Cooking once per month is a great way to save time and money. Simply choose recipes that you can make in large batches, like soups, stews, and casseroles, and set aside one whole day to cook all of them. Once the meals cool off, store them in airtight containers, label each container, and pop them in the freezer. All you have to do is thaw and reheat the food when you’re ready to enjoy a warm, home-cooked meal.

Your recipe sheets or label notes will definitely save you time when it comes to thawing and reheating the food. Simply follow the instructions you noted earlier and enjoy your pre-cooked meals! Be sure to thaw dishes out properly to preserve the flavor and texture of the food.

Label everything clearly with a permanent marker so the information will stay put! Write the dish name, the cook date, and the number of servings on the label. If you like, you can also include brief thawing and baking/warming instructions on each container.

Use small plastic containers for sauces, gravies, and dressings. Use larger airtight containers, like Tupperware, for the entrees. Use aluminum foil to cover dishes like meatloaf or lasagna, then wrap it in plastic wrap before freezing it. If you’re putting meal components in freezer bags, press out as much air as possible or use a vacuum sealer.

Let the meals sit out on heat-safe surfaces for at least 30 minutes before you start to package them up for the freezer. If you need to, touch the top of the food or insert a fork to check the temperature in the center.

Some dishes can be worked on simultaneously, so take advantage of that if you can. For example, you can stir-fry meat on the stove while you bake a casserole in the oven and simmer a stew in the slow cooker. It’s usually best to get the harder meals out of the way first, but you can approach the sequence however you’d like.

The amount of time it takes you to prepare ingredients for your meals will vary depending on what you’re making, but you can expect about 3 hours’ worth of meal prep work. If you get the chopping, defrosting, marinating, and so on done the day before, you can focus on mixing, assembling, and cooking each meal on cooking day.

Go shopping early in the day, since your shopping list is probably pretty long and if you rush, an ingredient can easily be forgotten. Shopping the day before is also helpful for dishes that include vegetables, since they’ll be fresh and crisp when you prepare them. Look for sales and use coupons to cut down on your grocery costs.

Pick a quiet day when you have the whole kitchen to yourself and clear your schedule. If your schedule doesn’t allow you to take an entire day for cooking, break the task into 2 half-days. Have a friend or family member help out with the cooking, if possible. It’s going to be a lot of work, but you’ll enjoy the benefits all month long!

To help you stay organized, create recipe sheets with a shopping list, prep instructions, cooking day instructions, the recipe, storage labels, and even a thaw sheet. This will reduce the amount of work you have to do later and make it easier for you to replicate the same meal in the future.

You may need to do a little math here, especially if you’re doubling or tripling recipes. Then, simply write down every ingredient you need for every meal along with how much you need to buy. Depending on what you’re making, this list might get pretty long!

Your needs will vary depending on how many servings you need for each meal and whether you want to include breakfast and lunch meals. If you’re just doing dinners, you will need a minimum of 4 large-batch meals. Each meal should include enough servings for a whole week, depending on how many people you're cooking for. If you have a family of 2, you'll need 2 servings per day for each day of the week, so each recipe should make at least 14 servings.

Most meat-based dishes, casseroles, soups, stews, and chilis are great for freezing and are very easy to thaw. 1-dish meals like these aren’t your only options, though. You can make meal components, package and label them separately so that you know to reheat them together, and do the rest of the assembly when you thaw and reheat the meal. No matter what you choose, make sure all of the components freeze well.Avoid foods that don't freeze well, such as:

Soups, chili, stews, lasagna, and casseroles are some of the easiest meals to make in large batches, but don’t feel limited to those dishes! Pizza, pot pies, curries, enchiladas, stir-fry, fried rice, meat dishes, and steamed vegetables are just a handful of options. Choose recipes that are "hits" in your household for the really big batches. Experiment with new recipes in smaller batches.

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