Introduction

Have you ever felt overwhelmed by deciding what to prepare for a meal? I know I have. Especially our evening meal when our three children were growing up. Then one day I stumbled across a program called "Once A Month Cooking" and thought I'd give it a try. It was a lifesaver and I loved it. I did it for years, from the time my youngest was preschool until he was in 8th grade! I don't remember why I quit, just that I did. When I was doing the OAMC back then I prepared a lot of full, complete meals and froze them, entree, side and dessert. The only thing I had to actually prepare for the meal was the vegetable or the potatoes.

For those of you not familiar with the OAMC program I will try to explain it to you here. this blog is to try to help you see what it takes, how to do it, and how much fun you can actually have.

Once A Month Cooking is the ultimate do-ahead dinner preparation technique. the secret of the OAMC technique is that you cook all your dinner main dishes for a month (or two weeks) in one day, freeze them, and enjoy eating tasty food every night without the hassle of lengthy meal preparation. In this blog I will try to provide the menu we use, shopping lists and recipes.

You don't have to be well organized or a good cook to successfully accomplish OAMC. But you need to expect and plan to:
Take a longer-than-usual shopping trip, preferably the day or night before you cook
Spend the bulk of your month's food budget on this shopping trip (saving money over the course of the month)
cook with a partner or two or three like I do, for maximum fun and efficiency
cook half a day for a two week cycle, a full day for a month cycle
Love the freedom and possibilities this will bring to mealtimes
Enjoy family-building times around the table and like us the time we cook together
Take the stress out of having company for dinner.

I suggest for the first few times you do the OAMC to try to do the two week cycle. Then when you get the feel of the "system" advance on to the full month if that is what you want and have the room for the food.

Also in this blog I will frequently give you suggestions of what to serve with a certain recipe.

Please feel free to email me with any suggestions and question you might have. Even leave a comments here on the blog.

Give it a try. I'm sure you will love it!