Once a month cooking

I have been trying to find ways to add more free time to my day so I can work in an exercise program.  With 4 kids, full-time work and a busy life, I have been away from calorie count for a little while.  I lost weight when I was here and faithful.

So my first step back is to make more time for myself and I have started with Once a Month Cooking.  If you have not heard of this fantastic idea, then here it is...

You shop in bulk or for sale items and stock up or do a large grocery shopping.  Then take one day and prepare a bunch of meals or prep them.  They are frozen and then taken out the night before to dethaw and cook for the next days dinner.  You can choose to do a two-week, three-week or whole month cooking...though you need to block out a good portion of a day to do the meals.

I'd like to start this thread and find other people interested in doing once a month cooking so we can swap recipes.  I have just started this month, so I am testing my recipes when I first cook them.  Next month I plan to do some lunch meals to replace Lean Cuisince type meals so I can cut down on the sodium.  If I make them at home in lunch size portions, I can control how healthy they really are.

Post and join me on this quest, let's share some recipes!

Ree

WOW!! there are so many great ideas!!! thanks so much everyone for posting, I am going to have a lot easier time making meals now

I tried this a while back with a few recipes and it worked out great.  Usually chili or beef stew though. I'm single and live by myself so one lasagna, etc. would actually be like 5-6 meals itself. 

I have a sort of stupid question.  For the lasagna - are you baking those and then freezing them or are you just prepping them and doing everything but baking them before freezing.  thanks!

As for reusable baking dishes - a few years ago I actually found some plastic tupperware that you could cook in.  I think they were made by glad.  They were large reusable sturdy black baking trays with plasting lids (so that I could carry them off site). 

Im single, but I still try to do this as much as I can. I even do lasagnas...but I make smaller portions in those mini loaf pans and freeze them. I use a whole pack of noodles and make around 5-6 of them! They stack nicely in the freezer too!! I just pull one outta the freezer in the morning and pop it in the oven when I get home from the gym. It ends up being two meals for me, so I wont get sick of eating it!!

I also make my whole grains (coucous, quinoa, pasta, rice) and beans/legumes on Sunday nights for the week! I portion them out for lunches and dinners and freeze the rest for a later date!! Again these are so easy to use after freezing..just pop in the microwave for about 60 seconds!!

Original Post by karefreeman:

Wow!  Thanks Clairelaine!  I want to make the Dr. Bird cake NOW!  Do you ever use whole wheat flour?  It sounds delicious!  So do the soups and the currys and I have to try the Eggplant Pizzialoa ASAP.

Karen

 I have used whole wheat, but the end result is heavier than I like.  If you want the benefit of whole wheat but the texture of white flour, add a tablespoon of wheat germ to the bottom of each measuring cup of flour.

hhaussler - for my lasagnas, I am cooking meat first for meat sauce, layering and freezing like that, then cooking later.   I place my lasagna noodles in cold water for at least 10 minutes, this softens them so they are easier to layer with.

I am getting recipes & shopping ready for another meal prep day soon, so I'll let everyone know if I find anything fantastic!

tracyaudette - I ordered my first recipes from savingdinner.com and so far, they sound fantastic!...thanks for the link.

~Ree~

I love this thread!

Today I'm putting soup in serving size containers in the freezer.  It's beef vegetable, and I'm putting cooked barley into half the six containers.  I'm also planning to make taco filling and will freeze it in plastic bags, 4 servings to a bag. 

'Healthier Homemade Breakfast Bars'

http://www.calorie-count.com/recipe/104889.ht ml

Great to grab and go!  If you're like me, I'm not a morning person so these work great and I know what's in them, not like the breakfast bars from the store that have a ton of ingredients.

They freeze very well and once dethawed can be eaten as is or warmed in the microwave.

I'm allergic to applesauce, so I used pumpkin but feel free to substitute with applesauce and give it a try.  Thanks to some advice in the recipe forum, I was able to make these healthier, I will definitely be using pumpkin for a lot of my baking from now on.  I also made muffins this weekend for the kids using pumpkin instead of oil and they turned out great (Chocolate Banana muffins)!

~Ree~

When you substitute pumpkin for oil, how much do you use?  I love the idea of that but have no idea what proportion to substitute.

