Saga of a Once-a-Month Cooking Day

Last Saturday I did a pre-holiday round of Once-a-Month Cooking. It was a Saturday that I could keep “clear.” I didn’t have to be anywhere at anytime. Hurrah! I chose Two-Week Entrée Plan A, largely because I knew I would be busy Friday night, and this cycle doesn’t require evening-before prep.

I did all the grocery shopping at a local supermarket (no discount chain shopping) due to time constraints. So it cost more than it would have if I’d purchased the meat at COSTCO or Sam’s Club. I purchased everything on the list plus the few items on the Staples List that I needed.

My total is $223.08 for what will probably last our family for a month (fewer eaters living at home now) with plenty for company. I just figured up the recipes in this cycle make a total of 70 dinner servings, so that comes out to $3.18 per serving. Remember that this equates to the meat plus other ingredients required to create the dish, and includes any accompanying pasta and potatoes. After grocery shopping I put away the frozen and refrigerated items, but left everything else on the counter.

On Saturday I fueled up with some breakfast, then I set out on the counter all items on the Staples List. I wore my comfiest clothes, including a short-sleeved t-shirt (so I didn’t get the sleeves wet) and shoes with support, not slippers.

I took a few minutes to clean out the freezers (should have done this ahead, but better late than never). We have an extra refrigerator/freezer in the laundry room because we kept our old frig when we bought a new one for the kitchen. It comes in handy for beverages and storing party food as well as extra freezer room. I’ve never had a separate “just freezer.”

I moved the miscellaneous frozen stuff (mostly meat) from the laundry room freezer to the kitchen one, leaving the laundry room freezer designated for this two-week cycle. A tussled ensured because in the process I discovered Alex’s hiding place for chocolate chip cookies that our son Drew baked last weekend. They were in the non-working automatic icemaker bin in the laundry room freezer. When I brought them to the kitchen Alex grabbed them away from me…pathetic! Son Tim and I shamed him out of some cookies. Actually, I proceeded to eat too many of them.

Next I laid out the freezer containers, as directed in the book. I froze the Taco Soup in two containers rather than one, so I can make two meals from it. I can always thaw both containers if we’re serving more people. I labeled each needed freezer bag with not only the name of the dish, but also cooking instructions, number of servings, and date frozen. Then I don’t need to refer back to the book unless I want to check for serving-with ideas. I only had one casserole dish on the table, four plastic containers with lids (because I divided the Taco Soup), 11 one-gallon freezer bags, heavy aluminum foil, and wax paper.

I gathered up all the ingredients that are marked with (*) in the book because they will not be needed until the day the entrée is served, marked them, and put them in a grocery sack in a designated place on a pantry shelf for safe keeping. The tortilla chips, especially, could easily walk off. Finally, I pulled out the kitchen equipment I’ll be using.

First the chopping. Seemed like this took a long time, but after this the work really flies. I put the chopped veggies in small Ziploc bags, although I could have put them in small bowls. This time the onions didn’t cause me to “weep.” Yeah! When they do, I chop them close to a lighted candle, or sometimes I try holding a piece of bread in my mouth. I don’t currently have a food processor, but do have some good, sharp knives.

After the onions I took a minute to wash off the cutting board and dry it with a paper towel.

I love having my iPod to keep me company, now that I don’t have little kids to listen for. I sliced the meat, using kitchen shears for the flank steak and chicken strips, then washed the board again after the chicken. Rats! Cut my finger. You’ve gotta take your time and be careful about this. It’s hard to cook all day and keep a band-aid on your finger.

Just under an hour-and-a-half in, and I was ready to assemble. But first I took the five-minute break on the patio in the sunshine that I promised myself!

As I worked my way through the assembly process, after I finished all the chicken dishes and cooled the Spaghetti Sauce I took a break. That put me three hours into cooking process – but with eight entrees to show for it!

I did run some errands in the afternoon, but got right back into the swing of it when I returned home. By the end I was tired and was tempted to leave Fiesta Shrimp Dinner for the next day, but I pressed on and finished, and I was glad! Then I put my feet up and watched a movie before tackling the dishes. All together it probably took me five hours.

This week has been blissful. Truly! It’s not just that I can have dinner on the table during that wedge of time when we can eat together. It’s also that we’ve gotten into an expensive eating out habit – even though it’s been to moderately-priced chain restaurants – and I know that this week has been much more economical. Besides that, most nights a restaurant can’t beat dinner on our own table with candlelight.