Meet OAMM member Janet who freezer cooks for her family, but also runs a freezer cooking home business!
Janet is one of our international members from Cape Town, South Africa. She cooks for 3 – herself, her husband, and her 5 year old son. But when she contacted us and told us about her home business cooking freezer meals for others, we knew we had to share her story with all of you. Get ready to see the possibilities that come with a humongous freezer and a little hard work.
Janet affectionately refers to her pots as her kettle bells.
How long have you been once a month cooking? How did you discover OAMM?
A friend, Vanessa, referred me to your site a few years ago (about 6 months before you converted to membership). I was already practicing a mini version of the concept. Every meal I cooked I would double up and freeze for later.
What circumstance pushed you to give once a month cooking a try? How has choosing to OAMC benefited you and your family?
I was at home looking after my first child, who is now 5 years old. I was tired of having to decide every night what to cook for my husband, son and me. Also, I would go to the store every second night (it is walking distance), I would spend triple the amount that a takeout would have cost, and end up staring at wasting veggies, which freaks me out. I hate wasting, but I was overwhelmed by the amount of work after coming home from work! I bought a chest freezer, and used your shopping lists, and did my first once a month cookathon. It was exhausting, but so cool to have a freezer full of food to avoid take-outs when I was too exhausted to cook.
What is your favorite OAMM recipe (or menu or resource)?
I love the whole foods and paleo resources, and that you can now swap meals and make your own menu. It makes things much easier if you are working around kids and have to space things out a bit.
Give us a brief introduction to your kitchen.
My kitchen is probably a little above average in size, although I am lucky to have a pantry for my spices, condiments, oils, tupperware, etc. (That is where the clutter is kept.) My favorite items are my omniblend, my stick 
blender, and my mandolin slicer. I have a lot of freezer space (over 1000 liters of storage!) and a dedicated work fridge for the veggies that I prep for meals. I must have a clear counter to work, and I like prepping all my veg per meal. So it is just a matter of throwing things together and letting the magic happen!
And this is where the magic happens! Here is Janet’s workspace and chest freezer.
What is the number one tip that you would give to a first timer?
Tell us about a time when you experienced an OAMC or cooking fail.
Ahh, the only thing I messed up was the labels. I printed them with an inkjet and the ink ran on some of the meals when defrosting, but it wasn’t a train smash. It is so important to label, though. Everything looks the same when it is frozen!
When you have a freezer cooking business a large pantry is also a must.
Do you involve other people when you OAMC? (cooking for someone or with someone?)
Cooking once a month inspired me to do a cooking service in Cape Town, South Africa, where I live. I now have a pretty successful business cooking and freezing paleo food. I end up having to cook about 150 meals a week and have over 1000 liter freezer capacity! The basis of my experience, though, was from your site. (We hope to inspire our readers, and they inspire us right back!)
How is OAMC hard? How does it make your life easy?
It can be physically challenging, and sometimes it is almost impossible to dedicate time to focus purely on cooking, but I find it easier to stretch out cooking over 1 or 2 extra days so that I can still give my kids the attention they need. What I LOVE about it is that I don’t spend all my time in the kitchen, or thinking of what to eat, and I especially love how much money it saved us!
**Do you have a unique membership story or use OAMM in an unusual way? We would love to hear about it! Send it to info @ onceamonthmeals.com with the subject: I am OAMM. Talk to you soon!**