Cooking in bulk

Posted on | February 26, 2009 | 1 Comment

I buy a lot of my groceries at Sam’s Club. They don’t accept coupons, but by buying in bulk I’m still getting a great value. I don’t have the option of shopping at these great stores that have all the deals you read about in other blogs. I need to save in different ways and this seems to work for me. It can work for you too.

I cook for at least a family of five. Sometimes more if we are having guests. Even if you only cook for one or two, this is a great way to prepare your meals ahead of time. It will actually work better for you as the food will stretch much further. You can freeze smaller portions resulting in more meals, with the same amount of cooking time.

This week at Sam’s I bought a big package of meat and one of chicken (along with some sausage at Publix). I also stocked up on canned tomatoes to make sauce.

I don’t have a real recipe for the sauce, I’ve been making it so long it’s automatic. I chop an onion into small pieces and brown it with a little olive oil in the pan. Once they are soft and slightly brown I add the garlic. When you can smell the garlic, it only takes a few minutes, add the tomatoes. If I have fresh herbs I’ll use them, but I haven’t lately so I just use Italian seasoning. I bought it in the spice section and it’s got oregano, parsley & thyme. About one huge tablespoon. Then I add two bay leaves. Let it cook on low.

I bought enough chop meat to make at least three meals. First I took a little more then half the chop meat to make meatballs. If you haven’t realized it yet I am pretty bad at following recipes, so I don’t have an exact one for the meatballs either. What I do is put the meat in a big bowl and add one egg, some parmesan cheese (maybe a cup), Italian bread crumbs (maybe a cup and a half) and some milk ( a few tablespoons). Then I use a grater with small holes to shred half an onion and add that as well.

Mix it to combine, don’t over mix. Make the meatballs whatever size you want, my kids like them on the smaller side so that’s how I make ours. You can cook them in a few different ways. You can fry them in a pan and drain them on a paper towel or bake them in the oven. Then add them to your sauce. I put them right into the sauce and let them cook. You want toget all the fat out so this is a little more work. As the meatballs cook, the fat will rise to the surface of the sauce. You need to use a spoon to skim it off the surface. You will be amazed how much fat you will take out of your meal this way.Then I browned the sausage in the oven. I punch some holes in each one and broil them on low until they are nice and brown. Again I drain them on some paper towels and add them to the sauce.

I will freeze half the meatballs and sausage to use for sandwiches. The other half I will serve with pasta. The rest of the chop meat I use for tacos. I take the meat, brown it, add a little of the tomato sauce and freeze it. Then when I need it all I have to do is brown up an onion and add the meat and seasoning.

I used the chicken to make chicken cutlets. I cut them and pound them thin. Then dip them in a mixture of eggs and milk. Then I cover them in the bread crumbs.

Then fry them in some oil ( I used canola). They need to be golden brown on each side, about 4 or 5 minutes per side, it really depends on the thickness of your cutlets.

Make sure you drain the oil off by placing the cutlets on paper towels. Be sure to get the excess oil off the top as well, I pat them with a paper towel as well.

I make a few different meals out of this. I use some of the sauce I made and some of the frozen mozzarella I bought the week before and make chicken parmesan.

That will be enough for a meal and some left overs. I will also make a meal out of just plain chicken cutlets and some rice and a veggie. There will still be some cutlets left and we will use them in salad for a great lite dinner or lunch.

I was able to make 6 meals and will have enough for at least two more meals in leftovers. It only took me a few hours to cook and clean it up, time well spent. Especially on a busy night when I have an easy, homemade meal ready to heat.

Thanks to Angie for the post that inspired me to share this.