Okay, so I know that my title doesn’t make a lot of sense right at first, but stay with me on this…I promise that it does. First, however, I must give a little bit of background information as to my expertise in this field and cooking in particular.
I’m Not Naturally Domestic
You may not be aware that it is possible to fail Home Ec, however, I am living proof that this possibility does, in fact, exist. During my eighth grade year, I took Home Economics and failed miserably…seriously, an F! You couldn’t really blame the teacher. During our cooking semester, I caught the kitchen on fire and during the sewing semester, I sewed my teddy bear’s head on backwards.
Needless to say, at this point, I grew up a tomboy. My mother tried putting me in dresses and I wore shorts underneath so that I could play tag and football with the boys. My parents bought me Barbie Dolls and my brother and I used his Tonka trucks to take them out to the backyard and bury them. I never wanted anything to do with the actual cooking process…just the eating process. Because of that, for years, my poor family survived on Hamburger Helper, Tuna Casserole, Pizza and Chinese take-out.
There is Always a Solution
One day, while I was, no doubt, complaining about having to spend time, after working all day, to prepare a meal, a friend of mine told me that I should do what she does.
She said that she spends an entire day or even weekend….COOKING! I thought she was insane! I didn’t even want to do it for an hour, much less an entire weekend! I had more important things to do…like anything! But, as she explained, it became more clear to me. I practice this method now and don’t think that I could do without it.
My Cooking Process
So, here’s what I do: I gather my recipes, decide on a menu to prepare, gather my supplies (times at least 4), turn on the radio and get to cooking!
When I prepare a meal, I prepare several meals. We eat one and freeze the rest to be thawed out and warmed on a different day…boy does this ever cut down on the time that I spend in the kitchen!
There are several different types of meals that lend themselves very easily to this method and if you are spending the time that it takes to cook one meal, it really doesn’t add a lot of time to make larger batches.
Homemade Chicken Pot Pie is a family favorite and it is so easy to make. I make a huge batch of the filling, make homemade pie crust, or (in a pinch) purchase ready-made roll-out pie crusts, fill up my pie plates, and freeze. Rigatoni, enchilada casserole, and Quiche are others that I do the same way.
You, of course, can do the exact same thing with your snacks and desserts. When I make cookies and brownies (and, believe me, we love cookies and brownies) I make quadruple batches, eat some, store the rest.
Cooking with this Method Saves Time & Money
If you don’t have the time to allot to cooking meals all the time, or if you are like me and just don’t want to, then this truly is a huge time-saver. But, it’s good to note that it can also be a huge money-saver. If you plan your cooking days and menu choices around grocery store sales, then you could save a great deal of money by buying in bulk and then cooking in bulk.
I will post some more specifics on this approach later, for instance what to do when its time to cull a bunch of chickens, etc. I just wanted to get you started thinking about this crazy correct method of time-organization, first.
HAPPY COOKING!!
More Ways to Connect
We also, as a homesteading family, have three additional blogs that might interest you. Two Oaks Farm Talk concerns the more technical side of homesteading. We discuss subjects like gardening, food prep, and farm building and construction with lots of tutorials!
Farm Raised Family is basically a hub for everything under the Two Oaks Farmstead umbrella. You can learn a great deal about all parts of the farmstead there. The Farm Raised Family blog focuses on financial matters such as budgeting, saving, and more and on current events affecting families.
You can also have a more in depth look at all that we do by visiting our Two Oaks Farmstead YouTube Channel and be sure to subscribe so that you don’t miss a thing!
Farm Life and Freedom is the new podcast we are in the process of launching! It is going to be so much fun!
Two Oaks Farmstead is the farm store… the one that holds the umbrella! Check us all out and join us, not only on our blogs and Farm Life and Freedom podcast but come join the fun on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter… wherever you get social!
