Once A Month Cooking?

[Jaycee]

I've been doing a bit of googling about the concept of OAMC and was wondering if anybody else does it?
What kind of things do you cook?
Any help would be appreciated!
Thanks

[Indadhanu]

I don't do this exactly, but I know Squidipa does. She does all kinds of things! Hopefully she'll be back online soon!

As for me, it's an interesting concept. I think I'd look into it if we were ever in the situation where we both had to work and were short on time and energy.

[CharlieBrownGirl]

I'm interested in any advice. So far I've managed to do a weeks worth on a Sunday.

[Liviam]

I know RoryRory also uses a website like this. Hopefully one of these two ladies will be on soon and will give us a heads up.

[Jaycee]

Yeah Leash, I'm a bit short on time, I work 3 days a week and when our house is built we won't be getting home til around 6pm as it's a bit of a drive home so it'd be nice just to pull something out of the freezer and heat it up!

[Lulu]

The Meal Planners thread is awesome for ideas.

[Liviam]

Where is that thread located Lulu? Which sub category do I look in?

[Roryrory]

Mods is it ok to post some links? I have a stack

[Jaycee]

Rory, can't wait to see your links I'm quite excited about starting off. How long have you been doing it?

[Roryrory]

Ok, here we go! Once a month cooking is a great way to plan ahead and make use of cheaper cuts of meat and weekly specials. Basically you spend a day cooking up big and chuck it all in the freezer. "Once a month" is a bit of a misnomer, because I really don't think there are too many people who literally cook once a month. Probably more that not, people do a big cook up once a week or once a fortnight. Whether you can actually cook only once a month depends on your level of organisation, experience and how big your freezer is. Also, some sites and books talk about freezing every meal for a month - including breakfast (things like pancakes, muffins, breads, etc) but its probably best to start with dinner.

Personally I have never done a full OAMC cook up because I don't have a chest freezer, but that's going to change V-E-R-Y soon

Basics

This site gives you a basic overview of the process. The idea is to plan, plan and plan again. If you need chopped onions for 5 recipies, don't chop the onions 5 times. Chop all you need at once.

Aussie Cooking OAMC

Here is a free OAMC guide: 30 day cafe guide

Ellen's Kitchen blog gives a comprehensive how-to list

Freezing food

Since OAMC relies heavily on the freezer, you need to know how to safely freeze food. The "Taste" website in Australia gives some good hints, but really any of the major Australian cooking sites will give you the basics. I really recommend you check one of these out before starting, just to make sure you have appropriate containers and have an idea of how to chill food properly so you get the best results.

Recipes

The only Australia site I have found (so far) which is any good is Planning with Kids (I love this site generally, though).

Unfortunately OAMC seems to be a real American thing - not that I have anything against Americans LOL but many of the recipes you will find on the web give measurements in pounds and ounces. (Plus a lot of the food doesn't seem to be to Australian "taste", IYKWIM? Really, you could use any old freezable recipe.

Here are some US websites with recipe ideas:

Recipezaar

Real food starter recipes

A good book might be useful too. I have "Don't Panic--Dinner's In The Freezer: Great-Tasting Meals You Can Make Ahead" by Martinez and Howell but it is a US book and all the recipes need converting.

"The Frugal Mom's guide to Once a Month Cooking" by Candace Anderson seems to be popular too.

So there is a start - get planning

[Pandora]

My patchwork teacher wrote that oamc guide (the first link) and it really is good. She used to har a full version for sale on her website. I have a printed copy I will check if it has recipes.

[Jaycee]

Wow Rory thanks so much for all that info you're a gem. I've got lots of reading to do now!! Thank you so much !!

[~Kim~]

Oooh great thread GG!
Rory's post the other day got me googling this as well.

Thanks Rory...guess I'll fill in nap time easily for a few days...

[~Kim~]

ok so after a bit of reading....
would you do say 10meals (3x quantity) or would you do 30 different meals?

[Roryrory]

I think the idea is to do 10 meals x 3. 30 different meals? You might as well cook every day I reckon! The idea of OAMC is to leverage your effort. It takes a minimal amount of effort to double or triple a soup recipe and have leftovers, for example, but making 3 different soups takes longer.

I think many people who use OAMC fully build up a store of frozen food over a number of months. Most recipes can last 3 months or so in the freezer, so if you made 3x10 this month and only "ate from the freezer" 3 or 4 times a week you would have around 15 meals still leftover. So the next month when you do 3x10 you would have 45 meals in your stock pile. And so on.

[~Kim~]

ahhh copy....that sounds better....we have about 80 meals in rotation, so I don't think DH would cop 4 of the same meal in a month.
but that definitley sounds better.
And I reckon one day of baking for the month would be worth it too (whether it be the same day or a different day).

[Pandora]

I don't even have ten different meals. I will be doing 5-6 and multiple serves of each. My biggest issue will be having enough freezer proof containers for all the food

[AnyDream]

Kaz, you can use a container like an icecream or yoghurt container to hold the bag open, then pop it into freezer in the same. Once frozen you remove the food which is now a nice square shape.