I do buy my meat in bulk at Sam's and I divide it up into meal portions, but never thought of actually preparing it all at once (great idea!) since I have it out already it wouldn't take that much more effort.
I read on a website about boiling 10 lbs of ground beef at once then dividing it up for portions , it's less messy and cuts the fat content. Ithought that might be good, but I wonder about the flavor when boiling it as opposed to browning it.
I'll check out the website, thanks!
PS The throw away storage is one of my favorite parts of Dream Dinners too!
Ummm - yuck! LOL My mother used to brown her meat, put it in a colander & then pour boiling water over it for the same reason...but I can tell you it's just awful!! Bleck!
I just brown the whole family pack of meat & then dump it into a colander. There's some liquid/fat even when you're using 90% which is what I prefer. Even with 85% I get terrible indigestion. It works great though. I have no problem eating it if I've drained it first. But put something under the colander...like an aluminum pie plate or some other disposable container. (A tin can is going to tip over too easily though.) You want to catch the grease, not let it go down your drain or you'll have problems in a few months.
I just freeze the meat in meal-sized portions for chili, tacos, BBQ/sloppy Joe's, Tater Tot Casserole...pretty much anything.
Then for family packs of boneless chicken, I also either boil it or put it in the crockpot for most of the day on LOW. Then I shred it & freeze in meal-sized portions for chicken salad, chimichangas, taco soup, chicken divan, a lazy version of chicken cordon bleu, lazy chicken parm...and I also use it for chili & tacos. I know some people will do the chicken in the crock with salsa or other flavor, but I like to keep it generic so I'm not limited when I pull it out.
I have a bunch of "dump" recipes for marinating chicken that someone shared here once that they used for OAM cooking. We use them mostly in the summer for the grill, but they work in the oven too. Most of the flavors are very different, so we could have grilled chicken every night for a week without feeling like we're eating the same thing - as long as we vary the sides somewhat.
I tried "real" OAM cooking once, but decided it was too much work.
I find that prepping the meat ahead really cuts down on not only the time I spend in the kitchen, but the bad attitude I seem to develop about that too.
I pack up leftovers from ham a couple ways: 1) slices for DH's sandwich at lunch, 2) slices or cubes for a ham broccoli quiche-like casserole & 3) chopped. I use the chopped for ham salad and to toss in eggs.
) are good for this, also fish pie or casseroles.
