Adopting “batch cooking”

The solution: Batch Cooking

“Batch cooking” means preparing several dishes ahead of time to free up time and to free ourselves from the stressful load that can sometimes be heavy to bear on certain rushed evenings or mornings. By preparing meals, snacks and desserts in advance and in large quantities, we always have a little emergency “stash” ready to use when the need arises. A Quebec-style shepherd's pie, a lasagna, a pot of chili, pancakes, granola, muffins, energy balls and many other similar things freeze very well and come in very handy when time is short.

Frozen meals, a real treasure!

Careful: these dishes that we'll spend hours cooking and then freeze are extremely precious and should be used like a rare commodity. Save them for rushed weeknight evenings or mornings, or for times when you're especially tired. The ideal is to plan the week's schedule well. That's where our weekly family planner becomes indispensable! By noting each family member's appointments and activities on it, you'll more easily pinpoint the evenings likely to give you the most headaches. For example, at our place it's Monday evening, piano lesson night, and Wednesday evening, when Dad gets home at 7 p.m. and I have to handle the whole 5-to-7 crunch alone, that cause problems. On my weekly family planner, in the dinner section, I then write “prepared meals.” That way I know I just have to take something out of the freezer that very morning. If you have teens, they'll also know what to eat if you're not back in time for dinner.

One Saturday or Sunday a month, we devote all our time to the kitchen. Alone or as a family, we cook several recipes and build an emergency “stash” of prepared meals. Once cooked, the meals are stored in the fridge or frozen, ready to use. Adopting “batch cooking” is beneficial on several fronts: undeniable time savings, a freer mind, lovely moments cooking as a family and money savings.

Storing food

Of course, to put this new habit in place, you'll need to equip yourself to store food. Preparing large quantities ahead of time requires storage space. If you don't have a freezer, I can tell you it's the best investment you can make. I assure you that over time, you'll make nice savings thanks to it: savings of time and money. Another worthwhile investment is building up a supply of washable, reusable Ziploc-style bags like Re-Zip. These storage bags are perfect for freezing desserts and snacks, certain meals and even soups and broths. Being transparent, they let us easily see what's inside. The storage labels for clearly identifying the different sections of your freezer are also extremely handy and make freezer inventory easier. Not to mention that thanks to them, even those who can never find anything in the freezer (we're not naming names here!!!!) will easily find what they're looking for.

Ready to get started? To make your life easier, our contributor Sonia Lizotte and her culinary squad share with you every month, in our monthly Family Manager subscription, six recipes and a ready-made grocery list so you can make them in three hours or less!

Also check out all our downloadable printables that will make planning and preparing your meals easier, ready to slip into your family organization binder!