Joyful Recommendations: Once A Month Cooking

So on Monday I took my first stab at something called "Once A Month Cooking." The basic gist of it is that you plan out all the dinners you will eat that month and cook them all on one day and freeze them! There is a website that describes it and has some recipes.

The recipes included on the site typically have "cooking day" instructions and "serving day" instructions. While you are doing most of the cooking on one day, there is always at least the reheating bit, and sometimes you have to add a sauce or something before reheating. A lot of the meals I made also require some sort of side - like a veggie, salad, etc.

I didn't make 30 different meals, but I sure made a lot! The recipes I used from the site are bbq pork, chicken enchiladas, goulash, calzones (these came out HUGE!), mashed potatoes (a big hit with company that recently visited), chicken pie, and some others I can't quite remember right now! The enchiladas were highly recommended to me.

You can also use a lot of your own recipes, once you learn what freezes well and what doesn't! From personal experience, rice doesn't seem to do so hot!

I also made some recipes of my own and from others - sauces freeze great, so my mother-in-laws spaghetti sauce is an easy one to cook lots of and store, marinades, and we loved Megan's stuffed shell recipe, so I cook the shells, stuff them and then on "serving day" I just add sauce and bake.

I planned to cook fresh about once a week, and we usually go out to eat once a week. Knowing that along with other dates when we have plans with friends, I made meals for the rest of the nights leaving us completely covered for the month and then some since it's just Daryl and I! Due to that fact, I separate a lot of the meals in two containers or so, so that I don't have to thaw and cook more than we'll eat. That way we'll have the rest for other times. Btw, most things keep 3-6 months :) THANKS MOM AND DAD FOR THE DEEP FREEZER which makes this possible for us.

The pros of this are obvious - I don't have to spend a lot of time cooking each night which frees me up for time with my family, to serve more, to work, etc. We also spend MUCH less on groceries when we plan because I only buy exactly what we need. It limits grocery store trips which is a pro for multiple reasons in itself - I don't have to take Anna there again, I don't waste time, and I don't spend more money on gas :) Also, we eat out less and eat healthier. And last but not least, if we end up going out with friends or something last minute, no groceries are wasted because we can just keep things in the freezer for later! Whew hoo!

The cons - well, I don't have any right now! HOWEVER, it is a difficult investment at the beginning of the month, or whenever you decide to do it. You spend a lot of time choosing recipes and then make an ingredient/shopping list. I also had to spend a little bit of time making a plan for how exactly to cook. For example, I tried to chop all of the meat I needed at once, all the vegetables at once and separate them for the recipes, etc. You also spend a while at the store and then of course a whole day cooking and a few hours cleaning up as you can see from the picture at the top of the blog - that was the kitchen when I was done and I was even cleaning up some while I went!

Anna was FANTASTIC that day and I took breaks to play with her, but you may want to get some help with your kiddos if they're around. Also, plan on cooking on a day when you don't have other plans.

If this doesn't sound like something you want to do or could do at current, my other recommendation is this: when you make something freezable - a soup, casserole, sauce, etc, make double and freeze the extra. That way if you know a busy day will be popping up you can put it in the fridge the night before and then just heat it at dinner time for a quick meal! The crock pot has also been a good friend of mine since Anna has arrived, so hopefully I'll get some time this week to post some of our favorite recipes.

Please respond with your own recommendations and recipes as many brains and different experiences are more helpful than one! :)

Just for fun...



Isn't she great? Happy cooking!