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Once a Month Cooking

smackjlawsmackjlaw
in 3rd Trimester
I started searching online for meals which I can prepare prior to the arrival of my twins and freeze for my family (I have 4 teen stepkids that live with us full-time), and I ran across the concept of once a month cooking. Basically you spend one or two days cooking 30 meals which can be frozen and then used as needed. Has anyone done anything like this? There's lots of different books and programs out there I'm wondering if anyone has any recommendations?
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Re: Once a Month Cooking

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    BabyBaloghBabyBalogh member
    I've heard of "Dream Dinners" which is like a cooking workshop where you go and make a few meals (idk how many) and bring them home to freeze or have that week. The once a month cooking concept sounds like something I may be interested in tho! 
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    AllieJeanAllieJean
    I dont know much about this, but if you try it I definatly want to know how it goes!
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    LoriZooLoriZoo

    I do this several times a year, when I know my DH and I will be too busy to cook (thankfully, it's just been the 2 of us, not a family as large as yours).  We take our favorite recipes and double them (you may need to make more!!) and freeze them.  We also try to use many of the same ingredients in as many dishes (making it more cost effective).  We cook some on the stove and some in our crock pots.  Lasagnas/baked zitis work well for freezing, as you don't have to bake them first.  I'd recommend writing the defrosting/heating instructions on whatever you make.  We have a large stand-alone freezer to accomodate the meals we make.  Generally, anything you enjoy eating can be frozen, as long as you seal it properly. 

    (I'm a vegetarian and DH is a huge meat eater...so we make veggie and meat-friendly meals...twice the work).

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    megdrew1218megdrew1218 member
    I recommend putting those teens to work and have them make the family dinners! :-) Would that be a mean step-mom?
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    Courtney MarieCourtney Marie
    This might be a dumb question, but how do you make sure you seal it properly?
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    BriAndSeanBriAndSean

    imagemegdrew1218:
    I recommend putting those teens to work and have them make the family dinners! :-) Would that be a mean step-mom?

    We had to do this growing up. My parents were fortunate enough to have 7 kids... one for every day of the week :)

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    sam7272sam7272

    I haven't tried this with her yet, but I have a friend who does this every month with her sister-in-law.  They have saved TONS of money on grocery shopping and really like it.  Obviously, you need to have the available freezer space to do it and an entire day to devote to cooking, but then it makes the month really convenient.  Here's their blog: https://onceamonthcookingbethandkim.blogspot.com/

    My mom and I did freezer meals before my first little guy was born.  It was awesome.  We just picked some casseroles/recipes that we thought would freeze ok and put them together.  Then, all you have to do is bake them/warm them and you're good to go.  

    It makes things really nice!!  Good luck! 

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