My friend and I began our monthly cooking journey more than 20 years ago with the Once-a-Month Cookbook, Master Cook recipe software, and six kids in-tow.
We have stirred, chopped, tasted, and mixed more meals than we could possibly count.
Since my own family was never keen on casseroles, the cookbook served as inspiration only and we organized our own recipes around the concept. It has worked like a charm for all these years.
With hundreds of recipes at our fingertips to create menus, shopping lists, and precisely scaled recipes, we load our freezer with some of the same meals you see here at Savoring Today.
We have learned what freezes well and what doesn’t, understanding it is more important to have the menu and the plan than have every part of the meal cooked and frozen.
There are casseroles sprinkled in here and there with soups and stews every cook learns to make in big batches, but many of the recipes are everyday favorites with single meats and separate side dishes.
Recipes are evaluated for freezer quality to determine if they will be partially or fully cooked. Sometimes only choice components are frozen for later use. The menu hangs on the front of the refrigerator, ready for the month.
Here are just a few of the recipes we use:
Turkey Pot Pie with Gluten-Free Pie Crust
Grilled Pulled Pork BBQ Sandwiches
Chicken Broccoli Casserole with Fried Onion Topping
Kung Pao Chicken
Spaghetti Bolognese: Ragù Magnifico!
Creamy Roasted Cauliflower & Potato Soup
Creamy Chicken Stew with Parmesan Dumplings
Tri-Tip Steak Chili
Easy Red Beans and Rice
Blue Coyote Nachos
Teriyaki Chicken & Stir-Fry Vegetables
Missouri-Style Baby Back Ribs with Dry Rub
Grilled Tri-Tip Roast
Grilled Herb-Buttermilk Chicken with Tomato-Basil Butter
Italian Minestrone Soup with Blue Cheese Meatballs
Stone Ground Mustard-Braised Chicken Thighs
Basic Chicken Curry
Chicken Cacciatore, Creole-Style
Grilled Chile-Lime Skirt Steak Tacos
Chicken Saltimbocca
It is not our goal to cook 30 meals in one day (though we did once, and barely escaped with our sanity). We learned quickly that a plan of 15-18 meals would carry a family through an entire month, which made the endeavor more realistic (and a lot less exhausting).
Leftovers, dining out, and quick-fix meals like sandwiches or quesadillas fill-in for the remaining meals during an average month. Monthly cooking has enabled us to consistently gather our family around great-tasting food for more than 20 years.
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Rachel @ day2day joys says
I want to do this soon! Thanks for the great reminder!
Linda says
wow Judy, I had no idea you did this!! I trained as a personal chef to cook for clients, in their home making and freezing dinners for two weeks worth of food so I know exactly what you’ve done and how well that can work. I’m excited to explore further into your blog for some more of your recipes.
Kevin (BBQ Smoker Site) says
We have friends who spend the better part of every summer sailing around Lake Superior. They freeze meals as you have done here and prep them on board with great success!
Judy Purcell says
We’ve done special menus for camping trips or for the kids when we were gone for a trip, makes it so much easier.
Raymund says
I never tried freezing my food but looks like its a great idea specially when you want to save time on busy days. It will also not be hard for Filipino dishes as I think most of them can be frozen and still yield a good flavor and texture after thawing.
Judy Purcell says
I think you’re right. For some dishes, we don’t necessarily cook it all in advance, but even having the meat prepped before it goes in the freezer is helpful.
sportsglutton says
Liz and I tend to cook too much food at one time, so often we will cook dishes that freeze well so that they can be easily be enjoyed at a later date.
Great list of recipes…love the Kung Pao.
Judy Purcell says
Yes, batch cooking works the same way, cook once, eat twice. 🙂
Pati says
This has been a tremendous blessing for my family…the food and friendship. Here’s to 15 more!
Judy Purcell says
Yes, friend, here’s to 15 more! What a great blessing it has been. 🙂
Karen (Back Road Journal) says
Hi Judy, Your post couldn’t have come at a better time. I’m heading out to assist my mother who can’t cook for herself anymore. I am going to try and put some home cooked meals in her little freezer so that someone can come in and heat up a meal for her. That way I know she will be eating something good for her.
Judy Purcell says
Karen, what a great idea to do that for your mom. That is an application I hadn’t thought of, but would be ideal to help someone avoid frozen dinners from the store (which are loaded with junk). And she will have food made with love, which is better than anything. 🙂
ChgoJohn says
What a great idea! Living alone, I rarely make a dinner intended for just one meal and will regularly freeze the left overs for another day. The idea of joining forces with a friend, though, is brilliant! I need to see if I can find a willing participant or two. Thanks for the inspiration!
Judy Purcell says
Food always tastes better when shared (or prepared) with a friend. 😀
Kelly says
Good for you! When my first son was born, my dad was adjusting to being home on his own while my mom continued to work for a couple more years. He was taking on some of the cooking responsibilities but really didn’t have a clue. So, he and I did the cook for a day, eat for a month thing for awhile. It has great potential, but we didn’t keep it up.
I look forward to your cookbook!
Judy Purcell says
I’ll bet that helped your dad immensely. There have been times we’ve taken a break for one reason or another, but it didn’t take long before we got tired of staring at a hunk of meat wondering what it would be that night. 🙂