Creating Cooking Plans
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| Creating a cooking plan is one of the skills that simply
becomes easier with time. The first time you plan a bulk cooking session
it is wise to use recipes that you are familiar with and you know that
your family likes. Having a freezer full of cheap meals that no one likes
does NOT save you any money or time! |
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| The most important thing to keep in mind when creating a
cooking plan is to have some sort of common ingredient in your meals.
The common ingredient can be the meat (and usually it is) but it can also
be white sauce or a tomato- based Italian sauce or even vegetables (for
example you might want to buy and use a #10 can of mushrooms and use them
all in one day so they do not go to waste). |
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| Step #1 Choose your common ingredient- You may want to
look at the weekly food ads and see what is on sale |
| Step #2 Gather recipes that your family likes and that
freeze well |
| Step #3 Decide how many batches of each recipe to make |
| Step #4 Tally ingredients- add up how much meat and other
ingredients you will need to buy |
| Step #5 Go shopping |
| Step #6 Do prep work- chop veggies, brown meat and other
similar tasks |
| Step #7 Start cooking/ assembling your recipes |
| Step #8 Clean up the kitchen and admire your handiwork |
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| If these particular recipes worked well for you, then
this will be your first "plan". Save the recipes and save your shopping
list for future usage as a cooking plan. If something didn't go quite as
well as you wanted it to, then tweak your system, change recipes or change
the order in which you did the prep work, then when you are ready to make
this particular batch of recipes again, implement the changes and see if
you "have it right". |
