Cook Once, Eat 10 Times (Summer Edition)
[Warning—this is a LONG post]
Why Cook Ahead?
I’ve mentioned before how doubling up on your cooking can free you on busy nights and help you save money because you’re less likely to eat out/call for takeout. Let’s take it a step further and cook BIG. This afternoon I prepared 10 meals’ worth of meat for my family of five in just 1 ½ hours. I call this the “Summer Edition” because I’m avoiding any meals that need to be put in the oven (too hot!). Below, you’ll see how to use this meat for stovetop/crockpot meals that are perfect for summer. I’ll do this again in the winter and share new recipes with you.
Does This Really Work?
Back before I had twins, I did some experimenting with Once a Month Cooking (OAMC) and found a great book called Frozen Assets. I did use a lot of the recipes and stock my freezer before ending up on bedrest. However, I was never able to get the system to work for me. Over the years, I’ve found what does work for me—just cooking one type of meat at a time. It also helps me stay on budget; instead of buying a month’s worth of food in one weekend (no matter what the cost), I’m buying meat in bulk when it’s on sale. I’m still cooking more than a month’s worth of beef meals for my family, but it takes me only 1 ½ hours and I find it doable.
Where do I Start?
93% ground beef was on sale this week; I bought almost 7 lbs. for $13.28 (you may be able to do this less expensively if you use fattier meat). I’ve learned through trial and error that this is the right amount for me; I’ve tried cooking more at once but I would have to use multiple pans and it increases my work time. If the cooking-ahead concept is new to you, I would suggest you buy one “Big Pack” with 3 lbs. of ground beef and start with that.
My plan was to make 10 meals’ worth: 2 bags of hamburger patties, 4 bags of precooked meat mix, and 4 bags of meatballs. If you’re using less meat, just make hamburger patties and the meat mix (skip the meatballs). You’ll learn best through trying it for yourself.
What do I Need?
Besides the ground beef, you’ll also need:
Green peppers and onions (for meat mix)
Bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, eggs, basil, oregano, salt & pepper (for meatballs)
Gallon-size zipper bags, Wax paper
Large bowl, large frying pan, cookie sheet (make sure it fits in your freezer)
Paper towels and soap (LOTS of hand washing!)
Here we go:
- Prep your work area—send the kids out with Daddy, put on some good music, and take the ground beef out of the fridge to take the chill off (you’ll see why in step 6).
- Clean and chop your veggies. I used two large green peppers and two large onions for 7 lbs. of meat.
- Saute your veggies in a large frying pan, then remove them from the pan.
- Brown your ground beef; I used about 3 lbs. here and put 2 lbs. aside for hamburger patties. While the beef is browning (it takes a while in this large amount), form your hamburger patties and put into zipper bags to freeze.
- When the beef is done browning, drain it, then add the peppers/onions to the pan and combine them. Leave this to cool.
- In a large bowl, mix the remainder of your meat (mine was approximately 2 lbs. worth) with four eggs, about 1 cup of bread crumbs, a 1/2 cup of
Parmesan cheese, several shakes of basil and oregano, and some salt and pepper. Sorry I’m not more specific here; I really do eyeball it instead of measure. Basically, you want the eggs to moisten the meat, and then the breadcrumbs make it not-too-moist. Oh—and you’re mixing this with your hands, which is why you don’t want the meat straight out of the fridge (you’ll feel like you have frostbite). - Line a cookie sheet with wax paper and place the meatballs there as you form them. This will go into the freezer for 1-2 hours and
“flash freeze” the meatballs so you can throw them into zipper bags. I spread mine across 4 bags. - Go back to your meat mix. Now that it’s a bit cooler, distribute it between your zipper bags. I did 4 bags with about 2 ½ cups of mix in each bag. Zip everything and put in the freezer.
- Clean up a bit, then go RELAX! You deserve it.
Notes:
- Don’t forget to label your bags with the date and what’s in them.
- Freeze these bags flat, then you can stack them or store them upright like books and they’ll take up very little space. You can store these in a side-by-side freezer that way.
- In general, I use about a pound of meat for five hamburger patties (two are for my toddlers, remember). I usually use ¾ lb. of meat in any recipe that calls for 1 lb. of ground beef, and then I stretch it with veggies. It’s healthier and less expensive that way.
Let’s Eat!
Since I do my meal planning each Monday, I know what days I need to take something out of the freezer to defrost. Make sure you defrost in the fridge for at least 24 hours (safety guidelines here).
- Hamburgers—once they’re defrosted, they can be seasoned further (Worcestershire sauce is delicious) and grilled or pan-fried.
- Meatballs—defrost these and drop into a simmering pot of spaghetti sauce. Cook for at least an hour.
- Bow Ties & Beef—here’s a crockpot recipe with pasta.
- Chili—you’ve eliminated the time needed to brown meat before adding to the crockpot. Here’s an easy chili recipe.
- Meat Tacos—reheat the meat mix in a frying pan, then add shells/tortillas and all your fixings.
- Spaghetti Sauce—reheat the meat mix and add to jarred or homemade spaghetti sauce.
- Taco Bake—here’s a crockpot recipe with Mexican spicing.
