Meet Once a Month Meals member Patty. OAMC helps her feed her family as a working mom, save money on grocery, and also be able to share meals with others.
Meet Patty. She has been freezing meals for a while, but a whole new world opened up when she discovered how to cook for the whole month! We have seen her pictures of meals and testimonies of her savings on social media and thought you would like to meet her too. Now that she has a fully stocked freezer, she has been able to share many meals with friends who are dealing with chronic illness. We love seeing our readers “Freeze it Forward” and hope that you can get some good ideas from Patty’s kitchen.
How long have you been once a month cooking? How did you discover OAMM?
I am a relative newbie to OAMC as this is my third month in this endeavor. I discovered OAMM through a friend who had been an OAMM member for maybe about a year. I saw her posts on Facebook and didn’t realize that there was an actual website dedicated to OAMC. I thought it was just something she was doing.
What circumstance pushed you to give once a month cooking a try? How has choosing to OAMC benefited you and your family?
I’ve been doing freezer meals for about a year myself, but nothing to the extent of having a whole month of breakfasts, lunches and dinners to provide for my family. Choosing to go to OAMC has really benefited us with our family time, peace of mind, healthier eating, and budgeting. As a working mom who commutes an hour to work and an hour from work each day, it was often a very hectic hour after I got home to prepare a family meal. Many days I would find myself putting together something quick and not very nutritious (think sandwiches, fast food, take out). I can often start a meal in the slow cooker before work or call my 
husband on my way home and ask him to get the meal started so we can have dinner on the table as soon as I get home. This provides me with huge peace of mind in knowing that there won’t be four different meals conveniently thrown together, but rather a healthy meal we can all enjoy together. In addition to having healthier and more balanced meals, we have a healthier and more balanced budget. We previously had budgeted $600 a month for groceries (not including dining out). When we went through our first month of OAMM, we had $200 remaining in our grocery budget. This was a very unexpected benefit of OAMC. While I had expected to save SOME money, I was certainly not expecting this amount. Needless to say, we appreciated this bonus to our budget. (I love seeing these real world numbers that show the savings of once a month cooking!)
What is your favorite OAMM resource?
My favorite resource is the advantage of being a Member and being able to Swap Recipes in the Menu Builder. This really allows me to customize to what we enjoy eating and to add in a few favorite recipes. We have really enjoyed the breakfasts because we can have a bacon, egg, and cheese wrap, or a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit (did I mention we love bacon?) or a sausage and egg square and stay away from the frozen waffles and sugary cereal. This is definitely a more fulfilling way to start the day.
Patty’s Kitchen
Give us a brief introduction to your kitchen.
My kitchen is a medium-large kitchen with an island in the middle and great counter space. This comes in handy on my big cooking day. I usually set my counter space up a bit like a grocery store. I use a different section of my counter tops for each of the following: dairy, meats, dry goods, canned goods, and refrigerated items. This makes everything really easy to find. I usually use my kitchen table as a “packaging station” where I place all of my freezer bags, plastic wrap, and foil. This really helps so that I don’t have finished food in the middle of everything I’m still working on preparing.
What is the number one tip that you would give to a first timer?
The number one tip I would give to a first timer is to give yourself a little more time than you think you will need. It’s probably a good idea to start with a mini menu to get the idea of going through the steps and just how much you and your kitchen can handle at one time. Having made freezer meals in the past, I thought I could whip right through the once a month cooking day. I was completely wrong and my big cooking day turned into three big cooking nights. I think that’s okay too. If you are going to make a month’s worth of meals, don’t be afraid to divide it out into a couple of nights. Give yourself a break and break it up into a sequence that’s manageable. (Great advice, Patty!)
Patty’s daughter with meals to share!
Do you involve other people when you OAMC?
An unforeseen benefit of doing OAMC was being able to share meals with others who suddenly have a need. When a friend’s husband was in his final stages of cancer, I was able to grab three meals out of the freezer and bring them to her and their children to enjoy when the days got busy and way too short. I was almost surprised by how much this mattered and how I had just what they needed in an instant. This month as I did my OAMC, I chose the menu that would allow me to continue to share some family friendly meals with another friend whose husband was recently diagnosed with cancer. Although there were meal sign ups, there were some gaps where people weren’t able to sign up to bring the family meals. My friend wouldn’t ask for a thing in the world but is also one of the most appreciative and loving people I know. Before I started my OAMC this month, I asked her if it would be helpful if I just delivered a bunch of freezer meals that she could make anytime. And so, my daughter and I delivered an ice chest full of breakfasts, lunches, and dinners to their family of five. I had to be aware of allergies, but because I did the assembly, I was able to be certain that the meals did not contain any ingredients or preservatives that might cause a reaction. This was such a relief to me and to my friend. Bringing these meals to my friend and her family also taught my daughter the importance of being there for and helping others in any way we possibly can. Through these experiences, I realize how much OAMC makes a difference to my family and to others. (We love hearing that our readers are Freezing it Forward since one of our goals at OAMM is providing you with the tools to reach out to your community. Way to go, Patty! And thank you for your good example.)
How is OAMC hard? How does it make your life easy?
For me, OAMC is hard because it does take some time to do, and I have to really plan ahead for shopping, prepping and cooking. However, the planning and time spent cooking really pays off and makes every day after so much easier because I don’t have to worry about what I will be making for dinner. It also makes it easier for my family when I have extended working hours, and my husband and kids are in charge of dinner.
**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!**