Frugal Mom’s Guide to Once-A-Month Cooking
Do you have the right ingredients for cooking the family meal tonight? Or have you just walked into the kitchen wondering what you are going to cook and feeling like it is just another chore to tackle? This is how so many people feel because their lives are so full and busy. The last meal of the day is the one last thought on their mind, until it is time to prepare.
Now comes the biggest challenge. Will you serve up a scrumptious healthy meal that may take another hour of your precious time, or will you opt for the quick and easy packet meal, or perhaps reach for the phone and ring for delivery!
There is a solution. It is not one you can do for tonight's meal but it is a solution to the next months worth of meals. A lady by the name of Candace Anderson is the author of 'Frugal Mom's Guide to Once a Month Cooking.' She lays out a plan where you spend one day a month cooking and preparing for the next 30 days.http://tinyurl.com/7uerpqj
If that sounds daunting, it's not, because she explains everything so easily and step by simple step. Not only does she provide you with over 70 recipes to cook, but she guides you from the shopping list to the freezer labeling. This way you are shown how to save time and money. If you have children old enough to help in the kitchen, you can spend one day a month teaching them how to be frugal and productive too.
Imagine every month not having to think about what you are going to do for dinner. Look at the list on your freezer for the day's 'take-out' and you're done.
There is one more thing that is different to so many menu plans. How many times have you bought a beautiful cookbook only to find that half the ingredients you have never heard of, let alone know where to buy them? These recipes come with ingredients for you and me. Ones you can find in your local store and ones for 'frugal moms', so they don't cost a small fortune. What a bonus that is. You won't be spending your shopping day looking for an ingredient that doesn't seem to exist.
This is the best plan I have followed and having ready-cooked meals ready in the freezer is a very comforting feeling. The every night challenge of choosing a healthy recipe can be a simple solution now.
Patricia Harris knows what it is like to be a busy mom and cooking for a family every night. If you want to know how to become a frugal mom with once a month cooking, check out my website.http://tinyurl.com/7uerpqj
Frugal, healthy cooking is not only a great way to give you the energy you need for a successful homestead, it also gives a boost to your budget. Cutting back on food expenses is the easiest way to save money and get out of debt. But limiting yourself to boxed macaroni or other cheap foods isn't the wisest of choices. A lot of cheap food has been highly processed. It's full of chemicals and low on nutrition.
It may seem like a good deal at the time, but such choices are costly in the long run. Deprived of the proper nutrients it needs, your body becomes less resistant to disease. Also, studies have shown that highly processed food is a significant contributor to obesity. If you have a weight problem, it may not be because you over eat. Rather, you are eating the wrong types of food.
Does High Quality Mean High Cost?
The good news is, you don't have to spend a lot of money to obtain high quality food. But you do have to make a time commitment. Things like brown rice, beans and grains are not "instant foods." They take time to prepare. But once you taste the difference, I'm sure you'll agree, these delicious foods are worth the extra time.
Rethink Ground Beef
Many people consider hamburger meat to be a staple of the American diet. The problem with this is, unless you're raising a steer on your back 40 acres, you're going to be consuming a lot of extra things that may not be good for you. Recently, I watched a documentary called "King Corn," in which two young men had a DNA sample taken of their hair. They were shocked to discover that despite their fast-food diet, they were made primarily of corn. They decided to rent a corn patch, grow some feed corn and trace where it ends up. It turns out that most farmer in the farm belt are raising feed corn.http://tinyurl.com/7uerpqj
Feed corn tastes awful and has little nutritional value. But that doesn't matter because it's fed to cattle anyway. Problem with this is, cattle are not meant to eat corn. They're designed to eat grass. If they're given a strict corn diet, and no grass, a cow will die within six months. They just can't digest the corn. It makes them sick. Yet, that's all these cattle eat. Furthermore, they're crammed into feedlots where they can barely move.
Naturally, they get sick, so they're pumped full of antibiotics to keep them from dying prematurely. So when you buy ground beef at the store, you're buying the meat of an animal that was probably sick, stressed out and crammed with steroids. Suddenly, that burger doesn't look so good, does it?
Lentils, Wonderful Lentils
Fortunately, there is a wonderful, healthy, low-cost substitute for that ground beef. It's the lentil, an often overlooked, unappreciated member of the legume family. This wonderful little bean can be cooked quickly without pre-soaking (20 minutes generally) and can be used as a substitute for ground beef in tacos, chile and any casserole calling for beef.
