Wednesday, May 5

Cooking Day

Now that you have spent the past few days planning and preparing it is time to cook! I try to start cooking about 8:00 after a good breakfast and go for as long as I can. I wear my most comfortable shoes and make sure to drink water and eat. Will all the food in front of me I can forget to eat and then I am likely to make a mistake.
I started with the marinades this time around. There are a lot of them due to the fact that we will grill a lot over the summer months. All of my meat was all ready placed in the labeled bag from my prep the night before. I just pulled out the meal I was working on put the ingredients in and  mixed up up to coat the meat.022After I mixed everything up I try to get as much air out as possible and flatten. It saves so much space in the freezer to do it this way. 025I weigh all my meats so that the portions are correct since I am making more that one meal at a time and it helps with my portion control when serving the meal.018Some recipes call for a sauce that you put on while cooking or grated cheese to be added.  I freeze these separately in a smaller bag and then tape it to the main meal. 027My marinades took me 4 hours to complete. I then moved on to beef dished that did not need to be cooked. I made seasoned hamburgers and little cheddar meat loaves.001Then I moved on to the more involved meals. I had 4 things going at once. I browned ground beef for burritos, taco salad, and taco pizza while I started making the gumbo. Gumbo is an easy recipe but it needs to simmer and then cool before packaging. So I put it on one of the back burners while I work on the other things. You an see that I have all the ingredients I need right in front of me so I don’t waste time. 028Now my kitchen looks like this. Normally my husband does the dishes to help out but he was away for the weekend camping. I could tell I had come to rely on him for this part as I didn’t wash as I went and then spent an hour catching up so I could use the bowls and measuring cups again. Lesson learned!!  034Here I am putting the baked burritos together. This recipe makes 10 burritos and I tripled it to make 30. We only eat 7 burritos at one meal so instead of to many leftovers I made 4 meals with a small portion for my husband to take to work. This is a nice way of stretching you meal count that you couldn't do if you didn’t cook in bulk. 004I ran out of 9x13 storage containers so I had to put a couple in glass. Here you can see it made four meals. 005This is one of the last meals I made. I always seem to leave the most time consuming meals for last. At least I can sit down while stuffing the shells!012Here is what my freezer looks like today! After everything is frozen I organize it and stand up all the Ziploc meals to make it easier to find what I am looking for. 002003004       Here is a list of what I made and how many meals.

  • Szechwan Chicken

  • Thai Peanut Chicken

  • Greek Feta Chicken

  • Chicken Lo Mein

  • Heavenly Chicken

  • Blackened Chicken

  • Chicken Gyros

  • Lemon Garlic Chicken

  • Chicken Gumbo

  • Honey Baked Chicken

  • Garlic Roasted Chicken

  • Creamy Ham and Pasta

  • New Potatoes with Peas and Ham

  • Spicy Green Beans with Pork

  • Brown Sugar Chipotle Roast Pork

  • Asian Pork Tenderloin

  • Pork Tenderloin Tandoori

  • Taco Pizza

  • Korean Fire Beef

  • Baked Burritos

  • Taco Salad
  • Hamburgers

  • Haystacks

  • Chili Crusted Flank Steak

  • Cheese Steak Casserole

  • Manicotti

  • Shepherd’s Pie
I will share some of the recipes soon! If you see something that interests you let me know and I’ll try to share those first!

36 comments:

  1. Bekki, Everything looks so good. You are all set now for the summer. I need to do this sometime. Dad would like it that he won't have to fix dinner when I don't feel like it. After 40 years it gets a little tiring.

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  2. You deserve a round of applause!!!!!!

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  3. All I can say is, You Rock! I'd love to have the recipe for Heavenly Chicken.

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  4. OH MY GOSH. Can we come over for dinner. Great job, Bekki.

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  5. You are amazing!!! I would love a few of the recipes!!!

    <3

    Risa

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  6. Wow!!! I have heard of doing 1 month of meals before...but 3?!?! You are amazing! I don't know if I could do that...although I love the idea of having meals ready to go...for three months! Amazing. Although I worry about not liking the meal...

    -Ashley @ www.simplydesigning.blogspot.com

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  7. Brilliant! I'd love to see how to make cheese steak casserole sometime. Thanks

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  8. You are one impressive mama!!!!! Thanks for the tips!

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  9. Oh my word! I'm in awe. I usually double (sometimes quadruple) recipes but I don't have a cooking marathon. Do you cook like this for breakfasts too? I make pancakes in bulk and freeze. French toast and muffins too.

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  10. You have truly inspired me. Thanks for sharing your process. I'd really like to try cooking a few freezer meals, and working up to a month. My husband and I have been going out to eat more often lately, and I know it's because I've stopped preparing. I think this will help so much (and help fill up my nearly empty freezer).

    I'd love to try the Thai Peanut Chicken and the Greek Feta Chicken.

