Cook Once, Eat Twice: Three Major Benefits of Bulk Cooking

Bulk batch of chicken vegetable soup in my beloved Crockpot

I can point back to the one thing that has literally saved me hundreds of hours in the span of my 27 year home cooking career. This is the practice I adopted back in North Carolina, where I learned to cook. It is this rule:

"Cook once, eat twice!"

That means, when you're already doing the thing; you've got all the ingredients out, the supplies pulled and messy, you go ahead and make a double batch, so you've got a second portion prepped for next time. Bulk cooking. It's beautiful! For instance, I do this just about every time I shred cheese. (Yes, shredding one's own cheese is both tastier and healthier! Ever read the labels on pre-shredded cheese?) The cheese grater is already messy, so I shred or slice enough of it to fill a container to pop in the fridge's meat and cheese drawer. I know we're gonna use it up this week, whether on the morning's fried egg sandwich, on Tuesday's tacos, or today's hot lunch: cheese quesadilla. (I literally have one on the griddle as I write this. And yes, I had cheese already grated. Boom. Gotta love it.)

An extra portion of freshly shredded Pepperjack cheese for tomorrow’s use

Cook once, eat twice...or three or four times, as we have come to say and do. Whether it's prepping baked goods like granola, cookies, biscuits or pie crust, I'm bulking it. When throwing together a pot of soup, making homemade preserves, or prepping ahead vegetable staples or meat ... bulked baby! If we've got enough ingredients, we just keep bulking the recipe. I love it! Then, bag or box it for the freezer. This is called, "bulk cooking", and it's absolutely brilliant. It saves so much time!

Bulk cooked Ready Beef from our farm raised grass-fed beef

1. For Times When Life is Busy (aka, Life as a Mom!)

Let's face it, we're all busy mamas! Whether you're a new mom with a tiny one and sleep deprived, or a homeschooling mama trying to keep ten plates spinning, there's a lot going on, mentally, emotionally, physically, and gifting yourself the option to cook less often can be such a blessing. Or maybe it's harvest time in the garden and you're just too pooped to think of "what's for dinner?" Pull a freezer meal out, pop it in the oven, and boom, done! Whew!

I prepped a month ahead, hundreds of cookie dough balls, for a large party planned in our Gathering Barn. It saved me hours. So glad I did that!

Perhaps it's the holiday season when Thanksgiving and Christmas have so many demands of their own, wouldn't it be great to have a stock of freezer meals ready to roll? Or even just some components already prepped, or some meat already cooked to make meal prep quicker? These too are such a time-saving bonus!

Bulk cooked brown rice (in bone broth) for quick meals, like stir fries, soups, and burrito bowls

2. For Times When You Just Don't Feel Like Cooking

We all have our days, right? When cooking feels like work and you'd rather just order a pizza for supper. Well, if you follow the rule, Cook Once, Eat Twice (or three or four times!), you'll have blessed yourself with a stock of options in the freezer to warm and go, saving tons of money on take-out every time the cooking blahs arise! When cooking seems more like a chore, or you're uninspired, it's always wonderful to have a batch already made in the freezer to pull out and go. Dinner doesn't have to be fancy, the mouths just need fed a healthy meal.

I made a giant batch of super healthy, beef bone broth (from our farm raised steer) to have all ready. I jarred and labeled them to share with those with sickness, needing a tasty immune boost.

3. For Times When Sharing Is Needed

Another benefit to bulk cooking, and having portions ready in the freezer, is you'll be ready to share your surplus when the time rises, instead of scrambling to throw something together. Like when there's a family member in distress, or friend with a new baby, a new neighbor moves in, and so on. Having extra meals in the freezer, with plenty to go around, affords extra for those who could really use a healthy meal in a hurry. You get to be a stress-free Superwoman. Ahhh, nice!

Our homemade healing beef bone broth all ready to gift to a sick neighbor.

I got to experience this recently, in fact. A neighbor had surgery, so I quickly went to the deep freezer, grabbed an extra portion of my chili, plus a helping of homemade beef bone broth, to aid in their recovery. Able to bless with zero stress. I like it like that.

Stack of homemade cookies baked off from frozen bulk batch dough

Or, ever had guests stop in short notice? If you've got cookie dough ready to bake off, or a meal prepped in the freezer, you'll be ready set for company with tasty treats to share. Less stress is best!

The Time Saving Answer

There's my short list of the benefits to bulk cooking, y'all. I urge you to begin employing, "Cook once, eat twice!", and see just how much time you'll save this month; this year. I'm fully convinced it's the time-saving answer we all need in our lives. I promise, you're gonna love yourself for it!

Many blessing to you, as you bulk cook for your family!

Warmly, Heidi

"...for this is what the Lord says: Everyone will eat,

and there will even be some left over!"

2 Kings 4:43