Investment Cooking Newsletter Volume 1 Issue 2
This newsletter is for cooks who are interested learning how to cook healthier using whole foods and investing their time more wisely in the kitchen. The newsletter is filled with articles, delicious recipes, product specials, and more.
In This Issue:
Welcome
In the Kitchen: 3 Ways to do Investment Cooking
Recipe: Make-Ahead Meatballs
Recommended Resources
Special Announcement
Welcome to the second issue of this newsletter. I hope you will find it useful in learning how to do investment cooking. As you do your meal planning think of how you can increase your return by doing just a little more while you are preparing food for your family. A little bit of extra planning and work can greatly increase the number of meals you can prepare for your family!
3 Ways to Do Investment Cooking
By Krystal Bickel
The method I’ve adapted in cooking is also known as once a month cooking but I found this terminology very limiting. I like to think of it as investment cooking instead. When I cook this way I am investing in my health, my time, and my family’s lives. There are three different methods of investment cooking that you can use to provide great meals for your family. Let’s look at each one today.
You can cook a month’s worth of food in one day to stock up your freezer. In reality this takes three days of effort but one day of cooking. The first day you do your planning including what meals you want to prepare, create your shopping list and plan the best order to cook the items. On the second day you would do your grocery shopping. Finally on the third day you cook and assemble your meals. At the end of 6-8 hours you will able to put away 30-60 meals for your family’s consumption depending on your abilities and meal choices.
Another very efficient way of investment cooking is to do a mini-session based on one meat or base. This is a great method to use when chicken (or another staple) goes on sale. You stock up on that ingredient and cook as many meals as you can out of what you got. For example, if you bought chickens on sale you could make roasted chickens (use the cooked meat in other recipes), chicken soup, casseroles using chicken, and freeze chicken with marinade to grill later. You could also do a baking day making muffins, pancakes, waffles, cookies, etc. to stick in the freezer.
Finally, one of the easiest ways to start incorporating investment cooking into your life is by simply doubling or tripling a recipe as you make it and stick the extras in the freezer. When you are making French toast for breakfast, go ahead and make up a whole loaf of bread’s worth. Flash freeze and you’ll have a yummy breakfast another day that only needs to be warmed up in the toaster or microwave. If you are making spaghetti sauce, double it and freeze the extra for another night. It takes so little extra effort and the returns are tremendous.
I use all three of these methods throughout the year. When I’m making meals that are easy to double I take advantage of it and put some away for another meal. When I get meat on a good sale I will cook up a whole bunch for the freezer. Every so often I plan a cooking day and really fill up my freezer.
Recipe:
Here’s a great recipe I like to make when I get ground beef on sale.
Make-Ahead Meatballs
4 pounds lean ground beef -- or pork or turkey or a combo
2 cups bread crumbs
1 cup onion – diced
1 tablespoon kosher salt
pepper to taste
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
4 eggs
2 cups tomato sauce
Mix all ingredients very well with your hands in a large bowl.
For Meatballs: Form approx. 180 meatballs (large walnut size). Place meatballs on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake at 400 for 10-15 minutes until lightly browned and no longer pink in the center. Cool. Flash Freeze then bag in freezer bags.
To serve: thaw meatballs and bake at 350 for 10-20 minutes or heat in a sauce. (Spaghetti Sauce, Sweet & Sour, Stroganoff, BBQ, etc . . .)
For Meatloaf: Form into a loaf in a baking dish. Brush with favorite sauce. Bake at 350 for an hour or until no longer pink. Cool and chill. Slice meatloaf if desired.
Or freeze mixture raw, flattened out in a freezer bag, thaw and cook when desired.
NOTES:
To make meatballs of equal size:
1. Lightly pat mixture into a 1 inch thick rectangle (on wax paper).
2. Cut the rectangle into the same number of squares as meatballs in the recipe.
3. Gently roll each square into a ball.
(Be careful not to handle the meat too much.)
RECOMMENDED RESOURCES:
Make A Mix Cookbook
http://www.investmentcooking.com/cookbooks.htm
This cookbook would make a wonderful edition to your cookbook library. It has over 300 recipes for mixes and dishes ranging from dry mixes to mixes for the freezer. You can control the ingredients while being able to use the convenience of pre-made mixes.
Recipes Include:
Taco Seasoning Mix
Hot Roll Mix
Quick Mix
Master Beef Mix
Master Chicken Mix
& Many, Many More
Special Announcement:
Are you or any one you know interested in learning how to establish a home based business? If so please consider joining me in attending a wonderfully informative seminar here in Phoenix August 26-28 with guest speaker Sharon Lechter co-author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad. For more information, click here.
Thank you for reading another issue of the Investment Cooking Newsletter. I hope it has provided you with some great food for thought. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to email me at kbickel@binarykingdom.com.
Dear Friend,
I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. --3 John 2
Copyright 2005 Binary Kingdom Enterprises