Once a Month Cooking {part two} Prep Day

[Find Part One here]

Preparation
As with any large-scale cooking project, preparation is a must!  After we have done our shopping for our OAMC day, we usually like to take a few hours to prepare as much as possible before we do the main cooking. 

We take a look at our recipes and note any major needs... grating cheese, chopping onion or other vegetables, portioning out meat, precooking, and chopping meat to use the next day are just a few things we like to try to do ahead of time if possible.  The more we do ahead of time, the faster the cooking gets done. 

Sometimes we add in some of the meat preparation to our prep day.  Since we have a variety of recipes to prepare, we like to do some of the marinate only recipes ahead of time.  They are the easiest to prepare: just portion out the meat into quart-sized Ziploc bags and pour the marinade in on top.  While these meals aren't technically 'cooked' yet, they are still some of our favorites.  How many times have you gotten stuck at dinner time trying to figure out what to do with the chicken in your fridge?   

Here are a few of my favorite marinate-only recipes...

Marinated Steak

• Any type of steak you would BBQ (enough for four, about 1-1/2lbs)
• 1/2 c. Vegetable oil
• 1/4c. Soy sauce
• 1/4c. Red wine vinegar
• 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp. Minced garlic (1 clove)
• add meat to a Ziploc bag
• mix marinade in a bowl and pour in bag over meat
• seal bag and freeze
• defrost overnight and BBQ!

Grilled Apple Chicken

• 4-6 4oz. chicken breasts
• 3/4c. Unsweetened apple juice or apple cider
• 1/3c. Lemon juice
• 3Tbsp. Soy sauce (reduced sodium)
• 3Tbsp. Honey
• 1/4tsp. Garlic power
• 1/4tsp. Ground ginger
• Add meat to a ziploc bag
• mix marinade in a bowl and pour over bagged chicken
• seal and freeze
• defrost overnight and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes
• I like to add some apple butter on the top for added flavor and sweetness!