Although cooking in bulk may sound like a lot of work, in the end it really saves you time and money. There are a number of ways that you can accomplish bulk cooking based on your availability and how many people you are cooking for. Cooking in bulk is typically done every-other-week or once a month; however, there are a number of combinations in between that you can try.

Planning Your Menu for Bulk Cooking

How often you cook in bulk will probably depend on the most important tool needed for this type of job -- a decent sized freezer to be able to hold all the meals you cook. If you have a good size freezer or an extra one, cooking once-a-month will probably work.

Determining how much space you have will help you decide on the best schedule for cooking in bulk. The next step is to plan your menu. You can implement some of your favorite recipes into your meals; however, a great tool to rely on is a cookbook that specifically contains recipes for cooking in bulk. You can either purchase one or find bulk cooking recipes online.

When coming up with recipes, think of ways that you can use a dish in more than one way. For instance, if you were to cook up some chicken breasts with your favorite spices, you could use that chicken in several ways. You could use the chicken as filling in a "chicken wrap" with other ingredients such as avocados, cheese and sour cream. That same batch of chicken could also be made into a rice dish, a stew or soup, a casserole and on so. This gives you variety so that you don't feel like you are eating the same things over and over again.

Once you decide on your recipes, you need to figure out which day will be the best for cooking in bulk. This can be something you do on your own or with others. Having a few friends over or designating bulk cooking as a family project is a great way to make the cooking go a little faster and spend some time with loved ones.

The best way to start cooking in bulk is with a clean, clutter-free kitchen. Your time spent cooking will go much faster if you don't have to stop and look for supplies, so have everything you will use at your fingertips and clear your kitchen space of things you won't need. Take time to go through each recipe and determine what tools are required. This may include:

• Measuring cups
• Measuring spoons
• Bowls for mixing
• Pots (all sizes needed)
• Pans (all types needed)
• Utensils (spoons, spatulas, etc.)
• Food processor/blender/electric mixer, etc.
• Cutting board
• Cookie sheets
• Freezer bags
• Colander
• Freezer/disposable aluminum pans
• Plastic wrap
• Can opener
• Plastic bags and containers

It is helpful to keep all of your supplies in one area, where you can easily find them. Next you want to have out all of the ingredients that will be used. Of course, refrigerated items may need to wait but get out spices, canned goods, or any other ingredient that can be out in the kitchen. Keep your ingredients in a separate area from your supplies.

Cooking in Bulk

To keep things moving along, it's best to start cooking your meats first. While the chicken is simmering in a pot or the ground beef is browning in a pan, you can take advantage of that time to cut up vegetables. If you aren't ready to assemble meals, you can put the vegetables into plastic bags or plastic containers and store them in the refrigerator until you are ready to use them. Once the meats are cooked, they can also be cut up and stored. Then it's time to move onto cooking other items, such as pasta or rice.

Before cooking meats, be sure to trim off excess fat and cut into chunks, slices or whatever is needed for your recipes. To cook flavorful chicken, bake with chicken broth or cook in a slow cooker (for shredded chicken). Cook the chicken until the inside is no longer pink. Let it cool before shredding or cutting your chicken. Separate the chicken into freezer bags and label them. When labeling the bags, it helps to also write what recipe you intend to use the chicken for.

When cooking ground beef, add the appropriate spices depending on what you are going to use the beef for. Once the meat is done cooking, drain the grease and let cool. Separate the meat into freezer bags; again, labeling the bags with the recipe they are going to be used for.

Assembling Meals

Once your meats have been cooked and your vegetables cut, there may be some meals that you assemble and keep stored in a freezer pan. Casseroles and rice dishes are typical meals that may be stored in a freezer pan; all you have to do is take it out of the freezer and pop it into the oven. It's important that you use pans that will store well in a freezer. Glass pans won't work. You can use pans that are especially designed for the freezer or a disposable aluminum pan.

One final trick in storing casseroles is to line a casserole pan with aluminum foil. Put the meal inside the foil-lined casserole pan and freeze. When the dish is completely frozen, take it out of the freezer and wrap some additional foil around it, then return it to the freezer without the pan. This frees up your casserole pan and saves some extra space in your freezer.

Cooking in bulk gives you the benefit of saving money and ensures that a great homemade meal is always waiting for you after a long day of work or taking care of the kids. Once you learn some of the tools of the trade, cooking in bulk can be a very enjoyable and timesaving activity.