Some Good Cooking Resources

I do enjoy cooking, though some days if we're running 10 different directions, it's great to be able to pull something out of the freezer to eat. The great thing about once a month cooking (OAMC, though I don't really do it once a month) is that when these meals are prepared by you, you know what ingredients were used. Every family has different dietary restrictions and preferences, so you can also personalize the recipe or adapt a family favorite for freezing.

I use a variety of resources for cooking, though not too often do I get out an actual cookbook. I have learned a lot from my perusal of the 'net, so I will share some of my bookmarks.

• Crock pot or slow cooker cooking. There are a ton of recipes out there, but no one has the variety of A Year of Slow Cooking. She cooked a different recipe in her crock pot every day for one year, and there are so many delicious options.
• Good everyday recipe finder. One of my favorite online cooking resources is Recipezaar. They let you search for recipes by ingredients, or even by not having a certain ingredient. If you need a specific recipe, you can bet it will be there. The recipes also have reviews, so you can sort by what has the best review.
• Once a month cooking. There are a few good choices here. I love 30 Day Gourmet. They have a fairly extensive free section, or buy their freezer cooking manual and have access to everything. I also will browse Recipezaar by typing OAMC into the search area.
• Budgeting and meal planning. I love the Hillbilly Housewife. She has menus for every budget, tips for saving money on about anything, and lots of good information on cooking from scratch. Be sure to check out her emergency meal plans for when you have only a very limited amount to spend on groceries.
• More menus than you can imagine. There's nothing like browsing other people's meal plans for finding good ideas. I know I often hit a brick wall trying to decide what to cook for the week. One person would eat steaks and potatoes every day, one would be happy with mac and cheese, and when I ask for help with planning, I get very little. That's why I love I'm an Organizing Junkie. (I know I am not.) She not only has her own menu plan for the week, but links to lots of other people's blogs with menus. It really helps when you get into a cooking rut.