Brown Rice - And We're Not Talking Instant
Another important staple that should be on your shelf is brown rice. Not the processed stuff that can be prepared in ten minutes, but real whole grain brown rice. It takes 45 minutes to prepare and is worth every second. One of the main reasons people get colon cancer is because they don't have enough fiber in their diet.http://tinyurl.com/7uerpqj
White rice is nothing but starch. Brown rice on the other hand provides not only fiber, but wonderful nutrients your body needs. Brown rice with butter and sugar makes a delicious breakfast food. Plus, brown rice can be added to any casserole for both texture and flavor.
Whole Grains
Buying a loaf of whole wheat bread at the store isn't really the answer to including whole grains in your diet. Unfortunately, several brands of commercially prepared bread has a chemical called potassium bromate. Sometimes it is called "dough enhancer." This chemical is used to give the flour a finer texture and kill bugs.
It's the "kill bugs" part that should have you alarmed. Researchers found a link between consuming bromate and developing cancer. Want a really radical way to include whole grains in your diet?
The Miracle of the Grain Mill
A few months back I took the plunge and bought a grain mill. The difference has been huge. Breads made from freshly ground flour taste fabulous. I was amazed at the amount of energy I had after I began eating bread made from flour I ground fresh.
Even my gravies and sauces taste better. I often bake bread for my mom, and she prefers the bleached white flour. Recently I was out of my own fresh ground flour and in a hurry, so I borrowed some of hers. The sauce I made was awful! I could taste the chemicals in it. Once you start using your own freshly ground flour, you won't want to go back.http://tinyurl.com/7uerpqj
If you have not tried cooking in bulk using freezer recipes, you are missing out. Until recently, I was a stay at home mom of my two little children but last month I got a job and cooking everyday was no more an option for me. Now I cook once a month and use the freezer recipes from 'Frugal Mom's Guide to Once a Month Cooking'. Initially it can seem overwhelming to do so much cooking in one day. Especially if you have children who are too young to help or are a single parent. But there are ways you can make it easier on yourself and still get the benefits from the freezer recipes. Here are three tips for you to get started.
1. Plan ahead and get someone to watch your kids for you. If you can not afford a sitter, you can trade food for the babysitting. I am sure once of your girlfriends or relatives would love to watch your kids for a day if you give them a couple of dinners you made.
2. Double up. Many people think that to have a whole month's worth of dinners, they have to make 30 different freezer recipes. You can make prepare double amounts of only 15 different dishes. That way you can serve it twice in the month. Make sure you pack them in separate freezer bags.
3. If you can, invest in a good food processor. One can cost you as little as $30.00 but it will save you tons of time because you can prep all your dishes at once and within seconds.
I am sure if you plan ahead and give yourself enough time, you will find cooking once a month with freezer recipes a godsend. Imagine what you can do with all the time and money you will save by cooking only once a month and thus shopping for grocery all in one trip.http://tinyurl.com/7uerpqj
Necessary Frugality
When I was a child, adults in my life often snickered at my grandmother's frugal lifestyle. After all, if you ran out of something, a quick trip to the store was all it took to replace it. That's true, if you have money to purchase the needed item. What they didn't think about was that she had lived through the Great Depression and due to circumstances of her life, that depression lasted many, many more years than it did for the general public.http://tinyurl.com/7uerpqj
My mom tells stories of eating water biscuits with water gravy once a day and that was all there was to survive upon. The few pictures that were taken of my mother and her siblings when they were children give proof to that--scrawny, too thin children with haunted, hungry eyes. My grandfather worked every day, but could not make enough to feed and house a family of seven.
Rummage Sales
Growing up, I watched my grandmother shop at rummage sales--not garage sales, though if they had been around then, she would have done so. Rummage sales were shops run by the community where clothes and shoes could be purchased for ten cents to three dollars an item, even nice business suits and formal dresses, on occasion. The term rummage sale came from the piles of stuff you had to rummage through to find anything good. People in the community would bring in boxes of cast-offs and literally dump them on a table for the less fortunate to dig through. Thanks to Grandmother's rummage sale purchases (two satin, full-length, gathered formal gowns reminiscent of dresses worn by Disney princesses) my sister and I could be princesses anytime we wished. It was one of the best Christmas presents a little girl could hope for.http://tinyurl.com/7uerpqj
Use It Up
I also watched the way she cooked. Her cats seldom had scraps to eat, because she seldom threw anything out. Only a spoonful of jelly left in the jar? Time to bake a cake and stir the jelly into the batter, along with anything else that was sweet and almost gone. Her delicious 'Grannie Cake' has never been duplicated, but somehow always tasted the same. Just a couple slices of cornbread left? Time to make a stove top dressing recipe that was used for years before a commercially boxed version was available. In all the years I knew her, there was not one lunch or supper meal that did not include brown beans--sometimes that and cornbread were the meal. Bread going stale? Time to have cinnamon toast for breakfast, and if there was still stale bread left, she made bread pudding.
