A Month of Meals in Two Days

I just finished making an entire month of meals for my family over the course of just two days!  Ready for the secret?

Here it is:  I don't enjoy cooking.

It wasn't always this way.  Before I had three children, I loved to cook.  And I still love baking, but that seems like an entirely different category.  Man cannot live on bread alone.  Or on cookies and cake and brownies alone...

I'm a wife.  And a mom.  The washing and drying and folding of laundry will never end unless people stop wearing clothes (and, while my three-year-old has mastered that art, it's not preferable in society).  The floor will get covered in Cheerios no matter how many times I mop it, and the dishes will keep on getting used.  The house will need to be cleaned again, no matter how thoroughly I sweep and scrub today.  There will continue to be grocery shopping to do and people who need rides to gymnastics and date nights to try to keep scheduling and quality family time to attempt to keep restful and trips we need to take to the doctor and the dentist, and playdates and projects and jobs and other appointments...

And, on top of all that, multiple times a day, everybody needs to eat.

I got into a rut where 3:00pm would roll around and I would sigh at the daunting task of having to make dinner.  Again.  As though it was a surprise to me that people needed to eat.  Again.  And, that's the time of day when small children seem to pull out all of the crazy.  I confess--I've begun to really appreciate nights when Sean works late because then, I get to effortlessly pour little bowls of cereal and cut an apple into slices.

Don't get me wrong--I enjoy an easy bowl of cereal with the best of them.  But, I want to be better prepared than that.  I want great tasting, nourishing meals for my family.  I want to think about things other than food.  I want more time in my life.  Don't we all?!

Enter, the solution to my not-enjoying-cooking:  OnceAMonthMeals.com.

This discovery has been such a treasure to me.  For $8 a month, I get to have someone plan my menu, my grocery shopping list, my recipes, my cooking schedule...and all I have to do is follow the instructions.  Two days.  To have a whole month of meals taken care of.  Two days.  To take a HUGE every-day-task off of my never-ending list of to-do's.

Once A Month Meals (OAMM) has nine menus to choose from--Traditional, Whole Foods, Gluten Free/Dairy Free, Allergy Friendly, Paleo, Vegetarian, Diet, and more.  The menus change every month, so everything on them fits with the seasons and what produce is most-available during a given time.  We use the Whole Foods menu for our family, and it's awesome.

Following their handy instruction sheet, I did all of the prep work in the afternoon and part of the evening on Saturday.  I chopped and diced and threw meats into the crockpot and the oven.  Then, I put it all into the fridge until Monday, when I would be able to cook it.

(Prep, Cooking, and Thawing Instructions)

On Monday, I set my kids up with a few movies and craft projects in the living room, and I went to work in the kitchen.  Everything is organized step-by-step.  You put something in a skillet while you are laying something else out on the counter and something else is cooling in a pot.  It took a total of about 8 hours to do all of the prep work on Saturday, and about 7 hours to do all of the cooking on Monday.  You can do it in less time if you have someone take your kids for the day for you. My littles stayed with me and did a great job alternating between watching 101 Dalmatians, helping me mix ingredients, and sampling the goods.

You pay the membership fee ($8 a month if you pay for a year, or $10 a month if you pay month-to-month), to have access to all of the full menus.  It's totally worth it.  The money I paid for my OAMM membership actually cut $234 off of my typical grocery budget for a month--because all of the ingredients for the recipes are so well coordinated with one another.

(Just a Handful of My Delicious Recipes for This Month)

(Instructions to Attach to Freezer Bags)

They also have mini-menus that you can try out for free.  All of the material you need for five recipes (which make 10 meals), comes right to your inbox with no strings attached.  I did this a few months ago, and loved it so much that I joined right away.  Here are just a few of the things we're going to get to eat over the next month...

I'm telling you--it is an incredible feeling to have breakfast, lunch, and dinner all taken care of ahead of time.  For a whole month!  All I have to do is pull out a few amazing "caramelized apple grilled cheese sandwich on artisan bread" and reheat it for 60 seconds, and I have lunch ready for everyone.  Or, I can toss "blackened salmon with pineapple salsa" onto the stove for 6 minutes, and dinner is done.  Many of the recipes can be put into the crockpot in the morning, too.

I'm so thankful for anything that can free up more time for me to spend with my family.  This one is definitely a keeper!