The Cook Part 2

    There was a post on a blog that one of our fellow cooks read and it criticized bulk cooking like this.  Her reasoning was that we cook all the nutrients out of our food by re-cooking the food.  She wasn't referring to us personally, it was a generalization.  She recommended once a week cooking.  Now, I have 2 responses to this based on what we do and who we are.

 1.  We don't RE COOK many of our meals (some yes).  Our group is different from many in that our meals are prepped (most of them anyway).  This means we put together a marinade and pour it over our fresh, never frozen chicken and THEN freeze it ONE TIME.  When we thaw and cook it that is the first time it has been cooked and it was only frozen once.  There are a few in there that are totally made like some of the various soups, or chicken pot pies or enchiladas.  They are not in the majority at all.  Out of the 24 meals we take home, I am guessing there are 3 or 4 like that.

2.  Cook once a week...which means shop once a week to get the sales??!!  You are kidding me, right?  I have 6 kids with 3 in diapers AND I home-school.  That is not an option for me.  It would cost me double because I would have to bribe my children with cookies or convenience foods and pray they didn't sneak in loads of additional items into the cart while I calmed a screaming child or picked up an entire display of Bar B Q sauce that my 17 month old knocked over.  Shopping for us is not for the faint at heart and we are not THAT big of a family.  I  seldom shop and have considered getting a cow and chickens to keep us in milk and eggs (oh, a goat will do).  I shop like a maniac (insert the music from Flashdance...Maniac) through the store...running and flying on my broom through the isles.  I do this without children and being without children seldom happens so needless to say going to the grocery happens as seldom as I can get away with.  There are whispers right now from children in my house claiming that they might starve because they don't have the appropriate snacks.  I say that they can wait. Snacks are the work of the devil.  Truly! Right now I have 24 meals stacked in my freezer minus the enchiladas and the fabulous roast we have already eaten.  I have an additional 12 meals and some pieces of things that will be used in soups once I get it all organized and planned out this next week.

    If you are considering doing this type of cooking you must consider LOTS of things before starting.

1.  I highly recommend reading as many blogs and sites that you can before undertaking it.  This group has been around for a long time and has ironed out lots of details, BUT what we do may not be what you want to do or what works for you. Check out other options first.

2.  We do NOT do lots of casserole type things.  We LIKE variety and we don't repeat too many recipes each time.  One or two out of the 6 we each share might be a repeat from a previous month.  We all have to approve!  No one can get offended.  We do have one who is Gluten free so we adjust accordingly....we still do some things that have Gluten, but often change ingredients for her or leave things out for her and sometimes even trade meals.

3.  If it can't go in a freezer baggie it had better be worth the space and cost of the container.

4.  We must limit the number of items to be prepped....meaning pre-cooked meat or chopped things.  We DO prep, but it can't be tons of it.  We DO use pre cut veggies if possible.  Those things are done by 2 of the members the day before.  The other 2 shop.  Guess which group I am in!  I will cry great tears over my onions, but don't send me to the store!

5. You must have the space to do this.  Yes, you can make do, but it makes a BIG difference if you have ample space.  We are blessed to be able to use our church kitchen.  It has 2 big islands in the middle which allows 2 at each island, one on either side.  There are 2 long metal table at the end of this for our staples and a large double fridge to store cold things while we cook.  There is another serving bar where we put our food as it stacks up.  Honestly we could just start putting it in our coolers at this point, but we have the bar and it works great.  We do bring most of our utensils, but if we forget, there are some there.  If you do this in a home you MUST consider the fact that ONE fridge is NOT going to hold all of your cold items.  You would have to buy right before you cook...as in shop, walk in and cook. Not a good option for us.

6. Decide who will do which job.  This should be done based of preferences and talents. In addition to that, consider where you will shop.  We buy MOST of our meat from a meat processing place in our area.  The meat is FRESH and all we do is call in the order and they pull it together and load our car.  Same thing at Sams.  We can call it in and have it ready, thus reducing the amount of actually shopping time. Walmart is our next place unless the sales are better at Kroger.

7.  One person stores the dry goods at their house all the time.  This is the main shopper and list maker.  She has 2 large Sterlite containers in her laundry room that are for our group.

We just finished a cook this past Saturday and did it in record time finishing before 12 and we started around 7:30 after loading in.  We did, however go a little above what we like to spend and crossed over the $9 per meal allotment by some change.  That's still not bad when you consider our meals feed 8 and we had salmon and several other fish meals that cost a little more.  Ground beef was also more expensive and normally we don't cook too many ground beef meals and yet did this time.  Great cook!  Great women!  Great fellowship! Great ministry of friends!  I learn from these ladies and they bless me far beyond the meals.  God is good!