I'm whooped.

This is our freezer.

It is currently the only orderly part of our kitchen [and maybe our house. maybe.]

What is that IN our freezer?

Well, it just so happens to be 37 meals. 

All made today. 

*beaming*

I did this last month too, but didn't post about it because I was so dang tired that I didn't know if I'd actually do it again. The pros definitely outweighed the cons, though, so here I am after month two of 

"OAMC" or

once-a-month-cooking.

[The milk is there because there were tons of sales this month and if you can get 4 gallons of milk for a buck a piece, you'd freeze it too. According to the internet, skim milk freezes best, so it's lucky that's all we eat anyway!]

And for those of you who are wondering, the food is delicious! (and nutritious) And makes for great leftovers the next day. I honestly don't know how people live without OAMC. I can't count how many times I've come home from work with absolutely no desire to cook anything. In the past we'd just go out. However, now when I come home and have no desire to cook anything, I don't have to. I grab a meal, throw it in the oven and put a batch of rice in the rice maker. 5 minute dinner that tastes like you've been in the kitchen all day. 

Perk #2: you do dishes ONCE. wow. [that should really read Cameron does dishes once, let's not kid ourselves.] The rest of the month, the most there is to wash is 2 [or 4 if there's company] plates, cups and silverware. Awesome. 

A lot of people have hang-ups about how much it costs to do this or how making multiples of meals gets old after a while, or how long it takes. To clear that up, we spent $130 yesterday shopping for today. We got 37 dinners, lunch meat, tons of snack food [including star wars fruit snacks...they were on sale and when you marry a jedi, he stays a jedi.], new ink cartridges, and stuff for root beer floats. It's not like we're impoverished.  Also, here's the calendar for our meals: 

 

 You can see that most of the time, we have 2 of each meal: tops! And in all honesty, they don't get old. We've got mexican to italian to american to chinese. It's gonna be a yummy month! Quite often, we're excited for each meal to come back around. 

Also, the how long it takes... welp, I've found that it takes approximately 90 seconds longer to make 2 lasagnas than it does 1. Personally, I think the 90 seconds is worth it. It's totally your call though. :) It also depends on what kind of meals you're doing. Last month, I was able to go shopping and make all our meals in the same day. I was exhausted, but the actual cooking time was 3 hours. A few of the recipes are chopping chicken and throwing it in a ziploc bag with it's marinade. 5 minutes and you have tender juicy chicken for 3 different nights that month.

I've decided that instead of baby shower gifts, I'd much rather come do this for my friends right around their due date. I figure 30 meals is better than 1, even if they're in charge of throwing it in the oven. So, that was my saturday in a nut shell. :) I'm off to shower, write a talk, and hit the temple with my man. 

And somewhere in there I'm making dinner. 

Cameron's favorite: poppyseed chicken : isn't a freezer recipe, so we have to have it on the big cooking day when I'm in the kitchen anyway. I figure at only having it once a month, it'll stay a favorite for quite a while. 

O! and if you want any of the recipes, let me know! I'll be happy to post the ones people are interested in! 

And, in other news. I'm opening my digi scrap shops on Thursday. I just finished a kit inspired by none else than my gorgeous sister Jessica. While I'm sharing, I might as well post this too. :) 

 

Happy Saturday!