It doesn’t seem to matter how much time I may have spent homeschooling, therapy-ing, and being the Mommy, my family still always expects dinner.
Even if they just had it, you know, last night.
Who came up with the bright idea to eat dinner every night, anyway?
Because about the last thing I want to do after a busy and tiring day is cook.
One sanity saver that I have employed for many years is the fine art of Once A Month Cooking, or OAMC.
OAMC is a technique where you take one day out of your month and cook many meals that then go into your freezer to be pulled out on those nights you simply have no desire to face a stove.
Your cooking sessions don’t have to be just for dinner either.
You can create breakfast items to stash in your freezer too.
My girls and I made about 50 egg, sausage and cheese or ham and cheese breakfast burritos last weekend. I wrap each one in a large and sturdy paper towel so that my family can grab one, nuke it and go! Super quick and no mess left for Mom in the microwave!
Barb, from A Chelsea Morning gives an excellent tutorial on how to make large amounts of egg burritos.
We make ours a little differently. Did I mention I have a household of picky eaters?
Some benefits to OAMC:
*You save money because you are cooking from scratch and following a menu and budget plan.
*You can make healthy meals rather than reaching for the cereal or ramen noodles for the third time in a week.
*Less Clean Up.
*You can get your kids involved! Think of the learning that could be happening while you are cooking together!
There are many variations on the OAMC theme.
*Some get together in OAMC groups that meet at one person’s home to make their dinners.
*Others have formed groups where they make several of the same dinners at their own homes and then meet as a group to exchange dinners.
Because my family is so picky, and our budget is so tight, I tend to just do my own thing.
Interested? Here are a few links to get you started:
30 Day Gourmet <--- My favorite site! Frozen Assets: Cook for a Day, Eat for a Month!
The Friendly Freezer (This site also comes with a mailing list!)
There are many books that have been published on the topic of OAMC. But, honestly, if you ran a google search you could find all the same great info online.
Some freezer friendly items that I try to never be without:
*Frozen mashed potatoes. I take a 50 pound bag of spuds, turn them into mashed potatoes, package in family sized servings and freeze.
*I make up extra pasta and then freeze it. Simply thaw and warm up in the microwave. You can do the same both rice and beans.
*Freeze meat in a freezer bag with the marinade already added. As your meat thaws it also marinates.
*Make up large amounts of rice pilaf, homemade mac and cheese, lasagna, soups, and casseroles….and then freeze them.
One of my family’s favorites is Taco Rice. We eat this as a main dish, or wrap in up in a whole grain tortilla. It is also an excellent base for taco salads! Yum!
Taco Rice (This makes enough for four meals)
4 lb. ground beef (or chicken or turkey)
4 cups diced onions.
4 packets of taco seasoning
64 ounces canned tomatoes (we can our own)
8 cups cooked white or brown rice (we cook ours using home canned salsa)
shredded cheeseBrown meat and drain. Combine meat, onion, taco seasoning packets, cooked rice and tomatoes in a large pan. Simmer until thick.
Cool, and then divide into four meals, putting each meal in a freezer bag or other freezer container. Place shredded cheese for each meal into it’s own freezer bag and freeze with the taco rice.
To eat: Thaw. Warm throughly. Sprinkle with cheese.
Enjoy!
You can find Tammy and Parker hanging out at their other blog, Praying For Parker.