Eating Wisely
Cooking Once a Month
Sherri Streicher
Singapore
From: NEW BEGINNINGS, Vol. 17 No. 3 May-June 2000 pp. 91-92
"Mom, what's for dinner?"
Do these words strike fear into your heart? Do you ever find yourself
wandering the grocery aisles at 4 PM, searching for inspiration, bargains,
and above all, something quick? Maybe your family routine is such that
time before dinner is at a premium. Or maybe, like most of us, you could
use a few more hours in your day and a little more cash in your pocket.
All of these are good reasons to consider learning about bulk cooking.
You've probably heard of
bulk cooking before—it's certainly not a new idea. It's also referred
to as freezer cooking, batch cooking, and OAMC (once a month cooking).
Perhaps you were one of those new mothers lucky enough to receive frozen
meals from friends and relatives after the birth of your baby, or maybe
you've given one to a friend in need. What you may not realize is how
adaptable and helpful this concept is in everyday life.
Preparing several meals at
one time just for the freezer does take some advance planning, but it
is well worth it. Pick out several different recipes that you know will
freeze well. How many depends on how much time you have to batch cook
and your freezer space. Plan to make at least double batches of everything.
Write down all the ingredients you will need (remembering to double
or triple quantities), check your pantry for items you already have,
then go shopping.
When choosing your recipes,
check your grocery store flyers to see what's on sale and keep in mind
that most foods (especially meats, dry goods, and some canned goods)
are less expensive to buy in bulk. Did you ever wonder who buys those
10-pound "budget packs" of ground beef and 5-pound cans of
tomatoes—and what they did with them? Buying in bulk can help you
to batch cook three meat loaves, a large pot of spaghetti sauce, three
meals of chili, some meatballs, taco filling—all at bargain prices.
Remember that you won't be eating ground beef every night for a week.
You can space these meals out as desired. A month from now that chili
will still be yummy, even yummier when you think about how easily it
got to your table.
The next step is to do all
of your preparation work in bulk, preferably the night before you cook.
Chop all of the vegetables you will need for all of the meals you are
making. Consider sitting at the kitchen table to do it. It may feel
strange at first, but it is easier on the body than standing for a long
time. Look at your recipes and see what other steps could be combined
in batches. Are you cooking one thing (such as ground beef, sauteed
onions, or dried beans) for many recipes? Try browning all the ground
beef, then dividing the cooked product among several dishes. Some people
find it easiest to do batch cooking around one main ingredient; for
example, you could make five different recipes using chickpeas. Before
you begin cooking, look over all the recipes to be sure that all possible
advance work is done. Also keep an eye out for things that naturally
go well together (like two recipes that could cook in the oven at the
same time), or things that will clash if done together (two meals that
both require the use of the big soup pot), and plan appropriately. Then
just dig in and begin working your way through the recipes.
You might want to consider
keeping records of the process, so that if it works out well, you can
use the same plans another time. Keep a list of the recipes you used,
your shopping list, and your plan for the preparation work (such as
vegetable chopping and precooking key ingredients).
Batch cooking can be adapted
to your family's lifestyle. Whether you freeze an extra meal or two
occasionally or cook for a day straight once a month, you can reap the
benefits. It is very satisfying to know that when you are planning a
busy day you can just get up in the morning, check the list on the freezer,
take something out to defrost, and know that the main work of dinner
is finished.
These techniques are also
expandable to other meals and occasions. I have a friend who regularly
freezes half of the cookie dough that she makes. Then it's easy to have
cookies in a jiffy. And when you bake only half a batch at a time, you
don't have the same nutritional consequences when they are all eaten
in one day. When I have extra time on the weekends, I like to make a
double batch of pancakes. I cook them all, then freeze half of them.
Later in the week, the frozen pancakes heat up quickly in a microwave
or toaster. This also works with waffles. Compare the ingredients and
cost of ready-made pancakes or waffles available in your grocer's freezer
with those you make at home and you'll be convinced of the benefits
of this approach.
