Cook Once a Month!

I've discovered that trying to think of something new and exciting to cook for my family each night is a CHORE! So, I cook once maybe twice a month. What!? Is that possible? Yes.

Day One
~Start by making a list of all the meals you enjoy.
~Then make a list of the ingredients you need for each meal.
Unless you want to learn and add new recipes to your list you'll only have to do day one once.

Day Two
~Go shopping! This may be a hard thing for some of you who are used to shopping weekly or daily but you'll be buying in bulk - don't be suprised if your total is $300 or more but believe me you'll actually be saving money. Places that sell in bulk like Costo or Sams Club may offer you the best deals. And remember your coupons! Look for sales!

Day Three
~Cook all your meals. This works best on a Saturday for me, or a day when you can enlist the help of family or friends. Heck, make a cooking party of it and your friends can all take home meals as well.
I've also, when in a crunch for time, cooked all beef meals one day, all chicken meals another day etc. By buying in bulk and larger cans (like tomato sauce) you can put together many meals at once.
~Freeze your meals. Gallon size zip-lock bags work great and stack nicely in the freezer. Just remember to let them cool a little first and don't stack too high until they are frozen. Label what they are and be sure to put the date on them.

Tips
~For chicken meals I like to buy 3-4 whole chickens and boil or broil them then shred the chicken - you can use one of those for dinner the night you do all this cooking (you wont want to cook another meal after cooking all afternoon.)
~Prepare all raw meat meals (meat loaf) with seasonings before freezing.
~Weigh out your ground meat into 4oz. per person (example I have 4 people in my family so I weigh out 16oz) then cook them and freeze. Use for meals like spaghetti. A kitchen scale is a must! I love mine.
~Put a roast in your crock-pot.
~You can freeze rice and pasta - just don't cook it all the way beforehand.