Friday, May 29, 2009

Once A Month Cooking

I've been thinking about trying my hand at once a month cooking (OAMC). Basically, you cook ALL your dinners on one day, freeze them and then simply thaw and finish the cooking (usually just heating the dish up) the night you want to eat it. I generally enjoy my time in the kitchen getting dinner ready -- it helps me wind down believe it or not. But many late afternoons I just don't have the energy left to cook! I was thinking I'd start with just a few dishes, enough for 2 meals per week and see how I like it. I'm also concerned that I won't be able to stick to my budget if I'm cooking a month ahead. I'm also headed in to the time of year where I rarely turn on my oven so I need to make sure the recipes I choose are summer friendly.

I've found some great resources in researching OAMC. There is a new blog/website that provides, Once a Month Mom, that provides menus, recipes, shopping list, etc. Recipezaar has over 500 OAMC recipes (I just typed in OAMC in the search box). My library also has a lot of books on the topic.

Has anyone ever done this type of cooking? Any suggestions or ideas? Thanks!

3 Thoughts From Others:

maygan said...

I'm the same way, I love cooking but some days things are just too hectic for me to get anything started. I something like the OAMC thing to make about 6 meals for the month. I love having them on hand.

To stay within budget, I check the ads and pick a type of meat that's on sale and then plan 2 or 3 kinds of meals around that. Most of the things I make are oven friendly, but maybe something as simple as sticking some meat in a marinade and sticking it in the freezer would help? I can't wait to see what you come up with!

Camille said...

That's a great idea -- just to put in marinade. We have a favorite chicken kebab recipe that requires marinating and I could cut up the chicken, put it in the marinade and freeze it. I was thinking I'd buy a big pack of ground beef and brown that up as well.

Good thinking, Maygan!

Robin said...

I love OAM cooking. I highly recommend OAM Mom's blog. It makes it so much easier when they give you a shopping list. Make sure you label though. Also use ziploc bags they take up less room in the freezer.

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