My Big Cooking Day Menu for January!

I kept waiting for Amazon to deliver my new Rachael Ray cookbook: "A Week in a Day", but it didn't get delivered in time we went to the grocery store Friday night so here is what I decided on for my January Big Cooking Day. Keep in mind some of these recipes I doubled (see asterisk), and that is usually because I give half of it to my parents for them to have dinners to go as well!  

Here is what I recommend before you start cooking ANY of these recipes for a big cooking day. 

Go through all your recipes and count how many cups of onions and teaspoons of garlic you will need. I needed around 9 cups, so I chopped about 10-11 onions with my Ski goggles on to prevent crying, and then measured them in sandwich-size zip lock bags for one cup each, then placed ALL those ziplock bags in a gallon-size bag that I sprinkled a generous amount of baking soda in, so they don't stink up my entire fridge and freezer.  

Also go ahead and peel two whole garlic cloves, and then pulse it through a food processor to make it diced. I keep mine in a ramekin that I put plastic wrap around, so I can get a teaspoon or so as the recipe calls for it. 

Breakfast Freezer Friendly Meals:
#1: Homemade granola ("100 days of real food" recipe)
#2: Farmers Hashbrown Casserole ("Don't panic, dinner is in the freezer" cookbook)
#3: Pecan Maple Breakfast Cookies (100 days of real food) *

Lunch: (since I work from home and my hubby likes his turkey sandwich, I like soup either by itself or with a veggie sandwich)
#1: Tomato Bisque - http://thrivinghomeblog.com/2013/01/tomato-bisque-recipe-panera-bread-fake-out/ (never tried this recipe)
#2:  Ina Garten's White Bean Rosemary Soup (Food Network recipe)

Dinner (Freezer Friendly):
#1:  Orange Beef lettuce wraps (Don't panic dinner is in the freezer)
#2: Chicken Breast in Phyllo (same as above)
#3: Mini Cheddar Loaves (Take 20 Cookbook) *
#4: Ginger Glazed Mahi Mahi (Don't panic dinner is in the freezer)

Frozen Appetizers (for last minute houseguests/need to take something somewhere)
#1:  Cheese Palmiers (cheese puff pastries spirals)
#2:  Santa Fe Hot Dip (Don't panic dinner is in the freezer)*

I LOVE the Don't Panic Cookbook because it already tells you the measurements Doubled, Tripled, or Quadrupled! 

Freezing Tips:
The Mini Cheddar Loaves I wrap in foil first then place them in the ziplock freezer bag!   I was able to get ten loaves in 1 gallon size bags and the recipe doubled made 36 loaves. 

The ones highlighted in yellow I started cooking today. I made the mini cheddar loaves after chopping my onions and garlic, and while they cooled I made the Santa Fe Hot Dip. After that, we had delicious hot mini cheddar loaves with a beautiful salad with a homemade vinaigrette (thanks to my diced garlic!). I also baked the Pecan Maple Breakfast Cookies. The rest will be cooked tomorrow!