Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Investment Cooking - Equipment


I am a huge fan of investment cooking.  I do quite a bit of it as you all well know.  What I am not a fan of is spending a huge amount of time or money on investment cooking.  I do mine on a much smaller scale than most, I imagine.

I know a lot of people like to devote an entire weekend to cooking a month's worth of meals.  I even tried it a couple of times and decided it wasn't right for me but I did take away from the experience some great recipes and ideas for ways to do my own thing.  Through trial and error I was able to figure out a what works best, freezes well and the equipment that makes it all come together.

I use only two appliances - a slow cooker and my bread machine.


I own three slow cookers - small, medium and large - and I use them all, especially when I do my investment cooking.  I love to cook up pots of beans, soups, roasts, sauces, chili, etc.

My bread machine gets a workout regularly making bread, roll and pizza doughs.  Sometimes cinnamon rolls.

For freezer containers I prefer to use plastic because they are flexible and can handle the expansion and contraction involved with hot foods and freezing.  I usually buy mine at the dollar store along with plastic zipper bags in sandwich, quart, gallon and two gallon sizes. 


My favorite utensils are my cutting board, chef's knife, wooden spoons, rubber spatulas and a set of mixing bowls. I have a vintage four cup Pyrex glass measuring cup that I bought at a Salvation Army in Oregon a few years ago that I dearly love and use often as well.

I keep it pretty simple and find that the fewer items I use the easier the task at hand, not to mention the cleanup.  Do you do any type of investment or once a month cooking?  What are some of your favorite tools of the trade?


You may also enjoy Some of My Favorite Things.



4 comments:

  1. Dana,
    I really appreciated this post because you pretty much confirmed that I'm heading in the right direction as I aquire my cooking equipment. I have a large crockpot, a nice knife set, cast iron fry pan and some good cookware.
    I don't intentionally "investment" cook but the recipes I prepare seem to be geared for 4 and it's just the Little One (3 yrs old) and myself. So, before serving the meal, I "half" it in plastic a container and into the freezer it goes. However, my refrigerator is apartment size and I have to be careful about how muchi try to store in there. (It was included in the purchase of the house and it works. Until it dies, I will make due.) I like your idea of using Pyrex cookware. I'm going to be looking for pieces at the thrift store when we visit them this weekend.
    Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom with us. I always glean great ideas from your posts.
    Vanessa B

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    1. I'm so glad you liked this post. I think small scale investment cooking is the way to go with small space. I do have a little chest freezer in my garage which I am very happy to have. It didn't cost much and it is cheap to run too. I use it mainly to store my meat and flour.

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  2. A bit off the today's topic but I did take my coupons to Fry's (Fred Meyer) today, whooo hooo, what a score day that was. I so like them. :-D

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