| Cooking every day can be a difficult task especially if you are a working mother. Many mothers or families in general have a different approach to cooking that can be very useful. The way to manage a fast passed career oriented lifestyle and a family is to cook few times a month and store the food for later. In other words cook smart. Unfortunately, cooking a good family meal requires both time and energy. A few wise moms are using a concept that has become known as once a month or freezer cooking to assist them when they don’t have enough time and energy to cook sometimes.
The plan is to cook once a month; you can take it literally or not. You can do it twice a month but the idea is the same. Similarly you can do the cooking in one day or two days but either way the concept is the same. Many working mothers who have tried this technique have concluded that not only does it help by always having something nice and home cooked for dinner, but also helps families stay within their budget. The reasons are that they don’t spend money on cooked meals and that they can plan their shopping in advance when grocery stores have sales.
The most important aspect of saving time and energy by cooking only once a month is to plan ahead. To do this you will need to set aside a day or two for the cooking, days that are free. You will also need to plan ahead and decide what the cooking will entail. In other words decide on what you will cook what recipes you will use so you can do the necessary grocery shopping. Make sure you have planned for a whole day of uninterrupted cooking. The reason is, distractions or other chores you might want or have to do can steer you away from the task at hand; the task of feeding a family for a month.
First thing is first and that’s why you should create a menu and thus figuring out all the ingredients you will need. It is a advised that you do the shopping, or have someone do the hopping for you on a day other than the one you will be doing the cooking. You can also save money by planning your meals for the month according to the sales circulars and coupons you have for the week in order to stretch your budget a little further. It is also advised that you stock up on containers to use to store the food in the freezer. You can do this by storing individual portions or even family portions depending on what you are accommodating for. You should also make sure that the recipes you are using for your once a month cooking marathon are recipes that freeze well. Regarding the cooking session itself, planning is again the key for success. Make sure the kitchen is tidy, that all your appliances are in working order, that you have all the tools to use to cook and you are set. Use all your appliances, for example do one dish on the stove top, another in the oven, one more in the microwave and so on. Keep in mind that if you don’t have enough time to do something it probably is because you don’t have the right tools to do it.
A blender, a juicer for sauces and deserts, good sharp kitchen knifes a digital scale are only a few examples. Use technology to save time. Remember time is money, that’s why you considered once a month cooking in the first place. Once you do it once you will never forget how to do it again. Save time and money with once a month cooking. In order to be able to cook once a month you need to have the right time management skills and the right cooking tools and appliances. Here are some you might want to consider.
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