Once a Month Cooking

[serenity]

A while back, someone on the old board posted about Once a Month Cooking. The idea of preparing multiple meals and freezing them is one that really appeals to me. Both Dr. McDougall and Dr. Lisle talk about planning and preparing as a means to successfully eating healthfully.

I really need to begin to build a freezer of McD food, because if I miss a weekend of cooking, I end up eating out almost the entire week. Not good. Freezing leftovers isn't quite the same. The OMAC cooking tips and recipes tend to only partially cook and/or just assemble the dish with the final cooking done at meal time. This makes sense to me, because frozen leftovers tend to be mushy and not as good.

I Googled once a month cooking and found lots of tips, but not many vegetarian meals. Anyone here do a lot of freezing, especially based on the OAMC ideas? If so, what McDougall friendly recipes do you like best? I'd love to develop a list of good dishes for this.

Thanks.

[fiddler3]

I remember once a month cooking! Man, that was in the old days, when I had 4 little kids running around.

I think I had a book on it...my goal now is no cooking at all!

thanks for the memories...

fiddler3

[Sandie]

I used to do quite a bit of OAMC but don't anymore because it's now just DH and I at home. Here are a few links that might help you. These are not McDougall (but I think you can pick and choose the recipes as well as adjust any recipes as needed).

http://www.ellenskitchen.com/bigpots/oamc/vegweek.html

http://www.christysclipart.com/vegetarian.html

http://myvegetarianrecipeoftheday.com/i ... gory/oamc/

http://www.frugal-moms.com/article/oamc ... -plan.html

These links have some great ideas even if the recipes aren't all veggie:

http://www.recipezaar.com/bb/viewforum?f=23 (check out the topic: OMAC Plans )

http://members.aol.com/oamcloop/index.html (check out the FAQ)

[serenity]

Thanks Sandie. These are the sites I had found when I Googled. They're very interesting - if a little overwheming. I've pretty much decided to take it very easy, a couple of recipes at a time rather than a whole weekend. (Of course, the all or nothing side of me has already price shopped a freezer for the garage. )

I was hoping that some seasoned McDougaller might have an inventory of good McD recipes that freeze really well. I guess I'll have to experiment. It should be fun.

[limberone]

Hello serenity!

I have four little kids running around right now, like another poster mentioned she used to have! Anyway, I've never actually followed the OAMC giudelines completely, as I have never actually set aside the time necessary to cook for the whole month.

There is a book I use that I like. Frozen Assets Lite & Easy is the title. I have modified many of the recipes in that book with success.

Also, I make a lot of soups in the crockpot or on the stovetop. Many of the McDougall recipes just make so much that I go ahead and freeze half right away. So that is a leftover. But I tend to freeze the soups that are made mostly from beans.

I've found that the following do not freeze well:

mushrooms
zucchini
yellow squash

I know there are other foods that do not freeze well.

But, if the soup has beans, tomatoes, bell peppers, onions, garlic, spices, they freeze and defrost well.

I use a "phantom" freezing method that the author of the above book may mention (or perhaps I saw this in another OAMC book): put the [slightly cooled] soup into a plastic storage container, then freeze solid (I use a container that it about two or three quarts, and it takes at least 24 hours for the soup to freeze solid). After the soup is frozen solid, pop the soup out of the container and then wrap in plastic wrap and/or foil, or put the frozen soup into a gallon size ziploc bag. Now you have freed your container for other uses. When you are ready to thaw the soup, unwrap or remove it from the ziploc bag and pop it back into the original container.

I have eight containers (with lids) all of the same size that I love to use for soup storage and they also get used for salad storage.

So this OAMC requires planning and organization, as the thawing is not instantaneous like fast food! With this method of freezing mostly just soups, I rarely do any "extra" cooking, but I often get to go "shopping" in the garage freezer in the morning (to allow time for thawing), then I only need to reheat and dinner is ready!

After I look through my books, I will let you know what specific recipes I have had success with.

[serenity]

After I look through my books, I will let you know what specific recipes I have had success with.

Thanks so much, Limberone. I appreciate the input.

[Pam]

I worked full time for three months recently and had a hard time with food prep...I was so tired in the evenings...who wants to cook? What I did was to cook on the weekends as much as possible and have foods ready for making a quick meal. I would cook several types of beans and freeze them in zip lock bags. I would shred carrots and do as much prep work to veggies as I could...wash lettuce and have salad fixings ready in the frig. Make salad dressings...this kind of helped me so meal prep in the eves was not as hard. I also had to plan a lunch so I was not tempted to eat at the hospital cafeteria (I wouldn't/couldn't eat anything in there except at the salad bar!). Cook enough for several meals and have leftovers for lunches. I don't know if this helps but once a week cooking was about all I could manage. I am thankful I don't have to work full time any longer, but it made me appreciate how difficult meal prep is for those that do work full time!

[slugmom]

another book to consider is "Dinner's in the Freezer" by Jill Bond ~ she talks about "mega cooking" ~ you make what you were going to make for dinner anyway, but double, triple, or quadruple it and freeze the extra meals. It only takes a little more effort, and you get what you normally eat.

I like that approach better than the OAMC because OAMC was big on a different meal every day (high priority on variety) and really needed a dedicated day of cooking. So the Mega Cooking approach suits my lifestyle better, and she gives tips on modifying your own recipes.

The recipes in the book aren't low fat McDougall but the concepts she presents and tips I think would be applicable.

[serenity]

Thanks Pam and Slugmom. That's pretty much the approach I am taking. I am taking it slow, cooking on the weekend and freezing some items that I am cooking anyway.

Before I invest a lot of time or money in stocking up, I want to be sure that I find recipes that freeze well. In the past, I have frozen leftovers, then found them unappealing when I defrosted them. So, I test freeze portions of meals I am making anyway.

Pam, I'm with you. The only time I cook at all is on the weekend; otherwise it doesn't get done. Some weeks I am more successful than others, so I'm hoping to build up a freezer inventory to help on the weeks that I am unable to do as much as I should. Slugmom, Mega cooking sounds like what I am doing at the moment. I'll have to check out the book. Thanks.