Meet OAMM member Krista. She uses freezer cooking to get her large family around the table even though she commutes to work. Check out her tips for working freezer meals into your family schedule, complete with reminders to thaw.
How long have you been once a month cooking?
How did you discover OAMM? I have been doing OAMM for about five years off and on now. I discovered it when I was looking for ways to save money on the family grocery bill.
What circumstance pushed you to give once a month cooking a try?
My mother-in-law passed away, and her twin daughters who were still at home came to live with us, making our family of 4 a family of 6!
How has choosing to OAMC benefited you and your family?
It has saved us money on our grocery bill and enabled us to be able to eat healthy meals. I am also very big on the family gathering around the dinner table together every night, and it definitely helped with that.
What is your favorite OAMM recipe?
I would have to say my favorite recipe is Chicken and Mushroom Fettuccine Alfredo.
Give us a brief introduction to your kitchen.
I have a fairly small kitchen, but I do like to use my crock pots as much as possible. I definitely do prep the night before as much as possible – chopping, shredding, etc. One thing that has really helped out is an app we have on our phones called Cozi. It was free to download, and I can list our menu in there, as well as giving reminders to take things out of the freezer the night before! I did have to tweak a few things to keep it free, but it works great for us!
What is the number one tip that you would give to a first timer?
The number one tip is that you don’t have to start with 30 meals all at once. Quite often I have found recipes that I could double to lessen my work load. Also, find a friend who is interested in trying this out, and you can do this together.
Tell us about a time when you experienced an OAMC or cooking fail.
The biggest fail we’ve had was my fault. We were really moving along with cooking everything and getting things together when we realized I hadn’t purchased enough cheese. We had to stall our process and run to the store, and that really slowed us down.
Do you involve other people when you OAMC?
My husband definitely helps out a lot, as well as my children. And I also have a friend who likes to cook with me, so we’ll often cook for her family and ours at the same time. I’ve gotten quite a few people involved in OAMC since I started!
How is OAMC hard? How does it make your life easy?
The hardest part would be the planning and making sure I have enough ingredients for all the recipes. It makes life easier because I have a 20 minute commute to and from work every day, so I’m often not home until after 5. Having a meal thawed and ready to go makes things a lot easier on my husband during the after school homework rush!