My Once A Month Cooking (OAMC)

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

July 27, 2011

Tonight Roy returned to work. Still in pain but I couldn't talk him into staying home. Now that is dedication! Poor guy sure is suffering!

When I got home from work, I started the water on the back yard, and visited the garden. picked some cucumbers...4. I also cut some rhubarb. I saved some aside for my mother and I froze the rest for us. 4 quarts! feels like I accomplished something. I'm so anxious to start canning. Our shelves are looking so bare! I'm wanting to can some beef and some beef broth too. Need to get that done. Then I'll have more room in our freezer. I might try my hand at canning chicken this year! I haven't done it for years, and I miss the fact of having chicken and broth at the ready for a quick lunch for guests.

We should be able to eat well this winter with this plan. Just think...canned chicken, canned beef, canned chicken and beef broth, frozen beef and once a month cooking meals, canned beans, pickles, tomatoes, frozen corn...wow...sure hope it works out!

LOL. I was going through my recipes to find a dessert for this Sunday. I found one. Not sure if it is large enough to feed my crew. (there is a note of sarcasm!) You'll understand when you see the recipe. I'm snickering as I type it. Ha! Ha! Ha!

Plain Ole Vanilla Wedding Cake

800 lbs sugar
25 cups vanilla
21 1/2 lbs of baking powder
7200 stiffly beaten egg whites
75 gallons butter
600 lbs sifted cake flour
94 gallons of milk.

Cream sugar, butter and vanilla together in bathtub. Stir together flour and baking powder in separate tub. Find a larger container, perhaps an unused grain silo, add cake flour to creamed mixture alternately adding milk. Fold in egg whites. Pour into as many number 12 wash tubs as you can find, making all layers about the same size. Cover wash tubs and place in building that will take 28-30 minutes to burn down. Remove from debris. Frost with white icing using relatively new rowboat oars.

I do not know why I have kept this particular recipe. Probably to have a good laugh. How funny is this! I thought I'd share it with all of you and hope you get a at least a grin on your face.

All for now!

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Garden

Well, can I hear a WAHOO.....I got to pick a whole sum of 6 green beans tonight! Whoopie doo!!!! At least it is a start! so...6 green beans, 2 cucumbers and 1 jalapeno. Like I said, at least it is a start!

Roy came through his procedure fine yesterday. today he is having quite a bit of pain. Pain pills aren't helping! I feel so bad for him. He always has dealt with pain so well, never complain or take pain pills. Now.....he is almost in tears because of the pain.

I've watered the yard and the garden! I made mashed potatoes for dinner and did a load of laundry! I go to the front yard and what do I see???? Roy watering the front flower garden, doubled over in pain. That man is gonna be the death of me yet! Shame on him. I made him come back in the house. Now he is upstairs snoozing in the chair.

This weekend I will making Breakfast casseroles for church on Sunday. I am working on the menu now and will post it and the recipes later.

Take care everyone.

Introduction

Have you ever felt overwhelmed by deciding what to prepare for a meal? I know I have. Many times. Especially our evening meal when our three children were growing up. Then one day I stumbled across a program called "Once A Month Cooking" (OAMC) and thought I'd give it a try. It was a lifesaver and I loved it. I did it for years, from the time my youngest was in preschool until he was in the 8th grade. I don't remember why I quit, just that I did. When I was doing the OAMC back then I prepared a lot of full, complete meals and froze them, entree, side, and dessert. The only thing I had to actually prepare for the meal was the vegetable or the potatoes. For those of you not familiar with the OAMC program, I will try to explain it to you here. This blog is to try to help you see what it takes, how to do itm give you ideas and how much fun you can actually have. OAMC is the ultimate do-ahead dinner preparation technique. The secret of the OAMC technique is that you cook all your dinner main dishes for a month (or two weeks or even a week) in one day, freeze them, and enjoy eating tasty food, every night without the hassle of lengthy meal preparation. In this blog, I will try to provide the menu we use, shopping lists and recipes. You do not have to have organizational skills, nor do you have to be a good cook to successfully accomplish OAMC. What you need to expect and plan to is: Take a longer-than usual shopping trip, preferably the day or night before your cooking day. Spend the bulk of your month's food budget on this shopping trip (saving money over the course of the month) Cook with a partner or two or three, like I do, for maximum fun and efficiency. Cook half a day for a two week cycle, a full day for a month cycle. Love the freedom and possibilities this will bring to mealtimes. Enjoy family building times around the table and like us, the time we cook together. Take the stress out of having company for dinner I suggest for the first few time you do the OAMC to try to do the two week cycle. Then when you get the feel of the "system" advance on the full month if that is what you want and have room for the food. Also in this blog I will frequently give you suggestions of what to serve with a certain recipe. Please feel free to email me with any suggestions and question syou might have. Even leave a comment here on the blog.