Cooking Made Simple

Cooking Made Simple

It's that time again....time to fill up the freezer!  I don't know about you but when I cook a meal there is a lot of clean up.  I attended a workshop at a MOPS convention a few years ago that was put on by the ladies that started and wrote several cookbooks on Once a Month Cooking.  The lady that created the Dream Dinners Kitchens was also there.  I learned a ton listening to these ladies and realized that my life could be less hectic and crazy if I did a little pre-planning.  I tried once a month cooking where you make a bunch of different meals and put them in the freezer to eat later that month.  I did like the recipes that were in the book but I found it to be a lot of work to make a bunch of different meals at the same time.  I then found something that worked better for me and my family.  I decided to take a recipe and triple or quadruple it.  My family picks meals they want and we make a bunch of them.  This time around the votes were for Sloppy Joe's, Shepherd's Pie, Chicken Stuffed Shells, Chicken Parm, Lasagna, and Manocotti. This time I had extra hamburger meat so I made it up for taco's and froze it.  We eat one and freeze the rest. The next day I will do the same thing and by the end of the week we have a month of meals with a different meal each day for a month. Weekends we usually toss up a fresh meal. We usually throw in a big salad night once or twice a week and the rest of the week we eat freezer meals that are accompanied by sides of veggies. I also try to throw in homemade Strawberry Jam and Apple Butter, corn, peppers, and tomatoes straight from the field, as well as bags of frozen fruits and veggies. It is amazing how delicious fruits and veggies are when they are preserved by you.