What are your Thoughts?
I’d love to get your feedback. Do you think you’ll give this a try? Does it sound overwhelming? What questions do you have?
Thank you so much! My daughter loves the meatballs!!! And the precooked ground beef just went right into a stew in the crockpot frozen and turned out marvelous! I’m about to do the burgers…do you add the onion/green pepper, eggs, breadcrumbs, ect to the hamburger meat as well? Thanks for making my cooking easy! Being a single mom, grad student while working full-time I often do not have time to cook!
So glad it’s working for you! I don’t add all the stuff to hamburgers, that’s just the mix I use for meatballs and meatloaf.
This is such great advice for being smart with your time and money! It incorporates the planning ahead concept without being too overwhelming like batch cooking can be. One thing to add is that a Food Saver vaccuum system is great for freezer prep! I LOVE mine, and when meats are on sale, I stock up, break pacakages into nightly servings, then lable and vaccuum for later…up to a year later. 😉
I've been looking for a post like this for a while. Thank you so much for this!!
Oh darn LOL I just bought 5lbs and tossed it in the freezer!
Thanks a TON for taking the time to post all of this! Maybe I'll go thaw that hunk out and brown it all so I can freeze it again – but this time in smaller portions!
It is just two of us but this tip of doing one meat at a time is allowing us to enjoy are summer and still come home and eat a healthy home cooked meal. I can't wait to use this method when I have kids!!
Aha!
The main reason I don’t cook my meatballs is because that’s how I learned it–to have them boil in the sauce while you’re cooking homemade sauce. That’s how my mom and grandma taught me, so that’s my habit. I’ve tried baking them first, but I don’t like the crispy edges. I find that they’re moister when cooked in the sauce, but if I’m in a hurry one night I’ll do it that way. I don’t have a problem with fat because I’m using the 93% lean meat.
Question not comment – why do you not cook your meatballs or burger patties before freezing? Wouldn’t that be easier? I don’t know so I am asking. Most of the time its the cooking and greasiness of ground beef that gets me wanting to get it all done in one fell swoop.
this is great, thanks so much for your time putting it online. I usually just cook up mince for meals and then bag it ready to defrost for simple meals like spag bolg. I will definitely be doing this in the coming week.
This is a great idea!!! I am going to try this next week. Thanks for the post!
This is an awesome idea. I never think to precook meals. Let alone for a whole month. I will need to try this out as we tend to eat out alot because our family is the go all the time with kids activities that we hardly have time to fix dinner. Thanks Thanks Thanks for the idea.
This sounds great! I used to do a ton of freezer cooking, but I just don’t have a full day to devote to it anymore. I guess I just wasn’t thinking about how a little can go a long way! Thanks for the reminder. This is a great post!
I’m reading this kind-of late…I am going to try big lots tomorrow!
Boiled chicken – blech.
Smoke it or roast it for much more flavor – and then you can shred, etc.
Last week I found boneless chicken breast for $0.99/lb and smoked about 10 lbs or so.
1st – brine your meat. Soak in a mixture of sugar/salt/spice.
2. smoke it (or roast it if you don’t have a smoker.)
I made the following recipes.
1. eat the smoked meat – it’s amazing.
2. oriental chicken stir fry
3. chicken tortilla soup
4. grilled chicken … simply take the smoked chicken out of the fridge, allow to warm up a bit, brush with barbeque sauce and “reheat” on the grill. This works because the brining and smoking process leaves the chicken moist enough to handle another heat cycle. The grill doesn’t cook – but it does give you that nice dry crusty surface and black grill marks.
5. chicken and rice
I do something similar with chicken. When I find a killer deal, I buy as much as I can. Then I get home, toss it in a big pot with water, and boil it. After it cools down, hubby and I plop ourselves in front of the tube with the chicken and our Gladware containers.
After about two shows, we’ve gotten all the chicken pulled and packed in to the containers. Then I stack them in the deep freeze for another day. They thaw very quickly in the fridge (or the microwave if you tend to forget like I do!)
I will have to keep my eyes open for the next ground beef deal and add this to my repertoire!
Thanks for the idea.
And momma2mia, I am so heading to Big Lots tomorrow!
I really like this idea !! I also like to buy meat in bulk and with ground beef I usually just seperate it into 1 lb portions and vaccum seal them raw since I never really know what I will want to make with them, but I really like your idea of pre-cooking it since most things usually start browning it in the pan first, thanks so much for the tip!
I would highly recommend a vaccum sealer if your can fit it into your budget,and have freezer the space! (oh yeah, I just saw one in Big lots today for $32!! They’re usually around $70-$100)
So here’s my tip when I make things like baked ziti, lasagana, or Quiche I usually make enough for 2 or more meals and I make them in seperate pans (usually a glass baking dish, or disposable foil pan) then I freeze the second pan over night and vacumm seal it the next day(so any liquid is fully frozen,since the vaccum will start pulling the liquid if it’s not solid) that way we can have the same meal …much futher in the future… like 2-6 months without all the work, I’m sure you could do this with ziplock bags but would probably want to use it with in a few weeks.
sorry my post was long also, oops!