Do you find your time stretched to the limit and it is an effort to prepare good meals for your family? Unfortunately, cooking a good family meal requires both time and energy. A few wise moms have discovered a concept that has become known as once a month or freezer cooking to assist in those nights when time, energy, or both are in short supply.
The thought behind once a month cooking is that for one or two days (if you prefer to spread the process out over a couple of shorter days rather than one long day of cooking) of intense culinary effort your family can dine well for an entire month. Many women who have tried this have also discovered that not only does it help by always having something nice and home cooked for dinner, but also helps families stay within budget.
Far too many mother’s will guiltily raise their hands when asked whether or not they’ve ever resorted to fast food or junk food meals simply because they were too tired to cook or were missing one ingredient for a meal and did not feel up to running to the grocery store in order to pick up the missing ingredient. This practice can get expensive over time and rob your family of some well-earned fun money.
There are some important things you must keep in mind if you are considering once a month cooking as a way of life for your family. The first thing you need to keep in mind is that planning is the key. You will need to set aside a day (or two) for the cooking when nothing else is on the calendar. It is simply too difficult to see to all the details if you are planning your cooking event around car pools, soccer games, or dance practices. You need a full day that will be relatively uninterrupted. If you have a spouse, partner, or family member that can take the children for the day this will be the ideal situation. Otherwise be sure to have plenty of distractions on hand for the little ones or find a way to enlist their help with any cutting, chopping, slicing, dicing, or peeling that may need to be done.
You should also create a thorough menu followed by a list of each and every ingredient you will need. Shopping needs to be done on a day other than when you are planning to cook. This means that you aren’t likely to rush through the shopping trip and forget something as a result. Bring your menu and your list and get everything you need in one trip whenever possible. You can also save money by planning your meals for the month according to the sales circulars and coupons you have for the week in order to stretch your budget a little further.
Finally, you need to make sure that you have all the supplies, dishes, and containers you need in order to prepare and store the meals you’ve prepared properly. You should also make sure that the recipes you are using for your once a month cooking marathon are recipes that freeze well. It is even better if you have recipes that double well so that you can get twice the results from the same effort.
You should also make sure you are mentally prepared for your marathon cooking session. Beginning with a nice and tidy kitchen is a great start. Folding card tables make an excellent flat surface for storing things out of the way and freeing up valuable counter space for preparing and assembling the foods that will be prepared. You should also utilize as many appliances in your kitchen as possible for maximum efficiency. Don’t limit all cooking to the oven. Find dishes that freeze well and can be prepared in the crock pot or on the range top. Cook only once a month is challenging but it will save you time and money.
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Corn Dog Recipe
Are you wanting to know how to make your own corn dogs? Corn dogs are yummy and easy to make at home. This homemade corn dog recipe is one the family is sure to love. This corn dog recipe offers an easy and delcious corn dog recipe that you can make instead of using the store bought ones.
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
oil or shortening for deep frying
1 pound hot dogs, about 10, or use 1 pound of cocktail hot dogs
wooden skewers, popsicle sticks, or toothpicks for cocktail hot dogs
In a mixing bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt and chili powder. In another bowl, beat the eggs with milk and the 1/4 cup of oil. Stir egg and milk mixture into dry ingredients and whisk together until batter is smooth.
Heat oil in the deep fryer to 360°, or until it’s just about to smoke. You want the oil to be very hot so that when the corn dog is put into the oil it begins to fry immediately.
Lightly flour each weiner. This makes the batter stick to the wieners. Insert a wooden skewer or popsicle stick into each hot dog, to make a handle for the hot dogs. Holding the stick or skewer, dip each hot dog into batter, turning to coat thoroughly and evenly.
Fry corn dogs in 2 or 3 batches, for about 3 to 5 minutes, or until golden brown. Don’t cook anymore than 3 at a time so they cook correctly. Drain on paper towels.
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Chocolate Syrup Recipe
Make your own homemade chocolate syrup with this easy chocolate syrup recipe. Why buy the expensive bottle from the store when you can make your own and save money? Plus homemade chocolate syrup just tastes yummier.
Chocolate Syrup Recipe
1/2 cup cocoa
1 cup water
2 cups sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
Mix the cocoa and the water in a saucepan. Heat and stir to dissolve the cocoa. Add the sugar, and stir to dissolve. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce the heat to low and boil for three minutes. Remove the chocolate syrup mixture from the heat, then add the salt and vanilla. Stir to mix well. Pour into a sterilized pint jar, and store covered in refrigerator.
You can adjust the sugar and cocoa to taste with each new batch made.
This will keep for several months, but it’s so good that it won’t last for long.
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Grilled Seafood Salad Recipe
12 raw large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 lb. swordfish steaks
1 bulb fennel, cut into wedges
10 cups mixed salad greens
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 pint grape tomatoes
1 cup honey Dijon mustard vinaigrette
1 cup garlic croutons
Place shrimp and swordfish in a heavy duty Ziploc plastic bag. Add 1/4 cup of the vinaigrette (which then becomes a marinade), and mix to coat. Seal bag, place in glass dish and in refrigerate for 1/2 to one hour.
Prepare and heat grill. Remove shrimp and fish from marinade, reserving marinade. Place swordfish and fennel on grill 5-6″ from coals. Cover and grill for 5 minutes. Brush with marinade. Add shrimp to grill. Cover and grill 5 minutes longer, turning and brushing fish, shrimp and fennel with marinade 2-3 times, until shrimp are pink and fish flakes easily with fork. Discard any remaining marinade. Make sure to keep the vinaigrette that wasn’t used to marinate and brush on the grill separate.
Arrange salad greens on platter. Cut fish into bite sized pieces. Top greens with fish, shrimp, fennel, red onion, and tomatoes. Drizzle with remaining dressing. Makes 6 servings
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Pumpkin Pie Squares Recipe
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
2 eggs
3/4 cup white sugar
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin
1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Mix in flour. Fold in oats.
Press into a 9×13 inch baking dish. Bake in preheated oven 15 minutes, until set. In a large bowl, beat eggs with white sugar. Beat in pumpkin and evaporated milk. Mix in salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Pour over baked crust.
Bake in preheated oven 20 minutes, until set. Let cool before cutting into squares.
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Sugar Cookies Recipe
This sugar cookie recipe not only makes a yummy and delicious sugar cookie, it’s quick and easy. It’s sure to be a family favorite, and the kids can help make the sugar cookies too.
1/2 cup soft margarine
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1-1/2 cups flour
Blen the margarine and sugar together in a bowl. Beat it until it is smooth and has a fluffy texture. Next add egg, milk, vanilla, and mix the ingredient well. Add the salt, baking powder and flour. Blend well until the dough is smooth. Drop the mixture by small spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 8 to 10 minutes, or until a nice gold brown.
If frosted sugar coookies are desired, let cool and frost with your favorite frosting.
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