Once a Month Cooking, Part 1

Food and drink.  Necessary for survival.  A blessing to be enjoyed.  And something to plan for!  Let me start by saying I feel quite inferior to the other blog posts and articles I've read about this "Once a Month Cooking" shindig.  It's cropping up everywhere on Pinterest it seems.  I've only tried it once, used my own recipes, and sort of just winged it.  How's it going now that I'm about two weeks in?  WONDERFUL!!!  Several friends have been interested in how I did it, so I thought I would share some of the basics from a non-professional OAMCook.  :-)

Why I Tried It

Because of all that has happened in the last few months for my family, there has been much good and bad stress.  On top of that, fatigue from life's duties and increased fatigue from my current MS flare have made it harder to function as a meal manager.  Spending brain power on menus and grocery lists proves to be a daunting task that takes longer than it used to.  Physically going shopping each week (sometimes with three kids in tow) and cooking every afternoon is hard on my back and energy level.  I began to loathe it all: the menu planning, the shopping, the cooking...  It made my impatience during the Valley of the Shadow (4:30 - 6:00 pm... you moms know what I mean) worse.  I'd be angry if my Hubz had to say he'd be later than planned (poor guy!).  I didn't enjoy creating food that would satisfy my family and make them smile -- I've always loved that about feeding people.  Something had to change even though I had tried several methods to make it easier.  So I got my Hubz on board with the OAMC idea (it's a bigger hit to the finances since it's all at once) and got the gusto to actually do it one weekend (Jan 28-29, '13).

Already Realized Benefits

1) I can't even begin to explain the burden that has been lifted from the Valley of the Shadow!  It's incredible.  Because there is much less prep that has to go into dinner, I have this strange time now that I can do...whatever!  I can say YES to reading a book or playing outside or sitting and snuggling with a groggy little girl who woke from her nap.  I don't have to be so tempted to use the Electronic Babysitter to keep them occupied without a fuss because I can be WITH my kids.  I can SIT down for a while instead of standing in the kitchen for an hour or more.  I can REST at the dinner table when we gather 'round rather than collapse in the chair with a sigh of relief that cooking is over.

2) The amount of brain power needed for meal management has been drastically reduced.  Slower cognition is actually a flare symptom of MS.  I've not talked to anyone except my doctor and those very close to me about it, and it's humbling to admit because it makes you feel stupid or forgetful or disorganized in front of others.  Very humbling, especially the disorganized part.  I think I'd rather limp or have a hand tremor.  Time to fess up.  I have experienced slower cognition over the last several months, some days much worse than others.  I think that, combined with the extra fatigue, is precisely what made meal management become SUCH a mental chore that I dreaded.  It actually makes me a little choked up when I think about how much more free I feel mentally when it comes to feeding my family.  Again, a huge burden - lifted.

3) Hubz had a good point.  With these meals made and frozen, should we choose to take a meal to someone (which we used to do often!) ... there's no extra prep or purchases necessary!  Gotta admit though, my knee-jerk reaction to that was selfishness.  "But if we take a meal to someone, that means one less meal for me not to plan!"  Silly Dawn.  Be generous!

Remaining Questions

1) How will the food budget at the end of using the meals compare to weekly planning/shopping?  Will we have come out ahead, the same, or will more have been spent?  My hypothesis is either ahead since more can be bought in bulk theoretically saving more, or it will be the same.  If we end up spending more, I think it will be because shorter grocery lists can sometimes give rise to feeling like you have more wiggle room to spend week-to-week.

2) Just how long will this last?  I think I was still used to cooking for two families when I made my list, or I had forgotten the exact amount my family eats by itself.  Several of our meals have extended into two dinners or even three  (Roast/veggies, leftovers, then a beef pot pie).  So making a date-less table already paid off (explanation in Part 2)!  I started out with 36 meals, and we have already gone beyond that.  This may end up being Once A 1.5 to 2 Months Cooking!

Next, I'll talk about what I did to prepare for OAMC!