Once A Month Cooking Plans

[ChrissyG1968]

Well I did it...my first OAMC cooking day. Here it goes from start to finish....
I already posted my menu plan and now will go into details of the schedule I followed. I did the whole shopping on one day. I used the shopping list feature on recipezaar and it was great. Put in each recipe I was using, printed out my list and crossed off what I didn't need. Was a great tool...for once I didn't forget something at the store. The night before my big cooking day I did the following prep:
Made homemade bacon bits and cooked some boneless chicken thighs in the oven for use in the chicken packets. I also started the "Crock Pot Cola Barbecue Pork Roast".
Big Cooking Day:
Start with the "All Purpose Ground Meat Mix". While the meat is browning assemble "Citrus Marinated Pork Chops (oamc)". Add the veggies to the hamburger then assemble "Chicken Packets (Oamc)".
Next prepare "Perogy Lasagna (Oamc)". Once it's in the oven assemble "Hubby-Will-Inhale-Them Meatballs". They should be ready to pop into oven once the lasagna is done. Watch the meatballs as they cool so the beagle doesn't steal them off the counter...oh wait that's just in my house. Next on the list is "Pizza Roll-Ups (Oamc)". Once they are assembled then put together "Cajun Chops".
The next dish to put together is "Spaghetti / Pasta Sauce" When you add the red wine don't forget to pour yourself a glass. because by this time you deserve one. Once the pasta sauce is cooking you can do "Mexican Stuffed Shells (Oamc)". One that dish is done then you can do "Fannie Farmer's Classic Baked Macaroni and Cheese" and "Ground Beef Baked Beans OAMC" simultaneously. Save one Baked Bean Casserole for dinner that night and freeze the second one. Now take your son to hockey practice come home and eat dinner. If you don't have to go to hockey practice then just continue on to the last dish.."Bacon Wrapped Chicken (Oamc)"
A couple of helpful hints...make sure you have a sink full of hot soapy water on hand all day...clean up is much easier if you can do it while you're cooking. Also the more prep work you can get done the night before the better...I was too tired after work to chop onions, shred cheese etc but wished today that I had done it. A new sharpie works great for writing directions right on the Ziplock bags and foil wrapping.

Now that you're done then the last step is to finish off the bottle of wine you opened to make the pasta sauce because you worked really hard today and deserve it.
Happy Cooking All!

[dianegrapegrower]

Congrats Chrissy! You did a lot! And you're going to be so happy you've got all those meals in the freezer.
D

[Gabby LSW]

I am in awe of you.

I can't do that much cooking in one or two days.

Congrats on a job well done!

Gabby

[ChrissyG1968]

Gabby LSW wrote:
I am in awe of you.

I can't do that much cooking in one or two days.

Congrats on a job well done!

Gabby

Thanks..it was a lot of work but worth it. My husband and I don't get home from work these days until 5:30 so knowing that the kids can start dinner or I can have it on the table in 1/2 hour makes the evenings much less stressful...especially on hockey days. One quick note...I did the meatballs in the oven rather than stovetop in a skillet. 20 mins at 350 was perfect...it fit my schedule better this way

[Gabby LSW]

ChrissyG1968 wrote:

Gabby LSW wrote:
I am in awe of you.

I can't do that much cooking in one or two days.

Congrats on a job well done!

Gabby

Thanks..it was a lot of work but worth it. My husband and I don't get home from work these days until 5:30 so knowing that the kids can start dinner or I can have it on the table in 1/2 hour makes the evenings much less stressful...especially on hockey days. One quick note...I did the meatballs in the oven rather than stovetop in a skillet. 20 mins at 350 was perfect...it fit my schedule better this way

I tend to 'batch cook' instead of a huge all day (bothers my back too much). You did a great job. Having stuff in the freezer ready to heat and eat is a great thing.
I do the meatballs in the oven too, generally I do a big meatloaf and meatball cook. Its about time to do it again, just waiting for the ground beef to go on sale.

Gabby

[elvis's mom]

THANK YOU! I've had trouble finding these plans in the past, it always takes me awhile to find them.

[CheapThrills]

ChrissyG1968 wrote:
.....Watch the meatballs as they cool so the beagle doesn't steal them off the counter...oh wait that's just in my house.

ChrissyG1968 wrote:
.....When you add the red wine don't forget to pour yourself a glass. because by this time you deserve one.

ChrissyG1968 wrote:
.....Now take your son to hockey practice come home and eat dinner. If you don't have to go to hockey practice then just continue on to the last dish.

ChrissyG1968 wrote:
.....Now that you're done then the last step is to finish off the bottle of wine you opened to make the pasta sauce because you worked really hard today and deserve it.
Happy Cooking All!

And I thought it was just ME!

[JackieGK]

seesko wrote:
Thanks for all the help and advice. Just wondering can you search on zaar by the theme OAMC?

Also, wondering if there are limits to what freezes well. I see that most pasta dishes freeze well, but what about tortilla dishes like Creamy Burrito Casserole
Also, for those dishes that don't include OAMC directions. Do you usually cook the dish prior to freezing or simply assemple it. Sorry , if that is a dumb question.

Your comment is from a couple of months ago but I thought I'd respond. In our family we've found we don't care for the texture of tortillas after they've been frozen in a premade dish. Now we just prepare and freeze the filling itself. It saves tons of time - we just thaw and put scoop it into tortillas and bake. If the sauce freezes well, we'll freeze that part too.

Most things I freeze uncooked.

[kittychatalot]

My hubby and I just completed this plan and it was super fun. Can't wait to eat it! Thanks for all your hard work!

[Hello its Me]

Hello! Please review the steps in the O M A C menu number 3...the directions for the night before appear to blend into the big cooking day. I'm sure others will figure this out....but I know I need all the hand-holding I can get.
Thank you for doing this!

[JillAZ]

Thanks for pointing that out! I fixed it.

[Hello its Me]

Ummm.... lasagne? I don't see the reference anywhere else. Did I miss a link to the recipe for lasagne somewhere?

revised: heh heh....this is supposed to be a comment on the plan by divinend from 8/23/2007.... way way up around page 3 or so in this topic. Don't know how to move this over there. Sorry!

[Chef #1482280]

This is amazing!! Thank you so much for the info I can't wait to get started

[Erindipity]

Hello its Me wrote:
Ummm.... lasagne? I don't see the reference anywhere else. Did I miss a link to the recipe for lasagne somewhere?

revised: heh heh....this is supposed to be a comment on the plan by divinend from 8/23/2007.... way way up around page 3 or so in this topic. Don't know how to move this over there. Sorry!

You are right, she doesn't post the recipe for the lasagna. This may be because there isn't one. I know a lot of people do not use recipes when they make theirs. However, here are some links to several that people have frozen before.

Tried & True Lasagna
Lasagna
Awesome Lasagna (No-Boil, Easy)
Lasagna Spinaci (Italian Spinach Lasagna)
Italian Lasagna
Low Fat Lasagna
Creamy Chicken Lasagna - OAMC

As a rule though, lasagna freezes very well, so if you have your own recipe it will likely work also.

[Chef #817145]

Are there printable Grocery Lists/Shopping Lists available?