Once a Month Cooking?

[jacquelynrose]

I had done a search on the Forum but I need more information. The idea sounds interesting and I understand the concept but what I am worried about is:

1) If I cook once a month (or week) how will it taste?
2) Won't it get freezer burn?

I have a hard time eating leftover sometimes after 2-3 days because I just have this image of the taste as not tasting "Fresh" or the same.

Can someone please explain it to me better?

Thanks,
Jacquelyn

[PrincessPerky]

IMO many things do not freeze well like noodles and rice.

But I don't mind potatoes frozen, and meats if they have lots of sauce hold up well.

Lots of people say it doesn't affect the stuff, but I can taste the difference, so I don't do it.

[kashi]

I think the trick is finding recipes that won't taste freezer burned and that hold up well. Do a search online for once a month cooking...there are tons of sites, many with recipes, and they should be helpful. The key to once a month cooking is having a freezer space big enough to handle all that food (which I do not, so I haven't tried it). You could start off on a smaller scale with once a week cooking instead. Marathon cooking sessions don't really appeal to me, because I want my weekends to be MY weekends, my free time, rather than slaving in the kitchen the entire time, even if it is only one weekend per month. To each his/her own!

[mjrube94]

I have a couple of beefs (no pun intended) about once a month cooking:

Before my daughter was born, I stocked our freezer with all sorts of good stuff, figuring I wouldn't want to cook great meals with a newborn. Well I ended up breastfeeding her, and she couldn't take ANY of the spices in the food, so basically a lot of it was wasted. (Even without a baby, sometimes you just don't feel like eating what's in there).

Recently, when I've tried to stock my freezer, one of two things happened - either the food gets freezer burned, no matter how well I think I've wrapped it, or I forget what's in there and it goes to waste. (Now I realize someone who takes their time and is a bit more organized may not have these problems, but that's just me)!

So I prefer to stock the freezer with convenience items I get on a great sale (e.g., Eggo Waffles - kids love them), a few homecooked items, like soup, spaghetti sauce, etc. that I know freeze well, and herbs from the garden (because they're sooo expensive to buy in the store and sooo cheap to grow at home).

If you do try OAMC, I agree with Kashi...start of small by doubling dinners/breakfasts, freeze one, and see if it comes out alright. If so, then go for it, if not, at least you didn't waste a lot of time.

[asrai]

Get a vaccum sealer.

I don't have one but I suck the air out of the bags and that keeps it quite well from being freezer burnt. I want one for meat tho.

[Tree0164]

I do not necessarily do once a month cooking but bulk cooking and freezer cooking. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/frozen-assets/ is a great resource

[squirlma]

I don't do OAMC, but I do use my freezer for homemade "convenience" food. For example, when I buy a 3 lb bag of onions, I will save out one or two of immediate use, and chop the rest of them, put it in a freezer bag, and freeze it. The same thing with peppers. I also buy the 5 lb blocks of sharp cheddar cheese, grate it, bag it in two cup portions in sandwich bags, then put those in a couple of gallon size bags. This keeps the freezer taste out, but gives me small manageable portions. My husband likes kielbasa, which only takes a few minutes to cook in the frying pan. I bought several 3 lb packages, cut them up, bagged them, and froze them. You can experiment with small amounts of other foods to see which hold up well and which don't. This has saved me ton of prep time when it comes time to cook dinner. It has also prevented us from going out to eat sometimes because I knew that there was food in the freezer that only needed a quick cooking. Another tip: when cooking rice, always make extra. This will keep in the refrigerator for several days. Add some of those frozen chopped vegetables, an egg or two, fry it all for a quick, easy, and cheap dinner.