Once a Month Cooking; Let's do this! Day 1

I have heard of the once-a-month-cooking theory before. Basically, you make large portions of several meals and freeze. While it does seem to have it's drawbacks (eating the same meals over and over, the outright expense of making so much at once, the logistics of storage), I was won over by the possible convience and savings. I can have a hot, cheap, homemade meal in 20 mins or so. That's less time than it takes to get takeout! And I am covering my own butt for when I lose motivation and start slacking with my meal planning.

I have cooked a week's worth of meals in one go. In fact, it was my preferred meal prep method for a while. Cook a bunch on Monday, heat it up all week. But for the once-a-month deal, I am trying to cook a lot each day for a week, then thaw/heat/eat for the month.

My Plan;
5 Freezer Meals a week.
1 Fresh Meal
1 Make-Your-Own-Takeout Night (pizza, Chinese, burgers and fries)

Even eating freezer meals requires cooking. You have to make pasta, rice, bake bread, make salad. But significant reduction in time spent cooking each day...

Let's try this!

Today, I made a vat of red beans. I think a shitton is the appropriate term. I hell of a lot; 2 large ham steaks, a pack of hot sausage and 5 lbs of red beans.
The stirring was hard. The chopping got old fast. But I put 5 dinners worth of red beans in the freezer, plus we ate some tonight.




I also made a huge batch of spaghetti sauce. I had to make it in 2 pots. I ended up with 6 quarts in the freezer and one in the fridge for dinner later this week,

I have to admit, I am exhausted. My kitchen was a wreck. But when I think of all the things I can do with the time we will be saving; gardening, sewing, crafting, cleaning, playdates.

*All my freezer meals are flat frozen in Zip-Loc Double Zipper bags. I have never had any bust or leak. Plus, they thaw so fast when you flat-freeze them. They take up almost no space and can be easily stacked.