I am a big fan of Volume and OAMC (Once a Month) Cooking. I will be using these terms quite a bit. If you are not familiar, here’s a little tutorial:
Volume Cooking
Creating multiple entrees of the same recipe. This type of cooking makes it convenient to purchase in bulk. You can serve one entree for dinner, entertain by using multiple batches, freeze the remaining entrees for later, or give away as needed. The pros: It’s just as easy to double a recipe, and not much more difficult to increase the batches to three or four. You can save money by buying in bulk. You can organize a swap with friends who have also created their own entrees, cutting down the amount of time you are in the kitchen. Terrific to have on hand for unexpected or last minute guests. The cons: If you are limited in freezer space, you will need to limit how many of the same entrees you make, (unless, of course, your family loves the same beef stroganoff every night!) On occasion, we have discovered a “dud” of a recipe where no one in our family likes it. Unfortunately, we would still have multiple batches left in the freezer.
Once a Month Cooking (OAMC)
OAMC covers one to three days. The first day is the planning of the menu for a full month and creating the shopping list. There are cookbooks available that will actually do this for you, if you are new to this! If you are savvy with comparison shopping, you can also use this day to decide which stores have the best prices for which ingredients. The second day is shopping day. This could be one store or multiple stores. The third day is the big cooking day! Cooking 30 full entrees in one day! I have only done this once, and cooking day took 12 hours. I felt like I had been hit by a truck by the time I finished, but the sense of accomplishment and a (very) full freezer made it worthwhile and I look forward to doing this again. The pros: A month full of different meals in the freezer! Actually, between leftovers, visiting friends/family for dinner, and the occasional eating out, this month can stretch to six weeks. The shopping bill can feel a bit high, but it balances out to a decent savings if you consider over the month. The Cons: This method calls for creating multiple single entrees, limiting options for unexpected guests. It does take extra time and effort up front in planning, and shopping, but this balances out over the month, when all you need to buy are perishables. There is an increased physical demand in cooking for a full day, and if this is something that is not an ideal option, you can divide it to Twice a Month cooking, or Once a Week cooking. I actually have done Twice a Month cooking quite a few times.
This is an recap from when I did the OAMC in 2008:
I bought the book, “Once a Month Cooking” by Mimi Wilson and Mary Beth Lagerborg, and completed one month of cooking yesterday. Here is how it breaks down:
-Wednesday: I looked over the book and got the general idea of what needed to be done. Made a plan.
-Thursday: Shopping, part 1. It took about 1.5 hours.
-Friday: Shopping, part 2. 1.5 hours, pre-prep: 2 hours.
-Saturday: 12 hours making 27 meals, all different (3 ham dishes, 10 chicken, 12 beef dishes, 1 fish, 1 vegetarian)
Total grocery bill: $350.00 (food for the meals only)
Three loads of dish washing during cooking day..
It was a great experience and something I’d do again, but I would want an extra freezer. I was able to fit it all in my current fridge freezer, but I had to take everything out and re-organize about three times to make it fit. I will probably do twice a month cooking next month and see if it does not tax the freezer as much.
During the process, I kept wondering if it was worth it, and there were times I was tired during the cooking day, but having a freezer full of meals feels really good. Yes, it was worth the effort.