Batch cooking

I'm hosting a meal swap for some of my fabulous co-workers this week, so in preparation for that event, I did some batch cooking last night.

Pizza pasta is my 'go-to' dish for meal swaps. It just is. It's easy to make, most people love it, and I always end up making extra because my family seems to love it (especially Jacey, which is a real treat).

I got the ingredients (buying in bulk for a recipe is way easier than getting a bunch of different ingredients for different recipes!)

Then turn all of those things into a LOAD of food!!

Boil the pasta and separate it into the lasagna pans.

While the water for the pasta is boiling and the pasta is cooking, brown the meat and heat the sauce.  Then mix the meat and sauce with the pasta in the pan (I use 1 lb of hamburger meat and 1 can of spaghetti sauce per pan, along with 1 bag of tri-colored twirly pasta or 1 12 oz box of pasta).  Then layer with approximately 2 cups of mozarella cheese.

Take your pepperoni and layer over the shredded cheese for the final topping.

If you have an assembly line going while you're making quite a few of these, it can look something like this on your table.....

And you end up with something that looks like this....

I made seven of these last night while we simultaneously made dinner to eat, the kids ate, my hubby ate, then I took a quick break to bathe and put to bed the littlest.  And I was completely finished (as in wrapped with saran swap and aluminum foil, labeled and in the freezer) by 9 PM or so. I started with all of this at about 6:30....so not too bad!!

I kept one out for us to eat later this week and also browned some of the 'extra' hamburger meat that I had bought as a started for another dinner for this week.  When you actually cook it, do so on 350 for 25-35 minutes, or until all of your cheese is melted (I leave on the foil until the last 10 or so minutes).

I felt very productive. *grin* The added bonus is that my dear sweet hubby cleaned up the kitchen afterwards. Love that man!!

Meal Swap!

Since Tatum was born over three years ago and I enjoyed the gracious gifts of frozen meals from a great group of friends, I've realized the power of having ready-made meals at your disposal. I know, I know...it takes me a while.  Apparently the frozen food industry has really hit on something.

Whoda' thunk?

Anyway, I asked for and received the recipes for those wonderful gifted dishes and my quest to keep a freezer stocked with meals began.  In the past three (or so) years, I've done a pretty good job of keeping my freezer stocked, only going one stretch for a few months where I ran out of meals and didn't replenish.  Not too shabby in my book.

Another friend (who moved from an idea into a business) introduced me to this thing called meal swap.  I have taken up the meal swap banner with my Sunday School ladies, and we have had three meals swaps in the last year or so.

The idea is that anyone interested in participating in the meal swap would sign up by a certain date and then cook (N minus 1) of the same meal for swapping. Ex, If we had 10 folks sign up, you would make 9 of the same meal. Or you could make more of the same meal and be sure you were able to keep some for yourself!  Your call!

A "swap time" is then determined for everyone to get together and swap the meals. The end result would be that you take home a number of different meals that freeze well, but have the efficiency of purchasing ingredients for and making one type of meal at a time in bulk.

I have found it best to try and stay consistent with portion sizes and convey that to the group (ex, medium size square baking pan, 9X13 pan or 3/4 filled gallon size ziploc freezer bags for soup).  In addition, it is helpful to bring a large container to the swap itself to carry your items back home.  Large laundry baskets or even rolling coolers work well for this purpose.

Calling all work outside the home moms. Or stay at home moms. Or anyone who wants simplicity! This type of thing is a must-do in my opinion. Pull a meal out of the freezer one night and reheat the next. No fuss. No fret. No worry. Try it!

During the last meal swap, I made Pizza Pasta Casserole. Think spaghetti + pizza and you've pretty much got it. It's a family favorite and regardless of the size I make, I think Matt could eat the entire pan if I let him.  Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of the meal, but trust me that I'm just saving having your mouth water on this one.

Pizza Pasta Casserole Freezer Recipe

2 lb ground beef (can use ground chicken or turkey, but my family doesn't like it quite as much)
2 jars spaghetti sauce (28 oz cans)
24 oz spiral pasta, cooked and drained (2 12 oz bags)
4 c shredded mozzarella cheese
6 oz sliced pepperoni
Optional: 1 large onion, chopped

In a large skillet cook meat and onion until meal is thoroughly browned. Drain fat. Add spaghetti sauce and noodles, stir well.

Divide mixture in half and put one half in each 9X13 pan. OR Section out in 4 to 6 8X8 pans. Top each with cheese, then top with pepperoni.

To bake one immediately, preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake for 25-30 minutes or heated through. Serve.

To freeze, cover with saran wrap, then foil and place in freezer.  (It's helpful to use a sharpie and mark the recipe and heating directions on the foil before freezing). Thaw overnight in refrigerator. Preheat oven to 350 and bake 35-40 minutes or until heated through.

Enjoy!