Freezer Cooking Tips

You see, frozen meals are a real life-saver for any busy woman.
But there are several things you need to know before you start your first once-a-month cooking session.
You see, just having good freezer recipes is not enough for successful freezer cooking. Believe me, I know it. When I decided to give it a try for the first time, believe me or not, my session turned into a real nightmare. So, over months of trial and error, I developed a number of rules for once a month cooking sessions.

1. Since you cook about 30 meals during a single day, decide on a day that you can devote to cooking only. If an entire day is not possible though, consider cooking at night, when your house is quiet.

2. Build a monthly meal plan that will let you know exactly what dishes you need to cook, how much and what ingredients you are going to need for that.

3. Plan your grocery list. This step is absolutely crucial, because even if you are not a list-maker and usually do without them, once a month cooking implies extended shopping lists, and leaving something behind can mess up your whole cooking day.

4. Do your shopping. Here everything is pretty much clear. But don't forget to buy freezer bags, foil or containers for your food.

5. Cook the meals. Prepare the recipes of every meal you are going to cook, decide on the order of the meals (it's better to write the plan down), combine the same steps for various meals: chopping vegetables, boiling eggs etc.

6. Leave each meal to cool down fully before freezing it.

7. Freeze the meals. There are several methods for freezing meals: plastic or foil wraps, freezer bags, reusable containers, vacuum sealers. The latter is the most preferable, since it prevents freeze burns and keeps your food taste fresh for long periods of time. When packing the meals into wraps or bags, make sure your food is fully covered and sealed, so no air can get inside.

For more information on freezer cooking click here.

The Best Budget Cookbooks

Here I would like to share the best cookbooks, in my opinion. All of them are easy-to-follow, contain original recipes as well as some really useful advise. If you are anything like me, you like to compare and want to know what exactly you get for your money. Here is the comparison sheet for these books.


Once A Month Cooking - the best step-by-step guide to freezer cooking, really. Not just a recipe book, but a true life saver for a beginner bulk cooker. Detailed instructions, sample shopping lists, example cooking session, printable forms for organizing your cooking day.
Recipes: yes.
Instructions for beginners: yes.
Healthy meals: yes.
# of books: 2.
Price: $12.95.
Website: www.frugalmom.net


Grande Cooking - bulk cooking with friends - easy, fun and fast. The cheapest solution.
Recipes: yes.
Instructions for beginners: yes.
Healthy meals: yes.
# of books: 1.
Price: $7.95.
Website: www.grandecooking.com


Healthy Book For Busy People - a very good collection of healthy and easy recipes. This was the first book I actually bought online, and never regretted it. Recipes for every occasion, including special events, developed by certified nutritionists.
Recipes: yes.
Instructions for beginners: no.
Healthy meals: yes.
# of books: 1.
Price: $7.95.
Website: www.healthyfoodscookbook.com



Healthy Recipes For Busy Moms - an impressive lot of information in one package: fast and easy recipes, plus bonus books: pre-school activities, home organization, home schooling and more.
Recipes: yes.
Instructions for beginners: no.
Healthy meals: yes.
Bonuses: 8.
Price: $7.95.
Website: www.urbanhomemaker.com



Creative Homemaking - it is actually two books at a very affordable cost: "What's For Dinner" and "Freezing Cookies And Cookie Dough": awesome cookie recipes for long storing.
Recipes: yes.
Instructions for beginners: yes.
Healthy meals: no.
# of books: 2.
Price: What's For Dinner $7.99, Freezing Cookies And Cookie Dough $5.99.
Website: www.creativehomemaking.com



And, finally, two great bulk decisions:

Incredible offer - 20 cookbooks for only $20. An unlimited source of recipes.
Recipes: yes.
Instructions for beginners: yes.
Healthy meals: yes, including special needs meals.
# of books: 20.
Price: $20.
Website: www.foodpals.com

E-cookbooks Library - one more incredible offer: over 100 cookbooks for a bit more than $20.
Recipes: yes.
Instructions for beginners: yes.
Healthy meals: yes, including special needs meals.
# of books: 100.
Price: $24.97.
Website: www.e-cookbooks.net

Free Healthy Recipes For Kids

Kids know to be very choosy in foods, and sometimes it's hard to make them eat healthily: junk food, sweets, crisps, tacos, chocolates... they seem to eat everything but not what you cook. If you have the same problem, check out what I've found the other day: free recipes for kids. My son really loves them. Especially that spaghetti recipe... although he had never eaten pasta before.