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Once-a-Week Cooking

New to this idea- sort of... questions

19 years ago

I am pretty organized about planning meals, cooking, shopping. I do pretty good about making chicken one day and a casserole the next or making a large pot of soup and freezing part of it. That kind of thing.

This last year I was in a cooking club. We met once a week and exchanged meals. It was great. We would each make one dish for five families and my cooking was done for the week. Lately though, we have been talking about disbanding the club. I think we all just want a break.

I am not sure I am ready to do totally once a week cooking in that I don't think I want to or would enjoy cooking everything one day and eating all that I cook during the week.

What I do want to do is those small time savers that would make putting a meal together easier. You know- ground beef. If I browned it with taco seasoning I could make burritos, taco salad, tacos, etc. If I browned it with spaghetti sauce it can go into pasta dishes. Similarly cutting onions and freezing them ahead of time, roasting peppers etc.

I do some of this now, but I think I'm really missing the boat on this whole plan ahead to make it easier to assemble a meal deal.

So I'm on here. I'll go back and reread the posts on here that interest me. What I"m looking for are the hints and helps that you have about this pre prepping type of thing I can do. I have no real clue what freezes well, what doesn't freeze well. I also have no real clue except for a few ideas with ground meat what I should be thinking about doing in advance and freezing.

Help.

Ginger

Comments (2)

msazadi
19 years ago
Ginger, I'd like to see this forum get going. As much as I love to cook, and I'll have a new kitchen to do it in..next month? I also am going to school two nights and a saturday so I'm gonna have to do some marathon cooking again for a while.
gadgets
19 years ago
If you like chicken, you can cook up a lot of breasts, freeze individually, and use them in salads, casseroles, soups, etc.

I cook up a pot of beans. They can be used in so many ways also, depending on type you cook....could be used in chili or taco salads, etc.

When you make spaghetti sauce, double/triple your recipe and freeze the extras for another time.

Make two lasagnas and freeze one without baking it. Do the same when making meatloaf.

Hardboiled eggs keep for several days when refrigerated. Add to salads, make egg/chicken/tuna salad for sandwiches, or just use as a quick snack.

If you like rice, you can also cook extras and keep in fridge for a few days or even freeze. (I let mine thaw in fridge overnight before using.)

I live alone and have many meals in my freezer. I keep them sectioned off from other items in there so they don't get lost in the shuffle. All are labeled and dated.

Good luck.
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