Looking to trim the fat off your family’s food budget? This month, Marcy puts the freezer cooking method to the test, shopping for an entire month’s worth of groceries and cooking it all in one day. But will the theory satisfy the palette as well as the wallet?
Eating out is convenient, at least in terms of time. It’s just when the receipts are calculated that absurd amounts of money disappear before our eyes.
My husband and I realized this a few months ago when we were reconciling our budget. Somehow a sandwich from Subway here and a little Chinese there eventually not only takes a toll on our bodies but also on the hard-earned dollars sitting in our bank account.
In an effort to resolve the issue, we took a trip to Barnes & Noble for a date night to look for cookbooks that streamlined cooking. To our dismay, the only books we found were fad dieting books and also health dieting books with meals for diabetics or for those with high cholesterol. Not that those topics are unimportant, they just didn’t fit our desire to streamline cooking at home. We decided it would be best to divide up to search the entire store. When we did we came across an amazing cookbook called Once-A-Month Cooking, Revised and Expanded: A Proven System for Spending Less Time in the Kitchen and Enjoying Delicious, Homemade Meals Every Day by Mimi Wilson and Mary Beth Lagerborg.
What enticed our interests in this cookbook was that it gave a month long menu, the corresponding shopping list (divided by section of the store), and according to the cover the meals were supposed to save money. These all sounded like great benefits, so we decided to give the book a try.
In easy to follow and understandable language, the book instructed us on how to first inventory our pantry, spend one night shopping (the first time took us four hours) and then to spend an entire day (termed “Cooking Day”) preparing dishes for the next month. We followed the instructions start to finish and in just five hours of cooking we had 14 entrees which easily fit in our side-by-side freezer.
While everything smelled great while we were cooking, the real test came in eating the food. The authors explained that the recipes had been tried in several households, and when we tried them in ours we enjoyed them, too – including a few absolute favorites like Chicken Curry and Taco Soup.
The verdict? For the cost of what we normally budget for just one paycheck for food we ate at home for seven whole weeks. That’s two paychecks of extra food money! My family loves this method so much we just had our second Cooking Day and are enjoying the next rotation of entrees.
How do you make eating a home a priority for your family?
– Marcy, Taking Clipping Out of Couponing
This is so interesting, Marcy. Thank you for sharing. I always worry that the food will not be as good after it has been frozen – did you notice any changes??
Sarah – Good question. Because of the storage methods and combinations of ingredients, we did not notice a lack in flavor or taste. (The authors sure know their stuff.) Ironically, as soon as we made our first rotation of dishes, one of my sisters asked whether the nutritional value would be the same. Research says… “While canned vegetables tend to lose a lot of nutrients during the preservation process (notable exceptions include tomatoes and pumpkin), frozen vegetables may be even more healthful than some of the fresh produce sold in supermarkets.” (source: http://www.eatingwell.com/nutrition_health/nutrition_news_information/fresh_vs_frozen_vegetables_are_we_giving_up_nutrition_fo) Because the portion size s oftentimes larger than what we can eat in one meal, we have actually had some larger meals that we’ve shared with family and friends. Their vote? DELICIOUS! I say, give it a try.
Yes, I am going to give it a try. For our family it is more convenience than anything so it is worth a shot (and saving some extra mula wouldn’t hurt
! I sort of like the idea of a full day of cooking with the family. Thanks for sharing!
Just be sure to read the first few pages of instructions. Cooking Day is better when you plan to eat out for dinner.
I am intrigued by this method of cooking–it seems like it would be easier than our current system, but I am wondering how much the recipes rely on processed foods (couldn’t tell from the Amazon page) and if it would be possible to eat seasonally with this type of menu plan. Do they suggest you by frozen or fresh veggies?
by = buy, oops
Hi Sarah B – These are very valid concerns. The shopping list does include some canned foods (tomatoes, corn, olives) but you can always swap the canned amount with a fresh amount in the same consistency (with our last rotation we took tomatoes from our garden and pureed them in our food processor). Since the book only includes recipes for entrees, you are able to pair side dishes of your liking (seasonal foods, etc.). While not as simplified, you may also enjoy “Fix, Freeze, Feast: The Delicious Money-Saving Way to Feed Your Family” (http://www.amazon.com/Fix-Freeze-Feast-Delicious-Money-Saving/dp/1603427260/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1316779864&sr=8-1) which is another freezer cooking cookbook with a stronger emphasis on fresh foods and on stores like Whole Foods and Costco. The recipes are enjoyable but this book does not have streamlined shopping lists and instructions like Once-A-Month Cooking.
Hey Marcy, thanks for the book recommendation. I have always been a little skeptical about freezing food and I think it’s because I don’t really know how best to package it. Do you use Tupperware or some other sort of plastic containers or do you just wrap it all up in aluminum foil? I made some split pea soup last month that I froze in small Tupperware containers…like personal size, and toward the end of the month the freezer burn had set in. Help!
Hi Gretta – We use a combination of Snapware containers and Ziploc freezer bags. While I can attest that the meals in “Once-A-Month Cooking” taste delicious, I also know that most anything in the freezer eventually gets freezer fuzz. Do your meals taste differently after being frozen? Have you considered letting your dishes cool before freezing them to prevent additional condensation from forming on the lid?
Gretta: To expand our freezer cooking menu options, I recently purchased the newly published “Make Ahead Meals Make Healthy: Exceptionally Delicious and Nutritious Freezer-Friendly Recipes You Can Prepare in Advance and Enjoy at a Moment’s Notice” by Michele Borboa (http://www.amazon.com/Make-Ahead-Meals-Made-Healthy-Freezer-Friendly/dp/1592334636/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1318209710&sr=1-1). In it, the Michele recommends, “After you’ve cooked your meals, let them cool at room temperature for no more than two hours and then refrigerate until completely cool. This minimizes the risk of bacteria growth and it will ensure your make-ahead meals freeze better. Freezing foods only once completely cooled not only better preserves their taste and texture, but also reduces the risk of moisture becoming trapped in the container, bag, or wrap and creating freezer burn.” I hope this helps!
Thanks so much for this wonderful article!
–On cooking day did you cook multiple meals at once, or one at a time? How did you organize your cooking day?