I grew up with the Big Sunday Dinner. My mom and her mom, and my dad's mom, they were all makers of the Big Sunday Dinner.
I have hated that tradition ever since I got my own kitchen and it became up to me to create that monstrosity. I am terrible at timing the cooking so that things are all done at the same time - and heaven forbid! I make something where more than one thing needs the oven. I have not enjoyed the pressure that was put on me to create this giant meal. (And actually have it taste good too!) OY!! We have been the family that eats sandwiches after church on Sunday while the rest of the world is eating pot roast.
But recently, I have been using the Sunday dinner opportunity to Cook Once, Eat Twice. I have cooked an extra large roast, or extra chicken in the crock-pot and made plans to use it during the week.
INGREDIENTS
one beef pot roast of your choice
1 box, (2 envelopes) Lipton Onion Soup Mix
baby carrots
new potatoes
2 cups water
PREPARATION
Place beef pot roast in crockpot and sprinkle with Lipton onion soup mix. Add carrots and new potatoes. Pour water over pot roast. Cook on low 8 to 10 hrs or until tender.
Tip: The juices tend to be watery by the end of the cooking time, so when the roast is done, keep it warm and pour juices into a medium saucepan. Bring the juices to a boil and simmer briskly until reduced and more flavorful, about 8 to 10 minutes.
To thicken, combine 2 teaspoons of cornstarch or flour with a few tablespoons of cold water. Mix until smooth and stir into the simmering juices. Serve the gravy or juices with the sliced pot roast.
Cook Once, Eat Twice or More can take several forms, such as:
• Purposing for Leftovers
• Planning Freezer Meals
• Batch Cooking
• Grouping Meals
• Purposing for Leftovers - Simply double an entire recipe, cook it and then refrigerate/freeze the leftovers for a future meal. In general, soups, stews, casseroles, and pasta dishes make excellent leftovers. In fact, some dishes taste even better as time passes, because the flavors have had a chance to meld.
• Planning Freezer Meals - With freezer meals, you simply spend a little extra time upfront prepping and freezing meals for future use. This is a popular strategy especially with crockpot meals, casseroles, soups, stocks and stews.
• Batch Cooking - Batch cooking is really just another way to describe intentionally planned leftovers – you simply make large quantities of a food that can be stored for later use. Such as cooking extra rice when you are making it, or cooking extra meat while you are preparing your meal.
• Grouping Meals - How it works is, you take a look at your Master List of Meals and consider what recipes contain the same main ingredient. Then, you intentionally schedule on your meal plan to serve at least 2-3 of those meals with the same main ingredient over the course of the week.
