This month I am working on cooking from scratch – A LOT! Since I’ve traveled twice this month, and have my regular family responsibilities to juggle, I am having a hard time getting to everything on my list. I am off to a good start though. I am learning how to work meal planning, sale shopping, and cooking from scratch together to work for me.
My first realization is that I need my April meal plan ready on March 1st. That way I have a month to find the meats on sale, cook the beans/rice, make sure I have my spices, etc. So many recipes call for a can of this or a mix of that. Well, that is all very time consuming. You have to soak the beans, cook them, then prepare your dish. Same is true for meats and spice mixes. Even if you have the spices in the cabinet, getting them all out for every meal you need a mix is time consuming.
Last night I set out eight varieties of beans to soak. I am cooking these batch after batch today in my pressure cooker. When I go to bed tonight, I will have cooked a 160z bag of each of the following types of beans:
Black, Great Northern, Chick Pea, Black Eyed Peas, Small Red, Light Red Kidney, Butter, and Cannellini
I will incorporate these into my March meal plan (which for once I hope to actually have before March 1st hits).
Important Steps I will take to plan my meals for March:
Soak, Cook, and Freeze Beans/Peas/Rice for the month.
Premix taco, Cajun, and other spice mixes to be used during the month.
Shred cheese that will be used and freeze in meal-size portions. This way, I only have to use the food processor once a month for all the cheese I will need.
Brown ground beef (with peppers/onions/garlic – depending on the dish) for lasagna and spaghetti and freeze.
Marinate any meat that I can freeze in the marinating sauce.
I don’t do well freezing raw meat but I have no trouble freezing marinating meat or cooked meat (except diced chicken).
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
That’s a lot of beans and a lot of cooking/prep! Go, go, go!
Thanks so much for the tip to plan a month ahead! I think that will really help me! I try to do some type of meal planning but havent quite got the nack of it but this just might be part of the problemo. I always feel rushed and try to get all planning, couponing, and shopping (with 4 homeschooling kiddos in to) and it just doesnt work all that well. But, if I have all month to plan I wonder what I could accomplish!
-Lacey-