Top Timesaving Tips for Bulk Cooking
Have you ever been tempted to try to to a month worth of meals in an afternoon? I can’t tell you how many times I have looked at posts and cookbooks that promise 30 delicious meals in one afternoon. But the bottom line is that we don’t have a deep freezer-only the side by side freezer in my kitchen refrigerator. I have come up with a few shortcuts and time saving tips that save me literally HOURS every month!
Tip #1 Plan your meals for the month/week and calculate how how of each protein you will need. Buy the items as they go on sale if you wish to bargain shop.
Tip #2 Portion your large pieces of meat for faster thawing and less mess. If you have purchased a large piece or package of meat, like whole pork loin, Strip Roast, leg of lamb etc. – and plan to use it as chops or smaller cuts of meat, go ahead and cut it up into chops, individually wrap the chops with freezer paper and place them in a gallon size freezer bag labeled with the date and what it is. Or if it is a large package of chicken or ground beef, portion it out into one meal servings and place them in a freezer bag.
Tip #3 If you have meats that need to be marinated, go ahead and place them in their marinade and right into the freezer until you are ready to use them.
Tip #4 If your recipe calls for cooked meat- cook it before you freeze it. Boil and cut chicken breasts and fry hamburger until no longer pink before portioning.
Tip #5 Cook extra chicken for super fast impromptu dinners. For example, I buy a ten pound bag of chicken breasts every two weeks. While I am putting my other groceries away and prepping my other meats, I put all 10 pounds into a large kettle and just cover with water. I add about 2 tablespoons of chicken bouillon to the water for a little flavor. Bring to a boil and cook for approx. 12-15 or until temperature on an instant read thermometer reaches 165 degrees. If you are cooking from frozen, the cook time will be approximately 20-30 minutes. Drain your chicken and let cool. Cut it into 1/2″ cubes and portion into ziplock freezer bags before freezing. Use this is chicken stir frys, BBQ chicken pizza’s, topping for a salad, etc.
Tip #6 Hard boil and peel a dozen eggs. In five minutes you can have egg salad, chopped eggs for a salad, sliced with mashed avocado on toast, deviled eggs and more!
Tip #7 Catalog your freezer items. Be sure to write on the outside of the bag, what it is, the date your froze it and for what meal it will be used. Keep a list of all meats that you freeze. If you need to use one of those pre-portioned bags of meat for a different meal, make a note on your sheet so that you can replace it. Our cubed chicken always disappears because we use it for quick lunches when we are out of time.
By cooking your meats and portioning them out when you purchase the meat will save you an enormous amount of time each month. In one hour, you can boil and cube 10 pounds of chicken breast, saute 4 pounds of ground beef/turkey/chicken, hard boil a dozen eggs and bake 1 pound of bacon, cut up a pork loin into chops and place your cut up portioned packages of meat in the freezer. This will save you 30 minutes per meal!