Once a Month Cooking
If you are like most moms around the world, there never seems to be enough time or energy at the end of most days to prepare the nice home cooked meal you would love to have ready made for your family. Unfortunately, cooking a good family meal requires both time and energy. A few wise moms have discovered a concept that has become known as once a month or freezer cooking to assist in those nights when time, energy, or both are in short supply.
The thought behind once a month cooking is that for one or two days (if you prefer to spread the process out over a couple of shorter days rather than one long day of cooking) of intense culinary effort your family can dine well for an entire month. Many women who have tried this have also discovered that not only does it help by always having something nice and home cooked for dinner, but also helps families stay within budget.
Far too many mother's will guiltily raise their hands when asked whether or not they've ever resorted to fast food or junk food meals simply because they were too tired to cook or were missing one ingredient for a meal and did not feel up to running to the grocery store in order to pick up the missing ingredient. This practice can get expensive over time and rob your family of some well-earned fun money.
There are some important things you must keep in mind if you are considering once a month cooking as a way of life for your family. The first thing you need to keep in mind is that planning is the key. You will need to set aside a day (or two) for the cooking when nothing else is on the calendar. It is simply too difficult to see to all the details if you are planning your cooking event around car pools, soccer games, or dance practices. You need a full day that will be relatively uninterrupted. If you have a spouse, partner, or family member that can take the children for the day this will be the ideal situation. Otherwise be sure to have plenty of distractions on hand for the little ones or find a way to enlist their help with any cutting, chopping, slicing, dicing, or peeling that may need to be done.
You should also create a thorough menu followed by a list of each and every ingredient you will need. Shopping needs to be done on a day other than when you are planning to cook. This means that you aren't likely to rush through the shopping trip and forget something as a result. Bring your menu and your list and get everything you need in one trip whenever possible. You can also save money by planning your meals for the month according to the sales circulars and coupons you have for the week in order to stretch your budget a little further.
Finally, you need to make sure that you have all the supplies, dishes, and containers you need in order to prepare and store the meals you've prepared properly. You should also make sure that the recipes you are using for your once a month cooking marathon are recipes that freeze well. It is even better if you have recipes that double well so that you can get twice the results from the same effort.
You should also make sure you are mentally prepared for your marathon cooking session. Beginning with a nice and tidy kitchen is a great start. Folding card tables make an excellent flat surface for storing things out of the way and freeing up valuable counter space for preparing and assembling the foods that will be prepared. You should also utilize as many appliances in your kitchen as possible for maximum efficiency. Don't limit all cooking to the oven. Find dishes that freeze well and can be prepared in the crock pot or on the range top. Once a month cooking is a challenge but many women will agree it is well worth the effort on those nights when the thought of cooking seems unbearable and the wallet has been stretched to its limit.
709
|
Beat the Summer Heat with Crock Pot Cooking When the weather outside warms up, the kitchen can be a terrible ...
read more
Cooking Basics for Beginners When it comes to cooking, it is important to keep in mind that everyone started somewhere. ...
read more
Cooking Cajun Food Cooking in the heart of Cajun country is an art form. There really is very little science ...
read more
Cooking Classes for the Masses Whether you are a seasoned pro when it comes to the fine art of cooking ...
read more
Cooking for Crowds Shouldn't be a Frightening Proposition Most people balk at the idea of cooking for large crowds of ...
read more
Cooking for Little Ones Cooking for toddlers and growing children presents some unique challenges along the way. While you want ...
read more
Cooking for One It is often frustrating to attempt to plan meals that are designed for one. Despite this fact, ...
read more
Cooking for Special Occasions We all have those moments in our lives when we feel as if everything needs to ...
read more
Cooking for Sunday Dinner From as far back as I can remember there have been special church occasions when dinner ...
read more
Cooking for Two Whether you are cooking for two out of a sense of romance or necessity you will find ...
read more
Cooking on a George Foreman Grill When it comes to convenience and enjoyment when cooking there are very few appliances ...
read more
Cooking On the Grill Summertime is rapidly approaching. This means it is time to begin preparing meals without heating the ...
read more
Cooking with Children I am fairly certain that most of us have either seen or at the very least heard ...
read more
Gluten Free Cooking When it comes to cooking, there are many dietary restrictions that will be encountered along the way. ...
read more
Gourmet Cooking for Pleasure Gourmet cooking is a style of food preparation that deals with the finest and freshest possible ...
read more
Healthy Cooking is a Must for Families When it comes to cooking healthy meals for our families, there is always ...
read more
Italian Cooking in American Kitchens Most of us have found some sort of Italian cuisine that has become a favorite ...
read more
Low Carb Cooking Around the world people are paying more attention to their bodies and their health than perhaps at ...
read more
Microwave Cooking is the Wave of the Future When it comes to cooking there are few tools that are more ...
read more
Once a Month Cooking If you are like most moms around the world, there never seems to be enough time ...
read more
Pleasure Cooking Far too often we get caught up in the necessity of cooking in order to eat and forget ...
read more
Quick and Easy Lunches for the Cooking Challenged Let's face it, cooking is not a top priority in the lives ...
read more
Southern Cooking Brings Soul to Food I was born and raised in the heart of the Deep South. From as ...
read more
The Wonderful Tools of Cooking Far too often people overlook the importance of using the proper tools when cooking fine ...
read more
Trouble Free Cooking? Believe it or not, trouble free cooking is a common desire around the world. Even those among ...
read more
|
|
|
Disclaimer:
The Publisher has strived to be as accurate and complete as possible in
the creation of this website, notwithstanding the fact that he does not
warrant or represent at any time that the contents within are accurate
due to the rapidly changing nature of the Internet.
This site
is a common sense guide to Once a Month Cooking. In practical advice websites,
like anything else in life, there are no guarantees of income made.
Readers are cautioned to reply on their own judgment about their
individual circumstances to act accordingly.
This site
is not intended for use as a source of legal, business, accounting or
financial advice. All readers are advised to seek services of competent
professionals in legal, business, accounting, and finance field.
Any
perceived slights of specific people or organizations are unintentional.
|