My Variation On Once a Month Cooking (An Update)
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I mentioned here that I was trying out a variation on once a month cooking in which I cook extra meals each time I make something, to store in my freezer for later. Well, the whole process has been going quite well, but I’ve decided to refine it slightly and make more of a structured plan than just cooking extra of whatever I’m already making.
I have 3 lasagna’s left in my freezer, and we’ve had lasagna for dinner twice over the past few weeks. I have meatballs in there (and we’ve had spaghetti and meatballs twice) and I still have a few tacos left (those are a popular weekend lunch item).
So, I’m expanding the idea now to a sort of informal menu plan. This is basically what I want to serve on a monthly basis:
- Chicken Parm (2 nights a month, leftovers for lunch)
- Chicken Pot Pie (2 nights a month, leftovers for lunch)
- Pasta with Chicken and Pesto (1 night a month)
- Chicken stir-fry (1 night a month)
- Lasagna (2 nights a month, leftovers for lunch)
- Macaroni & Meat (1 night a month, leftovers for lunch)
- Spaghetti & Meatballs (1 night a month)
- Meatloaf (1 night a month)
- Tacos (2 nights a month)
- Homemade Pizza (2 nights a month)
- Soup (2 different kinds, so a total of 4 nights a month)
- Pork chops/roast (2 nights a month, leftovers for lunch)
- Ante pasta platter (cheese, crackers, pesto, bread, deli meats) (2 nights a month)
- Glazed Cornish Game Hen With Bacon Stuffing (1 night a month)
- Free-For-All (6-7 nights a month. This will cover nights when a relative cooks or prepares something for us, which usually happens at least once a week. This will also cover nights when we grab frozen food or eat leftovers)
I have the lasagna’s made already. I have the Mac & meat made already. I have the meatloaf made already. These 3 items are basically the same prep with slight variations and require the same main ingredients (cheese, pasta, beef, seasonings). So these will be made together. I can also cook up extra meat here to use for taco nights, if I get a good sale on bulk ground beef.
The chicken dishes I will make all at one time. I plan on buying whole chickens and cutting off the breast part myself to bread and Parmesan. The rest of the chickens I will throw in my slow cooker. Then I will use the pieces garnered from the slow cooker to make the chicken potpies, pasta with chicken and pesto (frozen from the freezer, made with homemade basil from the garden) and the chicken stir-fry). I can use the stock from the chicken to make the gravy for my chicken pies, and also as a base for some of the soups. These require similar ingredients and the prep can be done at the same time.
Pork will be made that night; it’s just a matter of throwing it in the oven for a while. Antipasti can be made that night, its just throwing store bought ingredients together. The homemade pizza’s can also be made that night (although I’ll pre-make a batch of pizza dough and freeze that up).
Depending on what kinds of soup I make, I can make them either with other dishes (if I make chicken soup, I’ll make it with the chicken dishes), if I make tomato soup I can make it when I make a big batch of tomato sauce. If I make veggie soups or special meat soups (beef stew) then I can have a soup-making day.
So that just leaves the Cornish game hens and the free-for-all nights. Everything else will be planned and accounted for in the freezer (or already is!).
Now I just have to formulate a good plan for breakfasts and deserts… any ideas??
September 17th, 2008 at 11:17 pm
Sounds like you’ve got it covered very well!
I try to do one major cooking project each weekend - meaning one meat several ways for the freezer. Being single tho and only having to worry about what I’m going to it, and I’m not picky about eating the same thing 4 nights/lunches in a row, makes it a bit easier than what you are doing.
For breakfasts, I like to cook up a big fry pan of scrambles - scrambled eggs with some other things in it. I always make at least 3 servings - then tupperware 2 of them for later in the week. (In the frig tho, not the freezer) I do the same with omelets, and pancakes and french toasts. Also with fried potatoes and sausages. Then I have something quick to nuke in the mornings. Or if I’m really running late, I have instant oatmeal at work
Weekends I usually take the time for real oatmeal.
Can’t help you on the deserts - except pies - as I rarely make them. Oh, brownies and cookies both freeze well tho.
September 19th, 2008 at 7:46 pm
Do pies freeze well? I was thinking of trying out canning and canning some strawberry pie filling from fresh strawberrys, if I can find the time. And our apple tree is full of apples so I would love to freeze apple pies if possible.
I do a few servings of french toast on Monday and keep it in the fridge. I’m not a huge egg person, but the Fiance is so I make those for him if we are both home and have time (which doesn’t happen too often!) so I’d like to find things I can freeze for him to take to work and reheat…
We eat the same thing days in a row for lunches around here, and if he complains well he can always make himself a PB&J.
September 19th, 2008 at 9:10 pm
Yes, pies freeze well
Think of all the frozen pies in the grocery store 
I wrap them in saran wrap, then with foil or instead of foil I put them in the big ziplocks (which can be reused). For stacking them, cut some pieces of cardboard to put between them, wider than the crusts, so that the pie filling doesn’t get squished.
October 1st, 2008 at 8:04 am
Marci I took your advice, I’ve got some apple pies in the freezer now with fresh homemade apples
BTW I haven’t seen you for a few days Marci, are you still around? I know I haven’t been writing as much but I love your comments, so I hope you’re still visiting!
October 10th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
Had to update you on last night’s cooking for the freezer. The refrig was piling up with fresh produce, plus some leftovers. When my house was under remodeling and I had no kitchen at all, I would buy those $1 or 2 for $1 TV dinners. I saved all the plastic containers they came in. Now when I want to cook up a bunch of meals, I use those. It’s just me at home most of the time, except when I have the grandkids over. Plus I take lunch to work.
So last night I cooked up the elk round steak from the last week’s butchering, made gravy, defrosted/cooked a small ham steak, and had leftover scrapple. I had a lot of leftover corn off the cob, and fresh baby green beans with bacon and onions, cauliflower, and some leftover squash/tomato/beans/onions/mushroom/bread cubes from homemade bread, plus some parmesan cheese in a cassarole dish. And I fried up some potatoes that were sprouting. And I had 2 servings of fresh blackberry cobbler from a friend.
(Remember, I have a Garden! - the only things I bought were the ham steak, some flour/cornmeal, bacon ends, mushrooms, spices, and parmesan cheese. The elk was my son-in-laws and I did the wrapping and boiling down of the bones)
The scrapple and fried potatoes went into small two section dinner trays. I’ll probably eat them for breakfasts this week.
The rest of the veggies and meats and desert I mixed and matched in 3 section dinner trays. Wrapped all with saran wrap. Now I have 8 lunches in the work freezer and 3 breakfasts. That saves me carting stuff to work to eat for awhile, except the fresh fruits and drinks. I am fortunate to have a refrigerator with top freezer at work that I only share with one other person - and they eat lunch out
It was a good way to make some room in my home frig, and make sure that nothing went to waste.
If I hadn’t frozen this up, it would never have been eaten in time. And making up the meals, I am getting the variety out of it, rather than getting just one frozen tub at a time and getting tired of whatever it is.
I often do this type of thing with leftovers
October 10th, 2008 at 4:53 pm
Sounds yummy! I like your idea of using the TV dinner trays. I use Pyrex, but those of course cost $$ (except I save my Amazon.com gift cards for them).
I’m hoping to get some venison and other wild game from hunter friends, I think that would really help to expand our food pallet and save money (and save on pet food costs, since we feed our dogs raw meat only, no kibble!)
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:28 am
[...] and I decided to do my own little mini-baking day this weekend. I have been keeping up with my modified once-a-month cooking plan and so I thought a little baking to help be prepared for other meals might be in order. I made 2 [...]