Cooking Weekend specifics

List of meals:
2 pizza joes
3 pizza
2 hot dog
3 meatballs
3 spaghetti
4 corned beef chowder
3 tacos
3 chicken stroganoff
3 lasagna soup
3 cheesy broccoli casserole
3 breakfast for dinner
3 chicken nuggets
3 fish bakes/tator tots/mixed veggies
3 ranch chicken
1 HUGE chipotle roast with carrots and onions
3 chicken taco soup
2 chicken pot pie casserole
2 dijon salmon
3 spinach hamburger burritos
3 shrimp alfredo
3 pasta primavera
3 beef chop suey
3 mac n' cheese
2 chicken spaghetti
2 7 layer casserole
2 stromboli
2 cheese stuffed pasta with marinara sauce

I also made 4 parmesan italian bread doughs.

1.  In preparation for a cooking weekend is to make a meals list (like above but without the numbers).

2.  Then I put the list of meals into a spreadsheet in the second column and put a reasonable number of meal numbers in the first column... how many times can you really eat lasagna or Italian soup.  Although it would be easy enough to make an Italian soup recipe times 10, my family will get sick of eating it after the 3rd time.  Plus, I usually know that there are easy ways to double a recipe because of the ingredients (for example, a recipe called for 1/2 package of onion soup mix... so it is easy to double that and not waste the rest of the packet).

3.  In the top row of the spreadsheet, I label each column as follows: meat, produce, dairy, bread, canned, pasta, frozen, other, on hand

4.  For each meal, I type in the ingredients I need in each category and then in the final category, I type the ingredients that I already have in my pantry and don't need to buy but will need for the meal (this list HAS to get double checked before grocery shopping to make sure I actually have what I think I have and don't have to run back to the store for something like chicken bullion or oatmeal).

5.  It is important to make sure you have all the space in the fridge and freezer cleared out so that you can keep stuff chilled overnight before the cooking day and then get it right into the freezer after the cooking is finished.

6.  I print off the list and go to Costco and Walmart WITH Phil - I don't attempt this shopping trip alone.  We'll either split the list or shop together, but this trip happens the night before the Big Cooking Day.  We find that it's best to put the cold stuff in the fridge and freezer (unless it needs to thaw overnight) and then the rest of everything on the kitchen table to save time from digging through the pantry.

7.  Get a good night's rest - I need every last bit of energy to pull this off.

8.  The morning of the Big Cooking Day, eat high protein breakfast and stay well hydrated, wear good shoes, clothes that are going to help keep me cool, and this time I wore a buff in my hair to keep it out of my face and out of the food.

9.  Cooking...
     I've done it all different ways and have found no way particularly better than another.  This time I did all the easy meals first.  In the past, I've done all the meat first, or started with the hardest meals first.  One time, I did all the vegetable prep the night before (cutting/chopping).  If I am cooking beef tips to simply reheat after frozen, I get those in the crock pot first thing because they take a long time to finish.  Some times I assemble many meals at the same time as they need similar ingredients (so instead of cutting one onion for a beef chop suey meal, I would add onions to all the onion meals).

     This time, I did one meal at a time and finished it before going on to the next.  For tacos, I browned 3 pounds of hamburger and added seasonings and then put it into three labeled freezer bags. I found this to actually be better than browning tons of meat at a time and then having to separate it for recipes that needed ground beef.

     I ALWAYS buy disposable pans from Costco - I get 30 for just over $6 and to me that is SO WORTH it.  We also buy 1 gallon freezer bags, 1 quart freezer bags, and 2 gallon freezer bags.  I put the casseroles into the pans and then inside the 2 gallon freezer bags.  I suck as much air out of the bags as possible and label them with the name of the meal, cooking instructions, and then if I need to add something to it (corned beef chowder - add milk if needed).

Then I'm usually too tired to clean up.  In the past, Phil has always cleaned while I cooked, but generally, I leave the mess for the next day, with the exception of getting food scraps in the garbage and the towels and washcloths in the washing machine and a load in the dishwasher.  I'm sure most people would clean as they go... I wouldn't attempt 70 meals if I was going to do that though.

**Update:
I try not to freeze things like rice or noodles unless they are IN a casserole and even then I try not to.  So for mac n' cheese, I made the cheese sauce and will just thaw it and put it over the noodles and bake on the day I want that meal.  I try and make everything so that it can actually be baked or in the crock pot the day we want it so that it tastes fresh and not reheated leftover.  Also, I have found that green pepper doesn't freeze super well either.