You know that it’s cheaper to buy large quantities of grocery items but did you ever consider cooking in large quantities too? How great would it be to have all your entrees for the next week already prepared and tucked away in the freezer. Packaged and labelled, all you need to do is remember to take it out and let it thaw in the refrigerator all day, then have it re-heating while you prepare a salad or other additions to the entrée.
First step is to clear a Saturday of any other duties or obligations as you’ll be in the kitchen for much of the day. Then prepare menus for the week. Be detailed and decide on vegetable and salad side dishes as well as the centre piece of your meals. Write your grocery list at the same time, realizing that you can buy 99 percent of what you will be preparing ahead of time, requiring only a brief stop at the supermarket for produce, milk and other perishables that you can’t buy in advance. You will find that buying in bulk saves a lot of money and later, on your cooking day, you can have several dishes cooking in the oven at the same time, making for efficient use of electricity or gas.
Here’s a great rice dish that freezes nicely. You can add in pork, chicken or shrimp or serve it as a meatless dish. You will need:
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 5 tsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1/4 tsp sugar
- 1/4 cup solid vegetable shortening or cooking oil
- 3/4 pound cooked pork, chicken or shrimp
- 1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
- 2 large mushrooms, thinly sliced
- 1 carrot, cut into 1/3-inch pieces
- 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 6 cups cooked short-grain rice
- 2 onions, thinly sliced
- Pinch of freshly ground pepper and salt to taste
In a small bowl, stir the soy sauce with the rice vinegar, sesame oil and sugar. Heat a very large skillet and add the shortening or cooking oil. Add the diced meat, if using, and stir-fry over high heat for 1 minute. Add the peas, mushrooms and carrots and stir-fry until tender. Add the eggs and scramble just until set.
Stir in the cooked rice, onions, soy sauce mixture and pepper and stir-fry until the rice is hot. Remove from the heat and season with salt. Spread flat on cookie sheet to cool, then transfer into small sandwich bags, squeezing the excess air out of them before sealing. This quantity will make several servings, so be sure to label them carefully, planning one for the next week’s dinner, and then schedule them into your menus in upcoming weeks. You are not only cooking ahead for the coming week, but for a couple more meals in the near future!
To use, heat in microwave for one to two minutes, pausing to stir part way through. Add a fresh tossed salad or sliced tomatoes and cucumbers and you have a complete meal on the table in minutes and a minimum of clean up time required.
Here’s another delicious Salsa Verde casserole that you and your family will want to eat often, and that’s nice enough to serve to your guests too. It makes two casserole dishes so will give you several meals for upcoming weeks as well.
- 2 rotisserie chickens
- 2 jars of mild salsa verde
- 6 green onions sliced
- ½ cup fresh cilantro leaves chopped
- ¼ cup lime juice
- 16 corn tortillas
- 1 8-ounce container reduced-fat sour cream
- ½ cups chicken broth or OXO
- 1 package of reduced-fat shredded Mexican cheese blend
Remove meat from chickens, and measure out 5½ cups. Discard skin and bones. Stir in ½ cup salsa verde. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease two 13 x 9 baking dishes. In skillet, heat remaining salsa verde, green onions, and lime juice to boiling for two minutes, then stir in 2 tblsp cilantro, keeping warm over low heat. With tongs, place one tortilla in salsa verde mixture, heat 10 seconds, then place on waxed paper and top with 1/3 cup chicken mixture, rolling up and placing seam side down in baking dish. Repeat with remaining tortillas for a total of eight servings. Stir sour cream and broth into remaining salsa verde mixture in skillet and spoon over filled tortillas, cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with 1 cup cheese and 1 tblsp cilantro and bake 5 minutes longer till cheese melts. Freeze in quantities just right for your family and reheat in the microwave.
Spend a pleasant day in the kitchen, listening to your favourite music, and enlisting the help of family or friends as you cook up meals for several dinners. You will experience great peace of mind knowing your meals are planned and that you have saved a lot of time, energy, and money.
