Once a month cooking

Are you ready for this? Because I think it's the greatest.

A week ago I got an email from my sister-in-law Sara, explaining how she had tried Mimi Wilson's Once a month Cooking. I read Sara's play-by-play and thought the idea seemed like a good one, and that hopefully one day I might even try this method. But I had no real intention of getting the book until I really felt I had the time to put into a day of cooking.

However, things changed when I found a few different links online with sample menu's and sample shopping lists for just seven days. Seven meals I could handle.

The beauty of this system is that you are given a menu of meals that includes a list of things you should have in your pantry, items you need to grocery shop for (in categories, which makes shopping EASY AND FAST) and a list of prep tasks so that by the time you are ready to assemble your meals, all of you chopping, dicing and slicing is already done.

You're basically as prepared as a cooking show, simply dumping all of your prepared food items into the pot.

Let me show you with pictures:

I had most items that were listed on this first list. But if I didn't have something (we didn't have soy sauce, eggs and gallon freezer ziplocks) then I simply turned the page and added that item to the grocery list. I got every item listed out of my cupboards so that everything was ready and waiting for their moment to be used in a recipe.

This might be the very best part. Rory and I split up the list, he took one page and I took the other and we were DONE shopping in 25 minutes. I kid you not. Back in the car and pulling away in 25 minutes. AND...for the ingredients for these seven meals, we spent a little UNDER $70. Ridiculous! (in a really, super, fabulous way) These meals are cost effective because you're buying a lot of things in bulk to be used in the multiple recipes included in your list.

When I came home I followed the list of Preparation Tasks in the order specified. It was easy peasy. Except that I cried hard with the onions. And I got really sicky after shredding the chicken. I actually had to stop and lay down after the chicken. Who knows why that grossed me out, but pregnancy is weird, I will have you know.

After everything is chopped and shredded, you follow the simple recipes and because everything is prepped, this stage goes quite quickly.

Each recipe specifies what size of a storage container you need to package your meals for freezing. It suggests a lot of gallon ziplocks, but I often used tupperware and froze a few meals in more Rory and Becca portion sizes so I ended up with more than seven meals. EASILY.

For real, my wife-worth began to soar as these meals began to stack up. We've had good sandwich stuff and produce in the house all month. But meals have been...lacking.

Not anymore!

By the end, I had a clean counter, meals ready to consume and one lone can of olives. Tough to say what recipe they were supposed to go in. But I don't really like black olives, so I wasn't too concerned. Though they did look lonely.

I took all of my meals out of the freezer at the end for 1) a photo op and 2) to clear out the other things in my freezer to make more room.

This looks super tidy, and it is. But you should see the freezer door! It is overflowing with half used bags of corn and peas and salmon fillets and icecream and coldpacks and sausage links...

***

My bottom line in this process: AMAZING. I will be cooking like this for a great long while. I actually was enjoying myself during the process. Except for when I crashed my head into the cupboard door and the room went black and I cried and quit for an hour until I got my courage back to go face those cupboards again.

I also split my time up a bit. I grocery shopped one night, prepped and made three meals the next morning and completed the final four meals the following morning. It didn't need to take this long, but I really did have some woozy moments with all this cooking in the mornings and I saw stars when I hit my head on the cupboard and both these things set me back.

But all in all, if chicken parts didn't make me gag, and if I remembered to shut cupboard doors, the prep and assembly part of this meal should have just taken me 3 hours.

Now, if you're looking for a few sample menu's here are a few I found online:

Click here for the seven meal menu I used that was FABULOUS and included:

(scroll down to MENU SAMPLER 01 on this webpage)

Chicken and Dumplings

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Lemon Chicken

South of the Border Ground Beef and Corn Pie

Country Style Ribs

Pineapple Burgers

Penne in Cream Sauce with Sausage

So far, we have eaten the dumplings and penne with HUGE SUCCESS. Rory is impressed and very happy.