In other areas, she was frugal, as well. When someone gave one of her children an apple, she sliced it to share among all the children, then planted the seeds. That tree provided fruit for her family until her grandchildren were grown. She saved plastic bread bags, cut them up, then secured the plastic over bowls of leftovers with a rubber band. Old newspapers were used to make sewing patterns. Old jeans were cut into squares of fabric and made into very warm quilts. Old towels were cut into squares for cleaning rags.
Make It Last
Slivers of soap that most people toss were collected, then carefully melted and remolded using a tuna can as the mold--it didn't matter what kind of bar soap it was, it went into the melting pot with the rest. Every month, she had at least one extra bar of soap in this way, sometimes two. Occasionally, she would rinse soap slivers in boiling water to kill germs, then dice the soap slivers, add them to water, and shake or stir the mix until they dissolved to make a liquid soap. This could be used to wash hands or even dishes. It didn't suds much, but hands and dishes were clean.http://tinyurl.com/7uerpqj
Inexpensive Alternatives
Grandmother could not afford hair conditioner, so she used vinegar. A couple of tablespoons in a quart of water made hair soft and manageable with an excellent shine. She also used a cup of vinegar in the rinse water of her wringer-style washing machine. Clothes were softer and smelled fresh after being rinsed in vinegar water and hung on a line to dry. Vinegar was the cleaner of choice for her. A cup of vinegar in a gallon of water made a window and surface cleaner that cuts grease and doesn't cause breathing problems.
Concern for Future
I look back at the many ways my grandmother made her pennies last just a bit longer, and worry that in the days ahead many people will not be able to make it since many of them do not have her frugal example. I recently overheard a college student state that his mom knew better than to serve him ice cream that had begun to melt or food that had been on the table for a previous meal. My thought at the time was that he was spoiled and would not be welcome in my home. My family and guests are thankful they have something to eat and are happy to eat what is put before them--or they do not eat that meal at my table. I, like my grandmother before me, have more to do than coddle picky eaters. Such unfortunate people will really suffer if the depression comes back with a vengeance--they won't be able to gracefully cope with life's inevitable reversals.http://tinyurl.com/7uerpqj
Lessons Learned
So, what are the main lessons in frugality I learned from my grandmother? Make it yourself, use it up, make it last, stretch it out, find less expensive alternatives, and shop for bargains at community sales and garage sales. This lifestyle provides what you need most of the time at an affordable price. The key word here is need. You may not have what you want or prefer, but you will have what you need to survive bad times more easily. And once in a while, you will find that perfect purchase. A beautiful satin play dress for the little princess in your life, a baking dish just the right size to cook your favorite casserole, a quality business suit to wear to work, or whatever you need to make your day just a bit brighter.
Are you a frugal mom who wants to save money and time in the kitchen? Have you heard of saving time with once a month cooking? You may be one of those people who struggle every day to try to put together a meal for your family. It can be frustrating if everyone in your home is hungry and the last thing you want to do is cook. Do you ever wish you could just look in your freezer and pull out a wonderful, fulfilling meal that you just have to pop in the oven or a meal so easy, even your husband or kids were able to cook dinner using meals that you already had prepared? It sounds like you're ready to give once a month cooking a try.
Maybe you're wondering what this type of cooking is, so here's an explanation: imagine cooking tons of meals and popping them in the freezer so that you can eat dinner all month long without having to prepare them every day. This is what once a month cooking is. Essentially, you choose a day and make as few or as many meals as you would like to have on hand in the freezer for future use.http://tinyurl.com/7uerpqj
While once a month cooking sounds great, how does a person find the recipes for this type of meal planning? Not to mention the groceries that you must have to buy all at one time in order to make it happen, right? That's where you're wrong. Once a month cooking can actually save you money and now, there is a cookbook and planning guide that will walk you through the program with step by step instructions.
