Food for thought

 

I rarely cook. Don’t get me wrong, I like cooking, I just never find the time or motivation to do it.  My daily routine consists of going work, then off to the gym or some place for happy hour, and then getting home around 7:00 .  By that time there is no way that I’m going to spend the time to make a meal, so I search the fridge and grab some yogurt, cereal, or some sort of frozen thing to nuke. Talking to my friends, this is not an unusual pattern.

Things changed for me.  I was introduced to the crazy idea of spending an entire day in the kitchen and not only in the kitchen, but in the kitchen cooking.  It’s absolutely wonderful.  I throw on some good music, some comfortable clothes and spend day dancing, singing, and making enough food for a month.  Yes, you read that correctly, I cook 30 meals in one day.  It’s not as hard as it sounds and the rewards are unreal.  You don’t 30 different things.  I usually cook somewhere between 4 and 6 different entrées, I just make the recipe times 2…if it serves 4, that’s 8 meals per entrée.  Multiply that by the number of entrees and I’m looking at 32-48 meals stacked neatly in my freezer by the end of the day.  So, with one day’s work, I can eat for a month.  It’s a dream!

I know what you are thinking…”That is way too domestic”, “There’s no way I can fit that much food in my freezer”, “That’s gotta cost a fortune”, “I’d never eat it all”, “There’s no way that I can spend an entire day in the kitchen”, “I don’t know how to cook that much”.  Trust me, I thought that way too.  You are so wrong.

 

That is way too domestic.

Yes, it may be a bit domestic.  Think about it though, is there anything wrong with that.  First of all, you make mom proud.  It’s always good to score points with the ‘rents.  Secondly, you get to eat decent food for a month.  It’s much healthier than hitting a drive-thru on your way home.  Finally, you can impress the crap out of your friends, and well, that’s always fun.  You go out one night, get happy, get home late with the munchies.  Suddenly people are screaming for a pizza.  “Hey, let me pull out some lasagna.”  It gets them every time.

 

 

There is no way that I can fit that much food in my freezer.

Well, I don’t know the size of your freezer, but my bet is that it fits with some room left over for ice cream.  You’d be amazed at how well those little food containers stack.  If you can fit a couple frozen pizzas, some entrees, some bags of vegetables, those mystery packages that your mom through in the freezer the last time she was over, and a pint of ice cream or two…you can certainly fit some good homemade food.  If you don’t believe be, start off with just a couple weeks worth of food or do it with your best friend, who you often eat with anyway.  Store half in one freezer and half in the other.

 

That’s gotta cost a fortune

Ok, let’s see here…spending money out every couple nights vs. spending half that or less eating in.  Spending money every week and watching it rot vs. spending it once a month and throwing it the freezer.  Spending money on meals already made and frozen for you vs. spending half that or less making it yourself.  Spending money buying in small portions vs. buying the family pack of meat that is costs less per pound.  Come on, that’s an excuse.  It saves a ton of money doing it this way.  I’d say that my food budget has been cut by at least a half if not two-thirds .

 

I’d never eat it all

Well, that’s your fault.  You can always invite a couple friends over at the end of the month and just pig out if you find that there’s a bunch of stuff that you need to eat.  You could be nice and take a meal or two to a neighbor or friend that’s sick.  They’ll be so grateful.  There’s always ways to get rid of the food if you find that you just can’t eat it all.  I thought the same thing and it hasn’t been a concern yet.  I take a meal for lunch and have one for dinner, and I’ve not wasted anything yet.  Trust me, you’ll get rid of it.

 

There’s no way that I can spend an entire day in the kitchen

I thought that the day in the kitchen would be absolutely horrible.  The first month wasn’t easy.  I didn’t have a routine down and I wasn’t exactly sure what I needed to do when.  The second time was a lot easier.  I’ve done it a half a dozen times now and I’ve come to love that day.  I get a complete me day.  I listen to my favorite cds, I throw on really comfortable clothes, I get organized, I feel responsible, I get sense of accomplishment.  It’s wonderful.  It is now one of my favorite days of the month.  Yes, it’s a bit tiring, but when I’m done and looking at freezer full of food, I know that I don’t have to cook the rest of the month if I don’t want to.  One day in the kitchen sure beats an hour or so every day in the kitchen.

I don’t know how to cook that much

Neither did I, but I learned.  There are a ton of resources online filled with great tips and recipes.  Here are two of the sites that I’ve used in the past.  This is in no way an exhaustive list.  Choose your search engine and look for “once a month cooking” and you’re sure to find a ton of sites to help you get started.  Trust me, you’ll love it.  If you don’t all you are out is one day in the kitchen that gives you a month’s worth of food.

OAMC: A crash course in once a month cooking

Frozen Assets:  Cook for a Day, Eat for a Month!

 

Robin Beck  grrl-e-grrl.com contributor