What are some other substitutions you use?

 

Original Post by tracyaudette:

When you substitute pumpkin for oil, how much do you use?  I love the idea of that but have no idea what proportion to substitute.

What are some other substitutions you use?

 

 I used a muffin mix this weekend which asked for 1/4 cup oil and I used 1/4 cup canned pumpkin, they came out great...so my guess is that to substitute equally...but this is new to me so I have some more experimenting to do.  And for the muffin mix, it was chocolate chip so I decreased the water from 3/4 cup to 1/4 cup and added 2 medium sized mashed bananas which is about 1/2 cup, so I substituted the banana equally with the decrease in water.

The kids absolutely loved the muffins and they are already gone, but with it they had nutrients from the banana and pumpkin!

~Ree~

And I heard pumpkin freezes well, so I bought a big can and froze the rest in portion sizes in small freezer bags for later baking.

~Ree~

christianrock.chick: I have another healthful use for that pumpkin...homemade dog biscuits! Pumpkin is very very good for dogs and is homeopathic way to keep them "regular" and free of anal gland problems. Ive been making these treats for my dog and she loves them..and they are super cheap & easy!! ( I read your journal and see that you are pet lover too!)

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

2 eggs

1/2 cup canned pumpkin

2 tablespoons peanut butter

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Whisk together the flour, eggs, pumpkin, peanut butter, salt, and cinnamon in a bowl. Add water as needed to help make the dough workable, but the dough should be dry and stiff. Roll the dough into a 1/2-inch-thick roll. Cut into 1/2-inch pieces.

Bake in preheated oven until hard, about 40 minutes.

 

 

Original Post by rosterhome:

christianrock.chick: I have another healthful use for that pumpkin...homemade dog biscuits! Pumpkin is very very good for dogs and is homeopathic way to keep them "regular" and free of anal gland problems. Ive been making these treats for my dog and she loves them..and they are super cheap & easy!! ( I read your journal and see that you are pet lover too!)

 Thanks so much, I'll have to try these...I'm sure they will appreciate the snack!

I like to make big batches of soup and freeze them in 1 meal size gladware bowls for my lunches, they're fast and healthy lunches. A few things I've learned through trial and error though is that potato and cream based soups tend to taste kind of funny when you thaw them out again, don't know why they just don't taste quite right. And don't freeze noodles you've already cooked, they just get all mushy when you reheat the soup, so I just cook the noodles and add them when I thaw out the rest of the soup. Pretty much and soup w/a broth base does well though :)

Lasagnas also make a good frozen meal.

Original Post by narfblast:

I like to make big batches of soup and freeze them in 1 meal size gladware bowls for my lunches, they're fast and healthy lunches. A few things I've learned through trial and error though is that potato and cream based soups tend to taste kind of funny when you thaw them out again, don't know why they just don't taste quite right. And don't freeze noodles you've already cooked, they just get all mushy when you reheat the soup, so I just cook the noodles and add them when I thaw out the rest of the soup. Pretty much and soup w/a broth base does well though :)

Lasagnas also make a good frozen meal.

 I agree, lasagnas make excellent meals to freeze, we just had spinach lasagna last night.  I do freeze my noodles though and run under hot water and then add to soup during the end since they were already cooked.  Just like with rice, when I'm done cooking the noodles 'al dente' then I run them under cold water to stop the cooking process so that I can freeze them.  I do agree though, noodles may sometimes be just a little different from freezing then if you just cooked them.

My tomato soup I make, I just precook the noodles and the ground turkey and freeze in separate bags.  The day I cook, I place the tomato sauce and chicken stock in the pot (which are things I always have on hand), add my spices and heat.  While it's heating, I quickly reheat the meat in a skillet and add to the pot and run the noodles under water and add to the pot.  The mistake I was making before was freezing my spices, it tastes better to add them the day of cooking for soups, that's what I found out.

I love all the different ideas here, thanks everyone for contributing :)

~Ree~

I've found that vegetable soups freeze and thaw better if the vegetables, such as carrots, celery and onions, are cut in small pieces.  Big chunks tend to get spongy when reheated. 

