Thursday, November 12, 2009

Once a Month Cooking? Umm...No.

I have a book on once a month cooking that I have never actually used. I pulled it out again this week and read through it trying to decide if I could do it. The cooking part? Yes! The recipes, well... no. I don't like using a lot of meat -- especially prepared meats. Not to say that we never eat meat because we do, but not too often and when we do, it's usually poultry or fish.

Sooo, instead I'm going to peruse more of my recipe books for crockpot meals, and casseroles that will allow me to double them and then freeze them. I need the peace of mind to know that if I am totally uninspired in the kitchen or am going to have a busy week, that I can just pull something out of the freezer and warm it up in the crockpot or in the oven. I am also hoping to get back into menu planning. I always seem to be very faithful about it for a few months and suddenly it stops altogether again. I still haven't figured out why.

Here is one of our favorite recipes. It makes for great freezer fare too!

Sweet Potato Soup

2 sweet potatoes (about 2 1/4 lb)
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 small onion chopped
2 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp ginger root ground
2 tsp mild curry paste
4 cups vegetable or chicken stock

In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium hear, cook onion, garlic, ginger, and curry paste 3 minutes or until softened. Add stock, and peeled, chopped potatoes, bring to a boil, reduce heat and cover. Simmer 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Puree soup.

*** You can double or triple this recipe. We like to change it up a bit with amounts of onion, ginger, garlic, etc, or by adding a can of coconut milk.

You can also serve it with sour cream, or yogurt, pesto, chopped fresh herbs, hot pepper flakes, feta cheese, shredded cheese , red and green peppers, croutons, or whatever else you choose.

Enjoy!

10 comments:

  1. I know what you mean we have food allergies and the recipes for once a month cooking are usually filled with allergens....I always keep in the pantry items for family favorites that can be made quickly. Thanks for sharing the recipe looks yummy ~Blessings Heather

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  2. Oooo, that does sound good!

    The once-a-month thing sounds overwhelming to me, but...

    Try to cook twice as much of everything (that will freeze). Doubling recipes doesn't sound so intimidating, and you can slowly fill your freezer :0)

    Julie

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  3. I'm not a huge meat eater, either. If you have any other great non-meat recipes, please share, too! Thanks!

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  4. The idea of once-a-month cooking appeals to me. The actual doing of it would overwhelm me. And while I certainly enjoy using my freezer meals (I've actually been relying on them lately), they don't seem to taste quite as good as the fresh meals. Is that all in my head??

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  5. So, my sister & a friend just spent 8 hours last Saturday making meal to freeze. Here's the scoop: She spent $77 & got 22 meals to feed a family of 5! That is awesome. Now, they made meals that her family enjoys & freezes well( meatloaf, mexican lasagna, chicken pot pie, hamburger soup, chicken fajita meat, and chicken noodle soup), that is a lot of food! I think at the beginning of the year I am going to do this. I will have a deep freezer by then( thanks to a friend giving me one). Let me know how yours goes... if you do it!

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  6. I received my crock pot, a wedding gift, 31 years ago. It really should have a place of honor in the kitchen, for it's been so good to me.

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  7. There is an award for you over at my blog~Blessings Heather ;D

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  8. Deborah shared this recipe with me a few years ago--it is SOOOO good. Every month or so in the winter months I get a huge craving for it and have to buy sweet potatoes. So thanks again, Deborah, it's one of my favs!

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  9. My tastes have changed a lot in the 15 years since I've started bulk cooking. I agree that these types of cookbooks rely on meat and cream of whatever soup from a can too much. I think just having a plan and the ingredients on hand should be manageable enough for most days. On the days that you'll be out, you can have a freezer meal or something. Also, I like FRESH food, if you know what I mean! All of this pre-cooked stuff does not do it for me!

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  10. I agree about the freshness factor.
    I've found it helpful to freeze stock, or tomato sauce, and I'll grill ch. breasts and slice and freeze for fajitas, salad, etc. But other than that none of my kids like casserole type things, or leftovers, or ground beef based recipes. They take after their Italian background father, and I'm mostly vegan... so we do scramble to throw pasta or stir fry together most days.

    and I"m so going to try your soup recipe, we Love soup!

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