The basic idea is to cook more efficiently by cooking 3 or 4 or 6 times one normal recipe and then freezing the result so that you have 3 or 4 or 6 ready-made meals waiting for you in the freezer. Many recipes lend themselves to this sort of mass production such as a cheesy chicken pasta casserole that the young lady is making while her sister is explaining some of the finer points of shared mass production. By making a whole day of it and by making it a social occasion with a sister, a friend, even your husband, you can get even more mileage out of the experience. We were treated with samples of dishes that these women have cooked for their family, handouts giving great substitutions, and tips such as using #10 cans to hold up the gallon plastic Ziploc bags for easier filling. All in all it was a good presentation.
I would be even more excited about trying it out if (1) we had more family recipes that lent themselves to this method; and (2) we had any space at all in our freezers to store completed meals. Until then I'll just have to think of assembly line cooking as preparing leftovers ahead of time.
I went to the enrichment night, too and was totally inspired! It will probably take me several years (and possibly owning a deep-freezer would be helpful) to work up to what these ladies do. Cooking 30 meals in 1 day!
ReplyDeleteBut I've already got some hamburger in the fridge that needs to go in the freezer, so why not make it into meatloaf first?
I agree, Shirley, that the women were well prepared and inspiring. They showed us a great example of Point B. I just reacted to our freezers so full that we can't put any leftovers in them. And I need to figure out how to get from Point A to Point B.
ReplyDeleteI would also think that eating so many of the same meal would get boring (although boring is better than starving).
ReplyDeleteDid they suggest to get with friends have each family be responsible for making a certain dish and then sharing? You still need the freezer space, but then you have 5 different meals instead of the same one. This however assumes you trust the other families to make a good meal.
Jonathan, the women said they've heard of groups like you're describing - a "meal exchange," similar to a cookie exchange--but they haven't tried that.
ReplyDeleteI also enjoyed the presentation, and I especially liked the Navajo Tacos and the Ham and Cheese Casserole. I fear my kitchen isn't big enough for mass production, but I think your kitchen would be perfect, Arnold! 8^)