Batch Cooking: What It Is And How I Do It (Part One)

I have a confession to make. I don’t like chopping vegetables, and I don’t like messes. Because of these little hang ups, I have tried to find a way to make my time in the kitchen a little quicker, cleaner and less choppy (he he).

I have always found once a month cooking intriguing, but also very daunting. It just seems too complicated to me! I have attempted to stock my freezer by doubling up on a meal I am already making, but that didn’t suit my fancy either. I finally found a compromise between once a month cooking and just doubling up a few things. I like to call this batch cooking. It is kind of like simplified once a month cooking, I guess.

What do I mean by batch cooking? Well, I mean that I spend a two to three hour block of time every few weeks and chop, cut, peel, slice, cook and bake. Sometimes I make a few dishes, but mostly I am simply preparing some basic building blocks to future meals: cooked chicken, fried up hamburger, chopped up onions etc. Then I refrigerate or freeze in meal size portions to use later. The benefits are I only trash my kitchen once, and only chop once (in which I can justify taking out my Cuisinart to help me, because I am not really fond of lots or dishes either ) and then I am smooth sailing for the next two or three weeks. Pretty good, huh?

Even though I don’t do once a month cooking, I still like to buy my meats in bulk when I can get them on sale or marked down. For example, if I can get whole chickens for .79-.89 a pound, I will buy as many as my budget will allow and cook up two or three at a time. Then I will make chicken broth, separate out the meat and refrigerate or freeze what’s left, and make a chicken noodle soup and usually some chicken salad in the process. By doing this with the chicken, I can usually get three to four meals ready to go in one shot.

So thought it would be fun to share with you an example of one of my batch cooking days in the event you find this appealing as well.

First, you need a plan, which I also like to keep pretty simple.

I just try to combine as many steps as I can, and that usually gives me plenty of ideas. For example, if I find chickens on sale like I mentioned above, I know that I will batch cook the chickens. Maybe I have some overripe bananas so I will make up some muffins or banana bread. Then I usually always keep some waffles and pancakes handy in the freezer for breakfasts so I will make them as well. I usually double up some dough for dinner rolls, make up a batch of cookies and freeze half, and I have a good to go batch cooking session planned. Just don’t forget to plan dinner for that night, because you will probably be tired of cooking by the end of the day!

Then, you need to start early and use your helpers.

I have a Cuisinart to chop, a crock-pot to simmer, and bread machine churning out bread. And I have my kids, who help out with chopping, portioning out, and of course dishes.

I recently did a batch cooking session after hitting a great sale on hamburger and tomatoes.Here is what I had on my list:

::Spaghetti Sauce

::Two meatloaves (marked down hamburger, gotta love it!)

::Meatballs

::Pizza Dough

::Pepperoni Pizza Casserole

::Slow Cooker Vegetable Minestrone

::Chicken & Black Bean Casserole

::Blueberry Muffins

::Pancakes

::Waffles

Be sure to visit part 2 of this series here,  where I share some pictures, recipes and a breakdown of how I get this done!

This post is linked to Finding Freedom Friday:OAMC Edition