Does anybody do OAMC?

[OrangeHope]

I'm looking to start a once a month cooking and I'm wondering if anyone else does it?
If so, do you really feel like it saves you time and money?
How did you start?
What are your favorite meals to freeze?

For a while I have been eating as a vegetarian and I try looking for OAMC on vegan/vegetarian sites to get some recipes but am I bit afraid to start making a whole bunch of food I never tasted...so I'm thinking I'll start little with maybe a weeks worth of cooking and see how that goes.
Another reason I wanna start a OAMC is because DH has to travel alot and some times his boss only gives him notice the night before so I would like to have some ready meals I can just take out of the freezer and send it with DH.

Please feel free to share how you got started or if your also thinking of starting a OAMC

 

[c1ners]

I would be afraid to cook for the whole month all in one day. For one, I'd be exhausted from all that cooking and freezing. And for 2, I'd be afraid the last of the food would spoil or go bad before I could eat it.

When my husband used to travel I would cook three big meals (for him for the weekend) and then eat it the rest of the week (while he was out of town.) That wasn't too bad.

 

[JaneFW]

I used to do that a long time ago. I would make quiches, soups, pies, pasta meals and freeze them. But it was a very long time ago. It did seem to save time and money then, but I'm not convinced that it would for my larger family, so I don't do it anymore.

Make sure you get very fresh ingredients, that's one thing I remember. I wish you luck!

 

[OrangeHope]

Thanks C1ners! I too am afraid of being so exhausted from cooking all day.
The food really has no reason to spoil if it's in the freezer, most foods can last 3 months and more in the freezer.

I read a lot of people being tired after a long day of cooking but that they loved it any ways cause for the rest of the month they don't have too worry about cooking.

 

[OrangeHope]

Thanks JaneFW, I have a small family so I really think it can work great for my family.

Question, do you rememeber if you can freeze potato soup?

 

[JaneFW]

Thanks JaneFW, I have a small family so I really think it can work great for my family.

Question, do you rememeber if you can freeze potato soup?

I didn't make potato soup, but I'm pretty sure that you can. I did make pea soup, and pea and ham, and if you can freeze a pea, I'm pretty sure you can freeze a potato!

 

[chaz345]

Thanks JaneFW, I have a small family so I really think it can work great for my family.

Question, do you rememeber if you can freeze potato soup?

If the potato soup has large chunks of potatoes in it, they can end up mushy/watery after freezing/thawing. Smaller chunks or not cooking them completely can help.

Nothing wrong with it from a health standpoint and the flavor is fine, the texture just end up a little "off".

 

[chaz345]

The other thing to rememeber when cooking to freeze is that freezing kills flavors. That's why so many manufactured frozen dinners have 4 days worth of salt in a single serving. Don't need to use tons of salt necessarily but it doesn't hurt to bump up the level of spices and flavorings used a little.


On the point of cooking all day, remember that you aren't necessarily making 30 different meals. If you make 5 "copies" of 6 different meals, you're covered for the month. That may not be enough variety for some but you get the idea. You can also always toss in a few nights where you do cook something quick and easy for dinner. Grilled cheese and tomato soup is a regular in our house as is "breakfast for dinner". Heck this time of year you can always just toss the meat our raw and tell hubby to grill it.

 

[OrangeHope]

Thanks guys! I'm gonna try freezing a potato in small chunks and see how that goes, I plan on making a cheesy potato soup, never made it before so we'll see how that goes and have some other recipes to try out