Cooking in Bulk

I haven't done it myself but I did do some research on it by getting books out of the library - there are alot. It makes alot of sense if you have the time and patience. I have however cooked up alot of ground meat with onion and green pepper and then froze it in 1 lb bags and then whenever I needed cooked ground meat for sloppy joe, chili, or a cassarole I had it already to go. Although I don't make meals in bulk I do bake in bulk, which probably doesn't make much sense. But I hate to make cookies so I get them all done in one night. Last night I made 3 different types of cookies and froze most of them. Now when one of my kids comes home from college for the weekend I can send them back with homemade cookies and when I'm packing lunches for my little kids I just pull a few from the freezer. It also helps with controlling my kids cookie intake because they don't know they are frozen. I do the same thing with cupcakes. I make alot of them and freeze them and then I can just take them out, thaw them and frost them or top with powdered sugar.

I don't usually do this, but I have some great ideas about foods that freeze well. If I did cook in bulk, some things I would make might include: lasagna, chili, any kind of soups... As a matter of fact, I just did a search and found a great article with many tips about buying in bulk and cooking in bulk that might interest you: http://www.ladypens.com/Article/Learn-How-To-Plan-Your-Meals-to-Free-Up-Your-Time/360 Good luck, hope this was helpful! Enjoy your weekend. :)

Hi. I'm another one who hasn't done this, but I've read about it and about Once A Month Cooking (OAMC). There is a site dedicated to the monthly cooking that you can go to for recipes. Just because it's a monthly site doesn't mean you can't adapt it for weekly use. Just do 1/4 as much once a week. But, some recipes will hold in the fridge and others are best frozen. The one site is http://www.oamc.com I'm sure there are other sites as well. It's not a bad idea, really. But, I hate spending all day in the kitchen, which is why I won't do it. Although, I do usually plan for enough leftovers to make several future servings.

About the only thing I do that with is bread, since I don't get the opportunity to bake bread very often. I do like the idea of preparing food ahead and freezing it, so that one essentially has made one's own "convenience" foods. This can easily be done with a variety of foods-- chili, meatloaf, meatballs, bread, soups, etc. It is a really great idea for people who only have one or two "free" days and are extremely busy the rest of the week.

i would love to do this but who seriously would have time to cook 5-10 meals in one day with kids running around... not to mention my freezer is full as it is... in theory this is awesome i just couldnt see myself doing it...

Good question. I'd like to be able to do this, too. I've made chili, casseroles and taco meat and frozen the extras but I've never actually holed myself up in the kitchen for a day and just cooked in order to freeze things. I know many people swear by this method and it does seem like it'd save time, money and energy. Now if I could just bring myself to do it...LOL