Click here for a seven meal menu that includes:

Cream Chicken Pasta

Brie Strata

Three Bean Chili

Pesto Grilled Chicken Breast

Spicy Taco Salad

Citrus Salmon

Fettuccine Alfredo with Shrimp

Click here for a seven meal menu for the holidays:

French Stew

Sledders Soup

Tortilla Lime Chicken

Chicken Almondine

Sweet Potatoe Casserole

Beef Flank Steak with Mushroom Stuffing

Apple-Sausage Brunch Cake

Happy Cooking everybody! I'm off to buy Mimi's book because I like her style!

the fastest 24 hours of my life

My mom, sister and two nieces stopped by yesterday on their way from Minnesota to Montana. Omaha is not "on the way," but Annika had yet to see the camp I work at or where we are living and I was so excited to show her my life here.

Annika is seven weeks ahead of me, pregnant with her third baby girl. It was so, so fun to have belly bumps together. For twenty four hours we played hard, laughed hard and ate well. It was a perfect visit and I was very sad to see them go.

introducing baby g

Well, here is our sweet bundle, and I already think this baby is the most beautiful, stunning baby I have ever seen. Rory and I could have sat in that room all day and night watching that screen...I never wanted to leave.

The baby was super active the whole time. The first really clear body part I saw was the spine and it pretty much blew me away. You simply cannot deny that we absolutely are fearfully and wonderfully made.

Rory and I held hands and we gasped at the tiny little feet we were looking at, the perfect handprint that quickly flashed on the screen, and the sweet, baby nose. My very favorite moment was early on when the baby arched its back and stretched its little arms up around its head. I can't wait to see that same motion when we're just hanging out in November, checking each other out, spending lots of time laying low on a blanket on the floor.

I think our technician appreciated Rory and my awe and wonder because she took twelve pictures for us to take home. But then as we walked out she asked that we not look at them in the lobby because most people just get four or five and they might not find it fair. But she explained she just clicked the camera every time we had a huge reaction...which, apparently, was quite often.

Everything came out healthy as far as the doctor could tell. And honest to goodness, I am so grateful for this fact. But I am also very aware that they could have told me all sorts of concerning things today and I know it would not dim my joy or elation for this child. I am beginning to experience the very, very beginnings of unconditional love and how it feels to be the one who extends the love, without condition.

I believe my heart is growing at the same rate as my belly. And it's only going to get bigger.

so good

I am beginning to believe my baby wakes me up so that we can start our day this bowl of goodness. Each day this week I have woken up and felt the baby moving and grooving. I put Rory's hand right below my belly button and our baby gets his/her dad all excited that it might just want to take karate one day. This child has got some kicks.

But I am wondering if it is just telling me that its time to get out of bed and pour myself some multigrain cheerios, slice up some nectarines, drizzle some honey and pour on the ice cold skim milk. I think my baby just likes breakfast as much as I do.

Thank you summertime for the abundance of amazing fruits that are in season right now. And thank you God for this growing child that is now the length of a banana :)

back from the printer

I got a very exciting package in the mail. It was from scrapbookpictures.com and contained pages of my digital scrapbooking all printed out on fabulous paper with impressive color.

I wrote earlier about my April pages, and last week I completed my May pages in one morning. This sort of scrapbooking is so simple, relieves me of all my picture printing guilt and let me say it again, is so, so easy. The templates and idea are from the great Cathy Z.

If you're on the fence about digital scrapbooking, or if you've purchased photoshop elements but haven't really honed your skills, I highly highly highly recommend taking one online class from Jessica Sprague. Right now all of her classes are 20% off and after just the first Up and Running class, you will be able to make these VERY SIMPLE, VERY EASY pages with your own pictures. It's a fun and empowering new skill to have.

Here's a favorite from my May pages. This week I'm going to try to hit up March. That was a good month too...with lots of pictures just begging to be printed and placed lovingly in an album...