As promised here is the post from Guest Blogger Margo Posnanski. She shares great tips for saving money by cooking in bulk. We joined the Twittermoms blog swap and came up with these posts. Enjoy!

It’s getting cold here in Kansas City and the last thing I want is to have to trudge to the grocery store. I should plan meals in advance, but somehow just getting needed ingredients on a LIST is the extent to my preparation. So to address the meal prep strategy that saves not only money BUT TIME AS WELL, I called my younger sister. She used to work as a County Cooperative Extension Agent in Colorado a number of years ago. (Check with your state’s and county’s extension services because they have great tips for saving $$$.)

My sister, Becky, was more than happy to help explain her tips for cooking one full afternoon (2 to 3 hours nonstop) that results in six or more entrees ready for the freezer and future meals. She just had a cooking session at her house with friends this weekend. She’s SO organized she has a spreadsheet with each recipe ingredient and original quantity and then uses a multiplier to figure what she needs to purchase. She was able to spend just under $120 on groceries to make six entrees EACH for her four friends. (24 total entrees).

Becky cautions not to try to purchase the food AND cook on the same day. Buy everything the day before you cook.
She looks for cheaper cuts of meat like the fattier ground beef (80 percent lean that’s cheaper than the 90 to 95 percent lean versions). If you fry the ground beef before adding other ingredients you can drain the meat in a strainer and rinse with water and take away a lot of the unwanted fat.

It’s good to find easy recipes that use foods that are on sale. Chicken and turkey are usually cheaper than most red meats. My sister looks for chicken thighs but I’m apt to buy breasts or wings. Pick what you know your family will eat, that way you’re not wasting money. Wait for a sale at your grocery store or check the wholesale clubs, which specialize in bulk.

And while you can skimp on cheaper meats and store-brand food items, she cautions that it’s good to only buy name-brand freezer bags. She’s had troubles with store-brand plastic freezer bags breaking and spilling. (She clips coupons to help defray the cost.)

Also for your first bulk-cooking day, start small and use familiar recipes. The fewer the ingredients (say five or six) the easier to assemble and probably cheaper, too — as long as you’re not using exotic ingredients. Sauces and marinades are a good way to start because they are versatile on a wide variety of foods.

And there are a bunch of make-ahead cookbooks out there for inspiration. (My sister’s trick: Check out cookbooks from the library to research new quick recipes.) Here are some cookbooks we’ve both used: “Once-a-Month Cooking” by Mimi Wilson and Mary Beth Lagerborg, “The Freezer Cooking Manual from 30 Day Gourmet” by Nanci Slagle and “Holly Clegg’s Trim and Terrific Freezer Friendly Meals.”

Invite a family member or a friend (perfect when you have company during the holidays) to your kitchen and try a few dishes that you know freeze well. If you find chicken on sale for $1 a pound like Becky did, you could buy several pounds and fix chicken in a marinade, a chicken with pasta and a chicken casserole. My sister’s recent menu was french toast casserole, quiche, spiral pasta, King Ranch Chicken, Balsamic roasted pork tenderloin, and three different sauces for meats: garlicky mushroom sauce, spicy peanut sauce and sweet-n-sour sauce.

More cost savings comes with a group of cooking friends when you are pitching in to buy the more expensive products like Dijon Mustard. When you are making four or more of the same recipe, you can use up an entire container rather just using a few teaspoons before the rest becomes neglected and stuck in the frig door.

While my sister has had friends over nearly once a month to help cook, I’ve only done this mega cooking alone in my kitchen a few times. But every time I feel like I’m ready to take on winter. I think my sister and I are going to have to block out an afternoon for cooking when she visits in a few weeks.

Here are some more resources:
http://www.freezerfriendz.blogspot.com/ has recipes from cooks who get together to swap entrees

Professional meal preparation kitchens are a good source for menu planning. Even if you don’t go to their kitchens to fix an entree (usually more than $10 per entree) you can get great ideas for recipes to seek out.

http://thestudiokitchen.com/

http://www.socialsuppers.com/

http://www.letsdish.com/

by Margo Posnanski
http://www.mom2momkc.com

Samantha Gregory

Samantha A. Gregory is an author, consultant, and speaker. She’s a single-mom lifestyle, money, and parenting expert featured in The Washington Post, The New York Times, Essence Magazine, HuffPost, ABC News, and Mint.com.

Samantha founded the award-winning RichSingleMomma.com™, the first online magazine featuring personal finance, parenting, and personal development content and courses for single moms.

She aims to inspire women who are ready to thrive and not just survive in their single motherhood journey. Connect with her on Instagram @richsinglemomma.