The unexpected cook-a-thon

Monek Marie

This morning I knew I should do a roast that was in the refrigerator. My plan was a roast with veggies. The left overs would make two more meals and then finally a veggie soup. I seared the meat. then realized I was running behind in time so set the roast aside to finish when I returned home.

Before I left I opened the fridge and noticed the hamburg I bought would benefit from being cooked today. So my mind kicked in gear and decided I would divide the hamburg in 4 sections. one would be for tacos, and the rest would be cooked up as a chunky hamburg tomato sauce that would be used for Chili, Spaghetti sauce and Spanish rice. I would freeze some up and save on cooking time for meals later this week.

Well while I was downtown one of my friends dropped off Marinated chicken, eight large pieces. I could have refrozen it but it was a bit more thawed than I like for refreezing, so as I type, I have Italian breaded chicken cooking. It will be served with stuffing, fresh veggies and fruit yogurt dessert. I did three pieces so there will be left overs for lunch, probably served with egg nest noodles.

I have five more marinated pieces to cook. I'll cook them plain and possibly use for a chicken cheese and rice casserole. One piece will just be cooked up to add to a soup or as a snack.

It will take a few more hours to prep everything else but the snow is blowing sideways and we have white outs so what better to do on a cold snowy night?

dipat2005

@Denise Grant it sounds like a lot of work along with the fun. I have had marathons when I have done the same thing. Even though I don't have kids at home I am grateful to have some meals prepared and frozen.

Monek Marie

@dipat2005 I don't haven kids but my I do take care of my mother and getting her to eat well rounded meals is challenging. Add to that my schedule at times and having semi prepared meals is a huge help.

Overall it was not a bad night. While food was cooking I looked at seed catalogs. I have between 12 and 14 meals just about ready to go. I always add fresh veggies or fruit with every meal.

lewis.mary.e

https://community.thegrownetwork.com/discussion/846110/the-unexpected-cook-a-thon

First off, let me say Well done! That's a lot of work!

It's going to be frigid here over the next 5 days, and my 19 year old son has been asking for baked goods. So we are going to be making cookies, breads, scones and biscuits to keep the house cozy. Luckily we can freeze the cookies and breads for future consumption.

Melissa Swartz

About once a year my daughter and I get together for a cooking day. The intent is to create freezer meals for those days when there's no time or energy for cooking. It takes some planning and organization, but it's well worth the effort. We only make recipes that are "dump and go" and require no advance cooking. We decide what we want to make, split the grocery shopping, and then it's "meal day."

If we're testing a recipe, we may make only one meal for each of us out of a recipe. If it's a "known good" recipe, we make multiple meals out of the recipe. It's very efficient to make the same thing multiple times. Then we seal, label, and freeze the food for later.

It's SO nice to have an assortment of meals already made. Just thaw and throw into a slow cooker, or Instant Pot (thawing not required) and you have a home made meal to eat.