freezer. Also made soup and froze it, or cooked up some chicken and froze it to have on hand for a quick casserole or something.

I would love to do the once a month cooking but just have never tried it. Good for you!

Anonymous said...

Not only will you love having the main part of your meal already cooked,you will also like having a faster cleanup afterwards!
Enjoy!
Teresa

Mrs4444 said...
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jodi @ back40life said...

smart, smart girl...I so need to do this again - we did it right before Cameron was born and it was FABULOUS! we enjoyed eating from it so much! must do again!!