Once a Month Cooking – Part 1 Preparation

As homeschool moms we don’t have a lot of extra time on our hands.  If we can find something to make our job easier I am all for it!  I was searching online the other night looking for crock pot recipes and came across an article about Once a Month Cooking.  I had tried it before and it worked out alright but I only prepared dinners.  While I was reading I found several recipes for breakfast and lunch items.  I started thinking about how much easier it would make my life.  So I started on my journey of Once a Month Cooking.

This journey takes about 2-3 days to complete.  Since this was my first time planning all three meals for 30 days it took me 3 days to finish.  The first day is all about planning and shopping and the second and possibly the third day is pure cooking.  I want to share my journey with you so you can learn from my mistakes and successes.  I hope this will help you save time and money.

The first step in your journey is preparation.  If you prepare well it will make everything else easier.  You want to start with a list of meals you want to fix.  The children and I made a list of all the meals we like to eat, and then I searched the web for extra recipes.  After you figure out what you want to fix the next step is to compile a list of all the ingredients you will need to complete all the meals.  I started with papers labeled dairy, meat, freezer, grocery, and spices.  I then went through all the recipes and listed the ingredients needed on the pages.  (I used a tally system to prevent repeating items.)  The next step is to inventory what items you already have.  I crossed off what ingredients I already had in stock.  From this you can create your grocery list. 

Once I had completed my meal list I finished up with meal planning for the month.  Cooking and freezing the meals is only the first step.  You must use them wisely or all your work will be in vain.  By looking at the plan I can see what to pull from the freezer each day and if I need to pick up any additional items such as produce to go with the meal.  I used my Meal Planning pages from the Mom’s Tool Belt and put them into my Household binder.  This also ensures I have listed enough meals to get us through the month. 

Next time I am going to share with you my Once a Month Cooking shopping tips and a few recipes I used.  I will also be posting updates on how meals turned out throughout the month.    Lastly I want to give you a rundown of some of what I have prepared over the last few days.  (19 hot breakfasts, 28 lunch, and 28 dinners in all)

23 Breakfast Burritos

15 bacon, egg cheese muffins

36 pcs French toast

42 Pancakes

45 Pizza Bagels

20 Peanut butter and Jelly sandwiches

7 chicken quesadillas

8 casseroles

2 chicken pot pies

Meatloaf

Several packages of chicken cooked and chopped for meals

Hamburger fried and frozen for varies meals

Pork chops seasoned and frozen

Ribs in marinade

Hamburger patties marinated

Pork roasts

Chicken breasts frozen for crock pot meals

Veggie soup

9 cups rice