Freezer Meals

Once A Month Cooking Printables: Ingredient Lists

2010-02-21T16:01:00.000-08:00

My second set of once a month cooking printables: Ingredient Lists.

I was asked to include one black-and-white version as well, for those who don't fancy colors too much :)))

Instructions:
These printables are needed on a preliminary step of OAMC. After you've planned your monthly menu, you need to decide which ingredients you are going to need and how much. In rows of this this sheet you write: date, which meal is on the menu, ingredients (one per line, so some lines will be half-empty: the date and meal will repeat), how much of each ingredient is going to be needed. Once you come across an ingredient you've already mentioned above, don't duplicate it, just write in the Quantity field how much you need plus
(e.g. //ingredient// beef | //quantity// 0.5 + 1 + 0.75 + 1 | //total// 3.25 lb).

Once you are done, in the last column calculate the total for each ingredient - and your shopping list is ready.

By the way, if you have any suggestions on the sheets or want your own customized design (maybe with your family's photo on it?) - you are welcome to contact me, and I will make it for you.

All my printables will be gathered on Freezer Cooking Free Downloads page.

Freezer Cooking Printables: Monthly Menu Planners

2010-02-18T06:14:00.000-08:00

As promised, here is my first set of once a month cooking printables: Monthly Menu Planners.

Instructions:
This is a very useful tool: print them out and use before your OAMC sessions. Decide upon the meals you are going to eat for every day of the month, and you will know exactly how much meals you will need to cook, in the checkbox in the corner mark if the dish needs thawing/defrosting, like this you will never forget to take it out of the freezer for tomorrow.

I decided to make my printables more colorful, you can choose the design you like or print them in black and white.

By the way, if you have any suggestions on the sheets or want your own customized design (maybe with your family's photo on it?) - you are welcome to contact me, and I will make it for you.

All my printables will be gathered on Freezer Cooking Free Downloads page.

Freezer Cooking Sheets

2010-02-17T16:07:00.000-08:00

I am going to share my personal freezer cooking worksheets with you. You can download them and print out, they are a great aid for your cooking routines.
Since I am a bit busy now, I'm going to add them one by one, so if you like them make sure to check back later.
Please, check my Freezer Cooking Downloads page.

Best Freezer Recipes

2010-02-13T11:06:00.000-08:00

I created a new page on my blog for sharing our favorite recipes for freezer. Please, feel free to try those recipes added and tell us what you like to cook.
The recipe page is here: OUR FREEZER RECIPES.

10 Reasons to Choose Once A Month Cooking

2010-02-13T05:41:00.000-08:00

Do you wish to spend less time in the kitchen and more time with your family?
Do you want to have your family enjoy delicious and healthy homemade dinners every day?
Do you have a fast food delivery number on your fast dial?

Well, now you can stop poisoning yourself and your family with junk food and have any meal ready within just minutes. All busy mothers have already understood the beauty of homemade frozen meals:

you only need one free day to cook enough of food for a whole month;
you only need five minutes to take the food out of the freezer and put into the oven;
you will save hundreds of dollars on food delivery services;
you will benefit to your heath by eating home-made, fresh meals every day;
you will have a vast assortment of meals to choose from;
you will never be caught off guard by unexpected guests;
you know exactly what ingredients your freezer meals contain: be it gluten-free, fat-free, vegetarian or anything else. Who knows what manufacturers put into theirs?
you will save on your groceries and electricity bills;
everyday cooking becomes so easy that even your kid can do it;
and, finally, you will have every evening free, to enjoy your favorite activities, spend with your kids or just relax after a busy day.

What's In YOUR Fridge?

2010-02-10T16:44:00.001-08:00

Freezer Cooking Sample Plan

2010-02-09T17:21:00.000-08:00

To be consistent and organized on your Big Cooking Day, you need to have a good plan to follow. Planning is always a good thing, and even if you are not this king of person, freezer cooking sessions are frustration and waste of time without planning.

So, we need two days for every once a month cooking session (if you prefer to cook once a week, though, you can do everything in the same day, of course).

Shopping Day:

Shop for all needed ingredients (yes, again with a list - not to miss out something important).
Process, package and freeze straight-to-freezer items if there are any.
Make one of Basic Recipes, serve one portion for dinner and reserve remainder for use on Cooking Day.

Cooking Day:

Switch on your favorite music, put on comfortable clothes and smile :)
Package and freeze any "overnight" entrees (Barbecue Pork); wash pot or crock pot and prepare for use.
Perform all chopping, slicing, crushing and grating tasks, using your "common ingredients" card as a guide.
Start bread dough (if you have pizza on the menu).
Start with a "simmer" group: Marinara Sauce, Chili. Begin with one recipe, processing ALL required common ingredients as you go. For example, when sautéing onions for Marinara Sauce, sauté ALL onions required for the whole plan; browning ground beef for Chili, brown ALL ground beef needed.
Move to next recipe "group" and assemble entrees one at a time. Bundle with appropriate "extras" when required.
Move from group to group, assembling Chicken entrees, Ham entrees, Pasta entrees or Miscellaneous entrees in turn.
Clean up-and go out to dinner. You deserve it!

Freezer Cooking Video

2010-02-03T02:34:00.000-08:00

A very simple and fast recipe of delicious honey chicken. Check it out!

Freezer Cooking Tips

2010-01-30T11:40:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-29T05:39:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-25T14:56:00.000-08:00

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.