Follow-up: OAMC – See How My Friend Fared on Her First Effort

Hi Friends! I’ve been hearing how several of you felt inspired (by me?!? {blush}) to try meal planning and bulk cooking!

Lisa, a minister friend from upstate New York, has been freezing meals for a few years. But she never did a large meal plan, or did a day of cooking. She decided that starting with a whole month was too much so she planned a TAMC (Twice-A-Month-Cooking) meal plan for her family! She sent me a few pics to say how it went and I was very impressed. Thought I’d share it with you so you can see that others are giving it a try!

Lisa’s meal plan was:

4 pizza crusts, par baked and wrapped and 4 batches of pizza sauce (their normal Friday dinner is homemade pizza)
1 chickie pie pie
2 mac- n -cheeses (with bechamel sauce and several cheeses! nom nom!)
1 stroganoff
1 batch of scalloped potatoes and ham for the crock pot
1 batch of taco meat with cheese
1 salmon and veggies
1 big batch of cornflake crusted chicken
1 “woodland” soup (what’s this, Lisa?)
1 Hawaiian chicken

See how she bagged sauces in plastic and fixings alltogether in another freezer bag? It’s a smart way to put together pieces to a meal.

Lisa spent $146 at the grocery store, which included all of the stuff for her boys’ lunches and 3 extra gallons of milk, which she froze. She also saved some money because her husband is a hunter, so anywhere there is beef in a recipe she used venison. She marinated it overnight in buttermilk (reconstituted powder) which (apparently) tenderizes it and takes that nasty gamey taste out {{phew}}.

She said her day went pretty well, although she  got a little bogged down in the middle because she chose pot pie AND mac and cheese, both of which are quite a bit of work.

So – overall, Lisa felt like it was a success. And now she’s thankful that she has all these meals because she’s sick with the epic cold of the century. Ugh! Sorry Lisa! Hope you feel better soon!

So, anyone else giving it a try? What’s your plan look like? Or have you done some bulk cooking? Tell me about it! Send me pics! I’d love to see what you thought!