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  11. I came over from Tater Tots and Jello and have read every word of your four post series on planning, shopping, preparing and cooking for an extended period of time. I try to tripple recipes and freeze them. I also try to shop once a month, but the cooking all at once has me stumped. One of the things I struggle with is if the recipe is a good one to freeze and thaw. I'm clapping for you and hope you will write more on this.
    Blessings,
    Nancy

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  12. Brown Sugar Chipotle Roast Pork and the tandori pork tenderloin...sound delish... I love that all your meals don't sound like typical freezer meals. Where do you get your recipes that you use? Can't wait to get some of them so I can try some

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  13. I am amazed. I also like to cook in advance and freeze but preparing that many meals in advance astounds me. I have trouble finding recipes that freeze well. I would love to see some of your recipes!

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  14. I have heard that pastas are the most difficult to freeze because they turn gummy! apparently you make it work...any tips on that? I would love the manicotti. And just curious, what is your shopping total come to when you do your shopping day?

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  15. wow I'm so impressed. I'd love to see the tandori one too

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  16. Cant wait to see the recipes for these THe chipotle pork and the tandori tenderloin sound like they would be favorites of mine. Do share!!

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  17. Wow! I just found your blog today through your guest appearance on Tatertots & Jello and I am totally amazed. I would love to give this a try since I don't feel like cooking after work. I'd be interested in see Greek Feta Chicken and Chicken Gyros.
    Thanks for sharing.

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  18. wow.

    i saw you on tater tots and jello and i must say, you are one amazing woman. i'm seriously impressed.

    seriously.

    amazing!

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  19. This is incredibly impressive. I don't have a family, but still think this is a good idea.
    Jude

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  20. Amazing. My kitchen is quite the disaster after a once a week cooking session. I cannot wait to get our freezer so I can start once a month cooking. I can't wait to see some of these recipes.

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  21. Wowzers! You ROCK! This is by the far the most awesome plan I have ever seen. THANK YOU so much for breaking it all down into steps. I am now a follower and I look forward to seeing the recipes! Thanks so much....wow.....

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  22. This is just fabulous! One day (give or take) work for 3 months of ease! Please share the recipes!

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  23. WOW this is just awesome! I have the same questions as others, I do not know what types of recipes will or will not freeze? Tips on Pasta or anything else? All I know is, I have got to do this!! I am also curious about that huge shopping trip total! I know that part alone will make my fiance try to veto this awesome idea! But I think I can show him we'll be spending the same amount as we do monthly, just all at once! (& we may even save money) Do you go to Costco or another bulk store to shop?

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  24. Seriously woman - you are my inspiration! I have got to try this and seeing everything you posted makes me feel like it's totally possible. I would love to see lots of the recipes but I'm particularly interested in the Greek Feta Chicken, Blackened Chicken, Brown Sugar Chipotle Roast Pork, Chili Crusted Flank Steak and the Cheese Steak Casserole.

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  25. love it! ok, I have to know - what are those dividers in your freezer? I have been fighting to organize my freezer and trying to use milk crates but they don't quite fit when there is a small bit of frost on my freezer.

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  26. Wow!!! This is amazing and what a wonderful idea. I am going to be looking for that book.

    Ruth

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  27. Awesome! I'm in total awe! I also have to ask about the dividers in your freezer. I've yet to find anything that works in my chest freezer.

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  28. OH MY GOODNESS!!! My jaw is on the floor. I need to get each and every recipe so that I can try do this for maybe a month or two. I love the dividers in the freezer! We come from a family that raises cattle (grass-fed thank you very much!) and so we have more meat than we can eat in one year. So space is of the essence in the deep freeze. I'm putting you in my favorites and waiting patiently for recipes to be posted. I found you through tatertots and jello's blog. Keep up the good work!

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  29. I love this! I am totally inspired!! Please post your recipes and shopping lists!!! I would pay for this information!!! Way excited!!!

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  30. You are amazing!! I am going to follow for the recipes. You are an inspiration.

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  31. I would LOVE a post with those recipes! I just got a deep freezer and am looking to acquire proven freezer meals to make! =) Also, how did your organize your deep freezer? What are those blue things? (I also found you through Tatertots and Jello... thanks for this post! I'm a new follower now!

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  32. This is fantastic. I love freezer meals but I have never done this much! I would love to see some of the beef recipes.

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  33. can you please send me the Greek Feta Chicken recipe. I am just starting with OAMC and would love to try this recipe.

    Malissa
    mpwicks@hotmail.com

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  34. Did the recipes of these ever get posted? They look amazing and so much tastier than many of the recipes I've found on other sites. I would love ALL of them,but the Greek Chicken one really sounds yummy! jean@tennesseemayos.com (P.S) if you published an ebook or pdf, I would definitely buy it!

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  35. WOW! is all I can say!! You are an inspiration!!!! I would love your recipes!! hrhalter@gmail.com

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