The concept of freezer cooking or Once-a-Month-Cooking (OAMC) was completely foreign to me, but it sounded neat. The more I researched it, the better it sounded. So many advantages:
* Saves time - Being able to simply pitch it in the oven is the biggest attraction for me. Think about it - it's no harder to brown five lbs. of ground beef than it is one, but it takes SO much less time to do it all at once.
* Saves washing - SOOOO many less dishes to wash!! :)
* Saves money - Shop the sales (especially on meat) and plan what your going to make around that! Also, planned meals + less trips to the store + less impulse buying = saving LOTS of money!
One night shortly after reading about it, I decided to try to cook a small amount...and I was able to make four meals in about an hour and a half. I was happy with that, but ECSTATIC when I was able to pull meals from the freezer and shove them into the oven.
So I decided to plan a full day of freezer cooking! I made out a menu for the rest of the month (yes, the month!!!), went grocery shopping, and went to town cooking yesterday while Reuben watched the kids.
The beginning to the day with almost all supplies:
Progress (and mess) at the lunch break (which I forgot to eat...)
The fruits of my labor?? 15 full or partial meals!! 15!!
2 batches of Chicken Tetrazzini
Chicken Cannelloni
Stuffed Shells
Chicken Pot Pie
2 batches of BBQ Chicken for the Crock Pot
4 batches of individually seasoned ground beef for:
* Sloppy Joes
* Lasagna
* Chili Beans
* Reuben's specialty that we have named Good. Because it is :)
3 cups of cooked chicken for Poppyseed Chicken
2 extra cups of cooked chicken
2 Tuna Noodle Casseroles
2 batches of Chocolate Chip Pancakes
It seems like that would take FOREVER to do. But (excluding the Pancakes...I just did a double batch for breakfast), it only took 6 hours from start to finish (including getting ingredients together, washing dishes, packaging the food for the freezer, and putting everything up). And, at the worst, it will take about 15 minutes to prepare the meal for the night we eat it.
The end product:
Yummy Stuffed Shells:
Can't wait until I can employ her:
3 comments:
Excellent!! You're an inspiration!
Wow, girl! I am SO IMPRESSED! Good job!
Wow... that is quite impressive. When you folks come visit us at our church, you'll have to bring Reuben's "Good," as it's been named--and those eggshell noodle thingies that look so scrumptiddliumcious!
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