Dinner is Done.

For the entire month. 

What would possess someone to cook a month's worth of meals in one day? I became possessed by the idea of freeing up that dreaded dinner hour.  I became possessed with the idea of not having to rack my brain for dinner ideas and scurry around the kitchen trying to make a dinner that should take an hour fit into the 45 minutes that I actually could spare to get it on the table. 

I found the answer months ago when a friend introduced me to OAMM and I remember putting out a feeler on Face book about it.  I think some people where intrigued, but no one took the bait.  That is until one day last month when I got an unexpected message from Janene asking if I had been serious about my interest in giving it a try.

I had to think about it for oh....two seconds before I wrote back to say that I wanted to do it. I kind of thought it would be hard work.  But I also thought the rewards could be worth the effort and then some. My biggest concern was figuring out how to keep four kids occupied!

Cooking once a month is a good thing for the following reasons: 

You don't have to think about what's for dinner.

You don't have to mess around with mixing and pulling out ingredients and rummaging through cookbooks all early afternoon. Every. Single. Day. Of. The. Week.

You can feel confident that when handing the keys to the kitchen over to someone else, they can do better than pulling a prepackaged pizza from the freezer.

When you've had a busy day it is as easy as preheating the oven and popping in a pan.

If you prepare in the month prior to cooking, you can save money by shopping sales and using coupons!  We cooked our whole menu for less than $150 a piece and from that we each got 16 dinners, 8 lunches, 6 breakfasts (the breakfasts I have been using as grab and go, so it actually seems like more than 6!) That means feeding my family of 6 costs a little less than $5/meal.

'Twas the night before our Big Cooking Day!

These are as delicious as they look!

I was so nervous about these bags leaking! It was tough dividing our White Chicken Chili, Beef Stew, and Chili into those bags!

I cannot wait to dig into the black beans and rice. They smelled REALLY Good while cooking.

I think I'm in love with my Food Processor. It was SO under utilized before our big cooking day and WOW. I am in awe at that thing! Those perfect cheese shreds from the black beans and rice dish?  Under 2 seconds using this baby.

This was during the last third of our cooking day and LOOK! We are still smiling!

And the kids stayed out of our hair for the most part!

Some of our meals packaged and ready for the freezer!

I can't wait until next month!

Thanks, Janene!

Menu Plan Monday - Week of 2/21

Kids are home today for Presidents' Day. I am TRYING my best to be productive!!  We have a birthday party to plan for this next Sunday. I see that tenderloin is on sale this week so I think it's a no brainer that we will most likely have pulled pork sandwiches for the party! 

Here's what the week looks like:

Monday: Chili, Fresh Bread, Salad
Tuesday: Ham slice with Mac n Cheese, Green beans
Wednesday: Oven Fried Chicken Tenders, Potato Crowns and Corn
Thursday: Poached Eggs in salsa, guacamole and chips
Friday: BBQ Pork Chops, Roasted Potatoes, Apple Sauce
Saturday: Pizza, Salad
Sunday: Pulled Pork Sandwiches, Coleslaw, Baked Potato Fries.

Check out some more menus over at I'm an Organizing Junkie!

I'm Asking for a Crock Pot for Christmas

I already have one. But I need another. Who asks for a crock pot for Christmas?  Me.  Why not just go buy one myself?  Well, I hate shopping.  My crock pot isn't broken, I need a second one so that I can give once a month cooking a try. I am also asking for 9x13 pans.  I guess if I get them for Christmas it will be a sign that I should really try it. I've been wanting to do it for over 2 months now. I'm a little scared though I think. 

First, the site above suggests that you cook with a friend...but I have my own (unorganized) way of doing things and a friend may help, but may just get lost in the muddle. I feel like the first time at least I would need to do it myself, so that I could go to this "friend" and say, "look, it's not so bad. This is what worked and this is what didn't work."

Second, it's a long time to be in the kitchen.  Uh, I have four kids.  I need hours and hours of uninterrupted time in the kitchen to get things accomplished--at least that's what they say.  I'm trying to think back over the last few months and remember a day when I had hours of uninterrupted time...there was no day.  So I need to really contemplate that and put a plan into place.  Maybe, I could bring a babysitter in for the day.

Third, I have to wrap my head around the way I would need to shop for this cooking day. I mean do I shop for it all on one day and hope for the best or do I buy a little at a time?

Does it seem like more hassle than it is worth?  The thing is, there are some VERY appealing things about this whole deal.  The convenience of having a meal ready to go so that we don't have to give in to that voice that says "let's eat out" is oh so appealing.  I like cooking and it might actually be fun.  For an investment of a day spent in the kitchen I will gain back umpteen hours of meal planning time and daily prep time.  This is home made convenience food--so much better than the stuff that comes in cardboard boxes and plastic containers.  Supposedly, it saves money (I get that you would save money by not eating out). But would it also save on the grocery bill??? I'm not sold yet.  I have a pretty strict grocery budget and fairly solid routine when it comes to couponing, list making, and shopping. I don't know if I should mess with a good thing. 

Anyone want to weigh in?