In the not too distant past, and for as long as I could remember (things have changed now), I was single. I woke up when I wanted to. Came home when I wanted to. I ate when and where I wanted to. I even ate what I wanted to. Ah, that was the life! No one to be concerned with but myself.
Then I got married.
Then I was gifted a 12 year old stepson.
Then my husband and I allowed a college-aged family member
to hunker down in our house while he went to college.
In the span of three short years, I went from Sex and The
City to Modern Family. Not only was I
overwhelmed with these major life changes, I was always tired. And let me tell you, these are not feelings I
was used to dealing with.
In an effort to do the wife and mother thing (i.e. feed and
keep people alive until they finally leave home), I started cooking. So, that went ok for a while. I think I had had it with cooking every day
of the week by, like, Wednesday.
Let me just stop here
and say… WIVES AND MOMS ROCKS!!! SINGLE
PARENTS ROCKS!! DADS WHO COOK AND TAKE
CARE OF THINGS INSIDE THE HOME ROCK!!! Y’all make it look so easy. I will never understand why more of you
aren’t drunk or obese, because KFC and Papa John’s became quick friends of my family. But I digress.
When the guilt of feeding my family yummy, deep fried
chemicals and pizza made more of bread than of fresh toppings, I had to
acknowledge that I needed to make some changes in the menu department. I mean, these were boys (husband
included). They really didn’t care what
they ate as long as they could spread ketchup over it, roll it in bread, and it
didn’t cause a gag reflex.
This is where my Type A Personality kicked in. I figured I’d have a better chance at feeding
My Boys (that’s what I call them) a good, healthy meal if I planned a week’s
worth of dinners ahead of time. Doing it
this way would help me cut down on time running back and forth to the grocery
store and I could prep the meals a day or two in advance.
Then, the heavens opened…music began to play…angels
sang…
I ran across a beautiful thing called Once A Month Cooking
(OAMC). This type of cooking is also
known as Freezer Cooking, Make Ahead Cooking, and other such names that capture
the essence of the effort. Whatever you
call it, I am totally sold on the
freezer meal concept! In fact, I am pretty sure my family and friends and work colleagues are sick of hearing about this obsession. To be able to throw “already prepared” food
in the crock pot or defrost some taco meat in just a few minutes is so
wonderful! Now that I have meals already
prepped in the freezer means I don’t have to stress about dinner. EVER.
I also don’t feel bad about ordering unhealthy take-out either. Why?
Because we rarely order out anymore!
Score! Money saved!! Have you ordered food for two teenagers and a
6’ 2” man lately? Let’s just say, $60 and
a couple of hours later and these boys are back in the kitchen staring into the refrigerator.
OAMC is the ultimate do-ahead dinner preparation technique and a
wonderful tool a busy family can use and modify to suit their needs. It is the simple idea of cooking ahead and
then preserving your food by freezing it until you’re ready to cook and serve
(like a frozen pizza or chicken nuggets but healthier!). The secret of the OAMC technique is that you
cook all your dinner main dishes for a month (or two weeks to begin with) in one day (or weekend), freeze
them, and enjoy eating tasty food every night without the hassle of lengthy
meal preparation. That means more time
for the family and more importantly, more time for you!
Another great benefit of OAMC is being able to plan a menu of
foods you’ll enjoy even if you have special dietary concerns. Because you are prepping the email yourself,
you can control how much salt or oil to use.
There are a billion low carb OAMC recipes out there. There are gluten-free recipes and vegan
recipes. Having a prepped meal means you
will always have a healthy option available to you!
So, by now, you may be interested in this grand idea of OAMC but
wondering, “how do I start?” Here are a
few tips I found helpful when I started OAMC.
1. Visit the
Family & MWR Pinterest board “Once a Month Cooking & Other Recipes
Not only does our board offer tons of recipes for meals that
freeze well, we have also pinned a couple of “How to Get Started” or “OAMC 101”
articles.
2. Don’t overwhelm yourself trying to make 50
freezer meals in one day!
Start off prepping and freezing meals for one or two weeks. Starting small will get you used to planning,
shopping, and the time it takes to actually prep and label the meals. As you get used to this new time-saver, you
can increase the number of meals you prep or even join a OAMC Club.
3. Frozen Noodles do NOT taste good when they
are reheated
Cooked
and thawed
noodles can be mushy beyond belief. It’s best just to spend the 10
minutes boiling noodles.
4. Storing food in freezer bags is best
Storing your freezer meal in a plastic bag is the best idea.
It takes less room up in your freezer, and, thawing freezer meals by
placing the freezer bag in a pot of warm water is, by far, the fastest way to
thaw a freezer meal. Casseroles can be
frozen in their pan, just wrap with a layer or two of plastic wrap.
5. Avoid using already- frozen meat
If you are making the type of freezer meal that goes into a crock
pot or oven to cook (raw meat with a marinade), do not purchase frozen meat.
First, if you are just adding a marinade to the frozen meat and sticking
it in the freezer, it’s likely that your dinner will end up watery (because you
never defrosted the meat). Second,
refreezing already frozen meat can contaminate it.
6. THE MOST IMPORTANT TIP is to make meals your
family will actually eat. If you don’t usually marinate
chicken in bottles of salad dressing, then don’t choose to make that meal just
because it was included in a list of OAMC recipes. Trust me, you will be able to find meals for even the pickiest eaters!
Now, let’s talk about
the benefits of OAMC. Well, for
starters, you’ll save
money on gas by NOT taking multiple trips to the grocery store. You’ll
save money on groceries because of fewer trips to the store. You’ll
save time (and brain cells) by NOT having to think of a menu every day of
the week. You’ll save energy and time by NOT having to cook at the end of a
busy day. You’ll save time cleaning up since there won’t be a stove-top
covered in pots and pans. You’ll also save and help build family
relationships by spending cooking time talking to family and catching up on
their day. In other words, YOU WIN!
School is about to start. Schedules are about to become super busy
again. Imagine coming home after a long
commute or after soccer practice (or both) and popping an already prepped
dinner in the oven or on the grill, and having an hour or more to just sit down
and chill in the evening with your spouse and children. Or, spend that new found time in the
gym. To me, that’s worth the one Saturday
it will take to prep and freeze your OAMC meals.
For more information on Once A Month
Cooking “how to’s” and recipes, visit the Family & MWR Pinterest
board “Once a Month Cooking & Other Recipes. Search: jbmhhfmwr.
Be sure to comment down below if you’ve ever tried OAMC or
if you have any questions. …or post pictures of your OAMC prep session!
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