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Hello! I have been studying this WOE for years now, along with different cooking methods. I love to modify recipes … and I also am very busy with my career and young family. I know you can identify with me, wondering where I am going to find time to cook. I have really gotten into BATCH COOKING and I want to encourage you as to how to modify BATCH COOKING to fit this WOE.
I choose one day a week that I am going to make one or two recipes, doubled or tripled, in order to make several meals at once. I have an extra freezer where I can set aside meals for the future weeks and I can tell you how to use your freezer as well. I choose the recipes and make sure I have everything on hand before that day.
Here are some things I also have on hand: I love the foil cake pans (8†square) that are in the baking section of the grocery store. If I cover them in foil, they fit in a gallon zip lock bag and then stack on top of each other in the freezer without taking up a whole lot of space. Most of my recipes I then pull out the zip lock out of the freezer the day before I am going to make it, and let it thaw in the fridge at least overnight. I use peel and stick labels (from my home office) to label what the recipe is on the foil wrapper, along with the baking instructions, and then I reuse the zip locks for another recipe (I also am pretty frugal!!!). You can then bake the recipe after the thaw in the foil square, and can pitch the foil baking dish afterwards (which makes clean up a breeze too!). I also then have a batch of bake and eat dishes I can share with friends if they are sick, have a new baby, etc., my friends and I love to share dishes!! I plan out my family’s meal a month at a time in an excel spreadsheet on my computer…and I keep track of what freezer meals are in the freezer on a spreadsheet as well (adding new dishes, deleting dishes we have eaten). That way I don’t end up with those ‘forgotten dinners’ in the frosted shelves! And even though I plan out what days I am going to batch cook and what recipes I am going to use, I still modify it based on activities that come up and (of course!) meats I find on sale at the grocery!
Here is today’s example, if you have any questions you can post them and I will be happy to answer them. I made double batch of JEN’S ITALIAN CASSEROLE http://www.lowcarbrecipes.org/recipe.cgi?action=view_recipe&id=2297&reci pe=Jen's+Italian+Casserole&category=Beef, and a single batch of JEN’S CROCK POT PORK CHOPS WITH WINE http://www.lowcarbrecipes.org/recipe.cgi?action=view_recipe&id=2295&reci pe=Jen's+Crock+Pot+Pork+Chops+with+Wine&catego ry=Soups,+Stews+and+Crockpot+Recipes. My family will eat at the most four pork chops in one meal, so this recipe will make two dinners.
I made the Italian Casserole first, and it fit into two Foil Baking Squares and one Deep Dish Pie Plate. I covered the two Foil Squares, unbaked remember, and put each in a gallon zip lock. These were labeled and put in my deep freezer. The pie plate dish I will bake tonight for dinner (it will bake in 40 minutes). Wow, there is three dinners made in the time of one! I cleaned the large skillet in my favorite way: Sprinkle the pan with baking soda (a couple of tablespoons, it is cheap so use it liberally!) and then fill the pan less than halfway with hot water. Set pan back on the burner, heat off and let sit while you work on the next recipe’s preparations (today I sliced up the sweet onions). After a few minutes, I could release all the burnt pieces with my spatula. After scraping the pan with the spatula, I dumped the water in the sink and wiped clean with a paper towel. Pan is ready to go again! So much better than the expensive release spray that they sell now!!! Make sure you read through the whole recipe of the pork chops and follow the steps in order. In the end you will find your pan is almost clean … I throw mine now into the dishwasher. The crock pot chops are now in the crock pot and will cook until I get home tonight after 9pm. I will put half the batch then in a Gladware type container, labeled and added to the freezer. The second batch I will put in a second Gladware container and into the fridge for dinner tomorrow. In about an hour total, I made FIVE DINNERS worth of entrees!
I choose one day a week that I am going to make one or two recipes, doubled or tripled, in order to make several meals at once. I have an extra freezer where I can set aside meals for the future weeks and I can tell you how to use your freezer as well. I choose the recipes and make sure I have everything on hand before that day.
Here are some things I also have on hand: I love the foil cake pans (8†square) that are in the baking section of the grocery store. If I cover them in foil, they fit in a gallon zip lock bag and then stack on top of each other in the freezer without taking up a whole lot of space. Most of my recipes I then pull out the zip lock out of the freezer the day before I am going to make it, and let it thaw in the fridge at least overnight. I use peel and stick labels (from my home office) to label what the recipe is on the foil wrapper, along with the baking instructions, and then I reuse the zip locks for another recipe (I also am pretty frugal!!!). You can then bake the recipe after the thaw in the foil square, and can pitch the foil baking dish afterwards (which makes clean up a breeze too!). I also then have a batch of bake and eat dishes I can share with friends if they are sick, have a new baby, etc., my friends and I love to share dishes!! I plan out my family’s meal a month at a time in an excel spreadsheet on my computer…and I keep track of what freezer meals are in the freezer on a spreadsheet as well (adding new dishes, deleting dishes we have eaten). That way I don’t end up with those ‘forgotten dinners’ in the frosted shelves! And even though I plan out what days I am going to batch cook and what recipes I am going to use, I still modify it based on activities that come up and (of course!) meats I find on sale at the grocery!
Here is today’s example, if you have any questions you can post them and I will be happy to answer them. I made double batch of JEN’S ITALIAN CASSEROLE http://www.lowcarbrecipes.org/recipe.cgi?action=view_recipe&id=2297&reci pe=Jen's+Italian+Casserole&category=Beef, and a single batch of JEN’S CROCK POT PORK CHOPS WITH WINE http://www.lowcarbrecipes.org/recipe.cgi?action=view_recipe&id=2295&reci pe=Jen's+Crock+Pot+Pork+Chops+with+Wine&catego ry=Soups,+Stews+and+Crockpot+Recipes. My family will eat at the most four pork chops in one meal, so this recipe will make two dinners.
I made the Italian Casserole first, and it fit into two Foil Baking Squares and one Deep Dish Pie Plate. I covered the two Foil Squares, unbaked remember, and put each in a gallon zip lock. These were labeled and put in my deep freezer. The pie plate dish I will bake tonight for dinner (it will bake in 40 minutes). Wow, there is three dinners made in the time of one! I cleaned the large skillet in my favorite way: Sprinkle the pan with baking soda (a couple of tablespoons, it is cheap so use it liberally!) and then fill the pan less than halfway with hot water. Set pan back on the burner, heat off and let sit while you work on the next recipe’s preparations (today I sliced up the sweet onions). After a few minutes, I could release all the burnt pieces with my spatula. After scraping the pan with the spatula, I dumped the water in the sink and wiped clean with a paper towel. Pan is ready to go again! So much better than the expensive release spray that they sell now!!! Make sure you read through the whole recipe of the pork chops and follow the steps in order. In the end you will find your pan is almost clean … I throw mine now into the dishwasher. The crock pot chops are now in the crock pot and will cook until I get home tonight after 9pm. I will put half the batch then in a Gladware type container, labeled and added to the freezer. The second batch I will put in a second Gladware container and into the fridge for dinner tomorrow. In about an hour total, I made FIVE DINNERS worth of entrees!
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