When your main dish comes
ready to heat from your freezer, you may find that you have the time
for all those nice extras that you tend to skip because you don't have
enough time. Wouldn't some warm corn bread be lovely with that chili?
Some of those extras freeze well too, so you can have them even when
you are pressed for time. And when the meal is planned in advance, you
can think about what you might like to serve with a particular main
dish and have those ingredients already on hand. You'll save the time
spent on those 5 o'clock dashes to the grocery store.
Although it's a labor of
love, getting a tasty, nutritious meal that everyone likes on the table
every night can be quite a time-consuming task. Try letting your freezer
do some of the work for you.
Helpful Hints
- Label, label, label.
Frozen food is notoriously hard to identify. Unless you really like
mystery casserole, take the time to label. Permanent marker works
well on freezer bags and foil. (Keep one in the drawer where you
keep your foil and bags, but only if your toddler won't find it
there. It's called permanent marker for a reason). Use freezer tape
to seal packages.
- While you are labeling,
add some basic reheating instructions such as oven temperature and
baking time. Then you won't have to get the cookbook back out later.
Remember to take your dinner out of the freezer in the morning so
it will be defrosted and cook faster.
- Keep a list of what is
in the freezer. Just write it on a sheet of paper and stick it to
the front of the fridge. It doesn't have to be fancy. (And your
friends will be impressed with your organizational abilities.) This
will save your frozen fingers from digging through the piles of
mystery baggies. (Did you remember to label?) Cross things off the
list as you remove them so you will know what you will need to cook
again soon.
- Use rigid plastic freezer
containers, self-sealing bags made for freezing, and/or freezer-quality
aluminum foil. The lightweight foil doesn't hold up in the freezer.
Double-wrapping with regular foil is not always cost effective,
and the lightweight foil often tears too easily to be dependable.
- If you don't have much
room in the freezer, self-sealing plastic bags are space savers.
Make a place in the freezer where they can lie flat to freeze. You
might need to lay the bags on a cookie sheet at first to make sure
they stay flat while freezing. Once frozen, the bags can either
be stacked horizontally or stored standing up like books.
- Tomato and other acidic
foods don't keep well with aluminum foil over the long term (more
than one month). Cover a pan of lasagna with plastic film first
then put foil over it. Do the same for pies.
- It's a good idea to set
your freezer temperature down low the day before you cook, but read
your refrigerator manual for guidance. Some models take cooling
power away from the refrigerator part to cool the freezer. Cool
cooked food before putting it in the freezer. It should be no warmer
than room temperature. To avoid overtaxing the refrigerator, you
can cool it first by putting the pot of food in the sink with cold
water. Transferring it out of the hot pot first works even better,
but then there are more dishes to wash.
- Freeze in meal-sized
portions. If you only need half a loaf of cornbread for that chili
meal, cut the baked loaf in half before you freeze.
- Freeze items that might
clump and stick together (grated cheese, pancakes, mini muffins)
flat on a cookie sheet until frozen (1 hour or less, usually), then
remove from the sheet and place into a freezer bag.
References
Bowen, C. The Basic Basics
Home Freezing Handbook. London: Grub St., 1997.
Good Housekeeping Essential
Freeze-Ahead Handbook. London: Ebury Press, 1997.
Taylor-Hough, D. Frozen
Assets. Beverly Hills, CA: Champion Press, 1999.
Wilson, M. and Lagerborg,
M. B. Once-A-Month Cooking. New York. St. Martin's Griffin, 1999.
Your local LLL Group Library
probably has a copy of WHOLE FOODS FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY (1993 edition),
which has a number of healthy recipes suitable for freezing. For ideas,
see the "Food Shower" section on p. 268, and "Easy to
Freeze" on p. 273.
Last updated Friday, November 3, 2006 by njb.
Page last edited Sun Oct 14 09:30:08 UTC 2007.
