There are some recipes that are so good that you can't make just one. There are some dishes that emerge from the freezer in such wonderful shape that it's a sin to only produce one batch. And finally there are meals that even your picky 4-year old will consume with little to no bargaining. Few and far between are the meals that satisfy ALL of these parameters. These meals beg to be made in bulk.
I have a few tips for bulk cooking.
#1 - Don't be a hero.
I know that there are some of you out there who set aside a whole day to do your bulk cooking. Cranking out 4-6 different recipes. If you can get away with this I say go for it!! If, like me, you have 3 insane children who you can't foist off on a neighbor or family member you're going to need to scale back a little. I take a few minutes to do all the chopping while the baby is eating breakfast. I gather the herbs from the garden while he is chasing a ball in the yard....you get the idea. Break it up into smaller, more manageable bits.
#2 - Plan ahead.
Okay....me saying plan ahead is like Lady Gaga preaching everything in moderation, but fact is, bulk cooking is serious business. You don't want to be elbow deep in spaghetti sauce or 4 pans of lasagna only to realize that you only have enough noodles for 2 pans. Get all your ingredients together beforehand. Supersizing will usually include some sort of math, so don't be afraid to whip out your calculator.
#3 - Get big stuff
Supersized cooking requires supersized cookware. While you can, technically, fix 2 quarts of pasta sauce in a 2 quart stockpot it isn't a very good idea. This is the voice of experience talking.
#4 - Bask in the glow
There is nothing quite so wonderful as finally putting away enough food to feed your family for several days. (Okay, realistically there are probably a lot of things far more wonderful, but this is pretty darn good.)
