101 Recipes for Preparing Food in Bulk: Everything You Need to Know about Preparing, Storing, and Consuming

Richard Helweg

Jan 2011 · Atlantic Publishing Company

About this ebook

Book & CD-ROM. The price of food is rising in a drastic way. In the 1970s, shoppers paid around 98 cents for a pound of ground beef and 59 cents for a dozen eggs. Today, consumers pay around $3.69 a pound for ground beef and around $1.40 for a dozen eggs. The simple truth is a dollar doesn't go as far as it used to because of inflation and the rising cost of transporting food. One of the best ways to combat the increasing price of groceries is to start buying in bulk and cooking food in large batches you can store in the freezer for later meals. Besides saving money, cooking in bulk also saves time; you won't need to figure out what to cook every night with delicious, pre-made meals waiting in your freezer. To make bulk cooking truly cost effective and time saving, you need to know the right recipes and tips. Learn everything you need to know with help from 101 Recipes for Preparing Food in Bulk: Everything You Need to Know About Preparing, Storing, and Consuming. This book will guide you through every aspect of cooking in bulk to make it as manageable as cooking regular-sized meals. The book details all the essential appliances and utensils you need in your kitchen, as well as how to take inventory of the supplies and foods you already have. This book provides tips so you know where and how to do your grocery shopping. In addition to these basic details, you will learn everything you need to know on cooking day from deciding whether you should cook solo or with a partner, to how to prepare, cook, cool, and properly store your meals. Once you are ready to eat your frozen meal, this book tells you how to thaw and reheat each recipe and how to detect foods gone bad which probably won't happen if you follow the simple instructions in this book. More than 100 recipes are provided to help you cook delicious meals you can make any time during the day, including breakfast, lunch, dinner, soups, salads, appetisers, sides, and sauces. Every recipe includes an ingredient list and specific instructions that take you through the entire bulk cooking process. Tips are even included with several recipes to make healthier or vegetarian versions of the dishes. The companion CD-ROM contains a database of over 1600 recipes. Each recipe has been formulated to yield 100 servings. There are recipes for appetisers, beverages, meals for anytime of the day, desserts, side dishes, soups, vegetables and much more. We interviewed dozens of experts from the food service industry, as well as experienced individuals who bulk cook at home. Their insight into the nature of bulk food preparation, storage methods, and professional tips and tricks will help you keep your food fresh as long as possible. For anyone who has ever considered creating and storing their own bulk foods, 101 Recipes for Preparing Food in Bulk will give you everything you need to know to get started.

Ratings and reviews

“101 Recipes for Preparing Food in Bulk” by Richard Helweg is a cookbook with a twist; you won’t find a recipe calling for 2 cups of flour… instead you will find it calling for 6 5/8 pounds of flour (for Baking Powder Biscuits, page 91). This book is not for large families, but for anyone who wants to save money and time by purchasing items in bulk and cooking large quantities at one time and freezing it to use later. The author includes what tools and equipment you will need on hand in your kitchen, buying the correct freezer to meet your needs, preparing a shopping list, getting your workspace ready, and cleaning up. He discusses how to freeze foods and how to thaw them. The book is loaded with recipes for beverages, breakfasts, lunches, dinner, side dishes, breads, appetizers, snacks, soups, sauces, and desserts. It also includes a CD-ROM that has all the recipes in the book and hundreds more. Mr. Helweg does a great job of demystifying the job of cooking in bulk. He includes freezing directions at the end of each recipe. The only reason I didn’t give the book five stars is that I didn’t like the way the CD-ROM was set up. I found it difficult to navigate. It would be great if the author set up a website instead (perhaps with a password listed in the book) where the reader could access these recipes in an easier manner.

It seems like the prices at the grocery store keeping increasing every week, which can be extremely difficult to put food on the table for a large family. In the book 101 Recipes for Preparing Food in Bulk, you’ll learn that cooking in bulk may help you save money. Of course you cannot just jump into this in one day, you need to plan first. You will need to plan out the proper equipment, ingredients, what recipes to use, and the needed space to preserve and cook your recipes. Do a proper inventory of your kitchen, checking for the right spices and other ingredients. For bulk cooking, it’s recommend that you have a freezer, preferably an Energy Star model so it’s energy efficient. You must decide if you have the space for an upright or chest freezer, as a chest freezer takes a lot of floor space.     If you are new to food preservation, don’t worry as chapter two easily explains how to freeze foods. In addiction to the 101 recipes in the book there is a bonus CD with hundreds of more recipes consisting of beverages (Lemonade, etc), breakfast (breakfast pizza, cinnamon rolls, buttermilk pancakes, etc), breads (banana bread, bagels, biscuits), lunch (veggie burger, chili con carne, baked chicken, etc), snacks (yogurt pops, chocolate chip cookies, etc), appetizers (crab cakes, pizza treats, etc), soups and sauces (French onion soap, barbecue sauce, etc), side dishes (mashed potatoes, refried beans, etc) , dinner main dishes (lasagna, meatloaf, baked fish, etc), and desserts (brownies, pumpkin pie, etc).     Preparing Food in Bulk can be the ideal way to save money, or a way to have a great meal planned ahead for a big gathering. There are many great recipes that I am sure you’ll enjoy in this book. My favorite was the coffee recipe, in which I was shocked to learn that you can freeze coffee in plastic microwavable containers or freezing them in ice cube trays. I recommend the book to all!

About the author

Richard Helweg has more than 25 yearsâe(tm) experience working in the nonprofit sector as an artistic director, managing director, and executive director. He is an award-winning playwright and has recently written âe¦And Justice for All, A History of the Supreme Court, a book for young readers, and How to Get Your Share of the $30-Plus Billion Being Offered by U.S. Foundations: A Complete Guide for Locating, Preparing, and Presenting Your Proposals (Atlantic Publishing). Richard lives in Lincoln, Nebraska, with his wife, Karen, and sons Aedan and Rory.