Homemaker Chronicles

A while back I learned, actually when we only had two kids I learned that cooking food all at once is so very helpful for our family.  I don’t know what the real name for this is, but I call it bulk cooking.  Maybe it is or can be helpful for yours too!

Here’s how it works.

Make a list of the meals (dinner meals especially) that your family will eat.  Maybe you could think of two weeks worth of meals.  I like to go around to each family member and ask them what their favorite meal is or if they can think of something that sounds good.  Let me tell you, they always have input…especially if they think I might pick theirs to make for dinner THAT night!   So make your list and, while you’re at it, make a grocery list.  Whatever you don’t already have in the cupboards, and need for your new list of dinner meals, write it down for your trip to the grocery store.  (Keep in mind that you might be spending a little bit more in the beginning, but it will last you two weeks!!)

Now, when you’re making your list try to use the same basic ingredients for several meals.  Maybe they are ingredients that you could buy in bulk- like chicken, beef, certain veggies, etc.  Include these key ingredients in several dishes so that you can buy in bulk and cook in bulk.  It can end up being cheaper if you can find good deals on bulk items (10 for 10 at Kroger for instance)

Why don’t I just show you an example of a list for my family?  That would be easier I guess.

Chicken Parmesan

Chicken noodle soup

Amazing Chicken sandwiches

Chicken Fajitas

Chicken pot pie

Teriyaki chicken and veggies

Spaghetti with meat

Burritos

Taco soup

Meat lasagna

Red beans and rice with sausage

Chili

Tilapia and rice

Potato soup and banana bread

Chicken pot pie

(Sidebar tip:  I plan things that I can recycle.  For example; if I make red beans and rice I plan for left overs so that I can use the rest of the beans for chili a few days later.  I make more than enough seasoned beef when it’s Taco night so that the left overs can be tossed into the taco soup for an easy weekend meal.)

You get the idea, right?  Right!

The idea behind the bulk is that you prepare some of the ingredients all at once. Let’s take the chicken first.

I buy one bag of those Kroger brand, frozen, boneless, skinless, breast strips.  The entire bag gets dumped into a pot, still frozen, and I cook it slowly with some olive oil until they are cooked through.  Then I take a look at my dinner list and divide up the chicken into freezer bags then label them according to whichever meal they belong with.

Sometimes I even get the basic meal put together completely ahead of time.  Like the chicken pot pie.

Take either pre-homemade crust (or the frozen kind if you’re like me) and put the chicken and whatever veggies you like into the crust.  We like peas, carrots, sometimes broccoli and corn.  Slide the filled pie crust into the freezer bag and freeze until you’re ready.  Now, when it’s Pot Pie day, all you have to do it make the sauce (milk, flour, oil, chicken broth and seasonings) and pour over your already-prepared pie.  I always top it off with biscuits instead of crust.  Then bake covered until the biscuits are golden- about 45 min. at 350 degrees.

However, if I don’t have a meal I can put together ahead of time, like the Amazing Chicken Sandwiches, then I just freeze the chicken strips and remove them when it’s time.  Or for the chicken fajitas.  Although, it is easy just to slice a few peppers and onions and slip those in the bag too…it just depends on how much time and brain power I have that day!

Spaghetti sauce is something we always have on hand.  I’ll pick one quiet and slow afternoon that I know we’ll be home-bound for and I’ll make spaghetti sauce.  So this is necessarily grocery shopping day.  It’s so simple and easy and it can be stored in the fridge forever and used for many different meals.  Spaghetti with meat sauce, lasagna, french bread pizza, chicken parmesan, stuffed shells, baked ziti, and on and on…

Do you want my recipe?

Okay, just warnin’ ya…I’m not even 1/200th Italian, but my family likes it.  A super-plus for us is that it’s low in salt.  What you do is get four big cans of diced tomatoes (either in italian spices or plain), four big cans of tomato sauce and one medium can of tomato paste.  Brown some sliced onion and garlic (minced or whatever you have) then pile all that tomato goodness into a large pot with two small cans of water.  Stir all of that really well and add 3 tbs each of oregano parsley.  Just go ahead and put whatever sounds good to ya in there.

It can’t hurt too much!

Cook that giant pot for about 3 hours on low and then let it cool for another hour.  Store it in mason jars in the fridge or a well sealed tupperware dish.  Get it out whenever you need some sauce and cover whatever you don’t need.

What else?  Oh, hamburger meat.  Yes!

I buy lots at a time and divide it up when we get home from the store.  If I need hamburger patties then the kids would enjoy shaping those up for me.  I place the patties in the freezer bags and slide them in the freezer until needed.  For the tacos, lasagna, and spaghetti, I divide it up into meal portions then label them and then store them.  When I’m feeling frisky I go ahead and cook all the meat at once, drain and rinse, then separate and store.

Bulk Cooking everyone!

As I type this out I realize it sounds like a lot, but it is just normal for us these days.  Maybe the first time it was overwhelming to come home from the store and start cooking, but now I know that the end result is going to be much less stressful and much less prep time- which none of us have, right?  The kids all pitch in and help unload and start our processes so it is a family effort that we can all enjoy.

What do you think…is this feasible for your family?  Have you ever tried “bulk cooking”?  Fellow ladies and gents I want to hear from you!

~Angie

Homemaker Chronicles