When you first think stay at home mom, its amazing how quickly images of perfectly cleaned homes with well behaved children, four course meals waiting on the table with you looking all done up will come to mind. Cause everyone knows that we moms have tons of time on our hands! Reality of it is, we fight for time to shower, and when witching hour hits, that hour before dinner, you are opening the fridge ten times hoping that something will finally appear that will solve the reoccurring question of “what are we going to have for dinner tonight?”
Before kids, I used to love to cook. Trying new recipes with hours in the kitchen was something I looked forward to. Somewhere in the last 3 years, that changed. My food ends up on floors and walls, and on a good day, I will have 20 minutes to get dinner made before I have to break up fights, or have a child hanging off one of my limbs. Needless to say, there had to be a better way to do this! As if on cue, I was introduced to Big Cooks, a simple concept where in a few hours, the horrible supper problem is solved.
A Big Cook is a pretty simple concept. Recipes are picked, food is bought and prepared, and then everyone gathers to assemble the meals in a few hours. These meals are then tossed in the freezer and the only thing left to do is relax! Come suppertime, grab a bag, defrost it, and go! Some are even easier and get thrown, completely frozen, in the slow cooker. Simple concept right? Well it is, if it’s done right.
When putting together a big cook, there are a few things to know to ensure that it’s a successful night:
When just starting with Big Cooks, plan ahead and pick recipes that don’t involve multistep cooking (browning meat, then vegetables, etc). Meals that have everything combined at once work best.
Try to pick recipes with the same key ingredients and cuts of meat. This will save you bundles in the long run.
Arrange to only do 1 shopping trip. Call ahead with the amount and cuts of meat you need and ask for a bulk discount and for it to be packaged in larger quantities. When you are talking 100 lbs of chicken, most stores are happy to help, especially if it means you not taking every pack of chicken out of their store. Don’t be afraid to ask if they can slice the meat into needed cuts as well, as this will save you TONS of time! With only one shopping trip, you’re also not ending up with 5 cans of ketchup, 4 bottle of soy sauce, and so on.
While each Big Cook can be done differently, there are some easy Do's and Don'ts that will help things go well. The big secret is to keep it organized!
Do try to pick recipes that can use the some of the same ingredients. Some great staples will be ketchup, soy sauce, brown sugar and tomato sauce.
Don’t assume that a favorite recipe can’t be adapted to be frozen. Many meals can easily have a few ingredients left out as added during cooking so that it freezes better.
Do use a recipe multiplier to make sure you have your quantities right. Allrecipes.com has one built in that works great, but always round up with the measurements. Remember to double and triple check your quantities when buying things, its never fun to run out of a key ingredient.
Don't try to take on all the shopping by yourself, enlist a few friends, or go as a group. If you've called ahead for the meat, it makes for a quick shopping trip when you are just getting the remaining ingredients and the meat is already measured out and packaged.
Do print out your recipes based on the serving sizes you want. It’s much easier to double then it is to half, so when in doubt, go smaller and double it if you need to.
Don’t assume that everyone knows what they are doing. Ask people what they are comfortable doing and put them at tasks they know best.
Do keep it small to start. If you want more meals, have people do 2 or 3 recipes each, but the more people that come, the more hectic it gets.
Don’t worry too much about lots of space, you can always do one recipe at a time. If you do have lots of room, setting up stations for each recipe works great too!
Do let people assemble their own meals, some may want some things left out.
Don’t forget to always make a bit extra when prepping the ingredients, you never know when something is going to get knocked over or spilt.
Do keep it organized while cooked. Try to keep each ingredient with the recipe it belongs to and in one spot.
Don't forget to label your bags! You can write on them prior to putting ingredients in the bag, or can print out labels with the name and cooking instructions that you just stick on after.
Do remember basic cooking rules when assembling meals. Keep raw meat separate and make sure there is lots of soap and cloths for washing hands.
Don't just wing it with the measuring. Most ingredients are weighed or measured carefully, so use proper measuring cups and spoons and weigh your meats.
Do take a break in the middle and do a load of dishes, it helps tremendously at the end!
Don’t neglect the clean up. While it’s wonderful to have 30 meals in one day, most kitchens will look like a war zone at the end, so make sure it’s good to go before leaving!
Remember to enjoy yourself and your company while you’re at it, and then say good-bye to dinner-time stress! Happy Cooking!
Guest Blog by momstown's resident Big Cook Queen - Amanda Laramee