I mostly freeze soup stock and add other fresh ingredients at mealtime.  But then I'm retired and don't have to carry lunch to work.

I completed a once-a-month cooking/planning this past weekend (for May), though a few things I saved for a few nights this week.  I didn't get to any individual lunches for me yet, though I do tend to take leftovers which works well.  Here is what I made or planned, the items w/an asterisk are things I have in stock, but since I'll be cooking it on the weekend, I did not precook and freeze but have it on my monthly meal planner.  I also have breakfast items, snacks for the kids to grab, etc. 

Just remember, I have 4 kids so I have to please them too so my meals incorporate that, things they like and will eat.

Parm-Crusted Salmon
Joes to Go in hamburger buns
Chicken Quesadillas*
Corn Chowder*
Roma's Skillet Chicken (recipe from savingdinner.com)
Pizza Triangles (night w/just me and my 23-month old)
Ravioli Soup
Creole Baked Cod Fillets
Sausage Pasta Bake
Phyllo Roll-ups
Chicken Manhattans*
Mother's Day (out to eat)
Meat Lasagna
Mini-meatloaves (just me & my little guy)
Tomato Beef Soup
Grab & Go quick frozen items - Baseball game
1000 Chicken Bake
Smokin Lime Salmon (recipe from savingdinner.com)
BBQ Pork Chops on the grill (hubby gets to cook)*
Holiday Anyday Chicken (savingdinner.com)
Grab & Go quick frozen items - Baseball game
Chili
Roasted Greek Salmon
Pizza Triangles (just me & my little guy)
BBQ Ribs in the crockpot*
Grilled Shrimp (me prep, hubby cook)*
Nonna's Chicken (savingdinner.com)
Meatballs crockpot style with noodles
Grab & Go quick frozen items - Baseball game
Cheesy Corn Casserole

Grab & Go frozen Items:

• Pizza Triangles (24 total)
• Mini-meatloaves (24 total)
• Beef Taquitos (40 total)
• Pizza Tarts (32 total)

Breakfast Items:

• Healthy Homemade Breakfast Bars (15 total)
• Oatmeal packets (16 total)
• Muffins* (36 total) I'll make a batch on weekends

Side:

• Pre-cooked rice (6 sides)
• Frozen Vegies, bought frozen* (4 sides)

Some of the things I need to cook with, I keep in stock and only need a little for each recipe, such as olive oil, brown sugar, milk, spices, etc. 

Otherwise, for a family of 6 my total cost to make all that was listed above was approximately $200 (though it's be a little higher because a few meat items I already had in my freezer from a sale).  I shop sales and cook as fresh as possible.  I have 30 meals and have nothing planned for May 31st because that is my next shopping/prep day for the June cooking menu.  I otherwise will shop weekly for perishable stuff and other sides, especially salad fixings which we eat a lot of, fresh vegies & fruit.  I get cereal for the kids, yogurts, snack whole wheat crackers and things like that.  I like to leave a few slots open for lunch or dinner on the weekends and make something I just feel like. 

Our grocery bill is still very high with my weekly items and household items that I need to buy but the once-a-month cooking helps, and shopping sales and stocking up helps.  I also like the planning, I create a menu and hang it on the side of the frig, my meals are planned (but can change if needed) and it takes a lot of pressure off me during the week when I'm busy!

Just thought I'd share :)

~Ree~

I would like to pump this up to the top. I am looking in to doing this. I think this is a really good weight loss to tool. Is anyone else doing this at this time? I would love some more ideas on meals.

During the summer I was too sick and weak to cook, so my daughter and son in law started making me meals.  They'd make big batches and put them in freezer containers and bags so all I had to do was heat them up. 

I kept on hand, sweet potatoes and idaho potatoes to microwave and fill out a meal.  I was having a problem standing long enough to chop vegetables, so I got the baby carrots and had my daughter cut up celery.  My weekly grocery list was milk, whole grain bread, fresh fruit and things like cereal. 

It did help me maintain my weight in spite of being in bed so much of the time.

so, let me make sure I have this straight.  For example, if I wanted to make lasagna, I would make it all up like usual, throw it in the freezer, then how long does it need to thaw?Could I move it into the frdige the night before, then come home and bake it after work?