For instance, say you only want to prepare five or six meals that you will freeze. Most of the time you have time to prepare dinner, but the rest of the time, it's nice to know that your family will be able to enjoy a good, healthy meal even when you don't want to make dinner. So you already know that you'll make something such as lasagna, but what about the rest of your dinners? This is where 'The Frugal Mom's Guide to Once a Month Cooking' will come in handy. You won't have to pore through cookbook after cookbook to come up with recipes that you can freeze for later use, because this guide has over 70 great recipes that the whole family will love.http://tinyurl.com/7uerpqj
Imagine how much money you will save from having to order pizza or stop and pick something up on your way home just because you don't feel like cooking! This is one of the best ways to free up your valuable time and be able to make sure that your family always gets a good, healthy meal. Even if you only use this guide to organize and prepare 6 meals a month, it will pay for itself the first month you use it.
Worried that you won't have the right ingredients on hand to be able to put all these great meals together? This is not just your ordinary cookbook. In fact, the Frugal Mom's Guide to Once a Month Cooking is a comprehensive guide that provides you with tools such as grocery lists and meal planning techniques that you will use over and over again. Want your family to be able to help out with dinner? No problem, just add the reheating instructions to the container before you freeze it and anyone can help with dinner.
Why not simplify your life today and give once a month cooking a try. Even if you only prepare a few extra meals, you will be so glad that you did. You'll save money; have more time and still know that your family is eating healthy meals that you prepare every time it's dinner time.
Until recently, I had been a stay at home mom who cooked every single day. Last month, I started working and decided it was too much for me to come home form a full day's work and then start the dinner from scratch. The fact that I am not very fond of cooking did not help at all. That is when I discovered once a month cooking with freezer recipes.
When I first heard about it, it seemed overwhelming to cook once a month for the whole month. I was not sure I had enough freezer recipes I could use.http://tinyurl.com/7uerpqj
I decided to give it a try though and that first day was something. I felt I had bitten off more than I could chew. With two little ones who can't really help, it was all upon me. I stayed with it though and somehow pulled myself through the day.
I came home the next day, exhausted from work but I had this bounce in my step because I know I would not have to cook. I had a freezer full of dinners. I could even ask my kids to pick what they wanted to eat that night.
The whole week went by without me having to do any major dishes and I was hooked. Now I cook once a month with freezer recipes and can't imagine life any other way. Here are five reasons you must give it a try.
1. You have nothing to lose. Just try it once to see if it works for you and if you decide it is not for you, you will still have a month's worth of dinners in your freezer.
2. Using freezer recipes, we save a lot of money. We used to resolve that we would not eat out during the week but some days, I would be so tired to cook, I would cave. For our family of four, an inexpensive dinner at the fast food place can cost a minimum of $20.00. Do that once every week and it can add up to $80.00 a month.http://tinyurl.com/7uerpqj
3. Having food in the freezer that was cooked at home is obviously healthier than eating at that inexpensive fast food place. Over time, my kids will develop healthy eating habits and grow to love wholesome home cooked meals as opposed to French fries.
4. I save many trips to the grocery store because I shop only once a month and buy in bulk to save more money. Before, I used to fill the fridge with vegetables and meats I planned to cook but when we ate out most of those supplies would just go bad. Now I only buy what will be used for my freezer recipes. Moreover, my fridge has more space.
5. The most important advantage is all the extra time I get with my family. I come home and help my daughter with homework, we all go swimming and then we all sit down for a healthy dinner together. It can't get any better than that. Now if only feeding a toddler could be easier...
So you see how cooking once a month with freezer recipes is the way to go? You should seriously consider it. The book I use for my freezer recipes has over 70 healthy recipes with step-by-step instructions. It has grocery lists and menu plans, which in itself can be a big task. The best part is that it is an ebook, so you can get instant access to it and it costs less than one large pizza.
Many people are discovering the benefits of once a month cooking and you might discover that you love it once you try it. Now, maybe you're thinking "cook once a month? Right," but you need to know that this is one way that many busy and frugal moms are choosing to cook many meals this way in an effort to offset the high cost of eating out and eliminate the challenge of finding what to make for dinner each and every month.http://tinyurl.com/7uerpqj
Interested? There are a few things that you should know about once a month cooking before you begin, such as the fact that when you cook once a month, you should be ready to freeze it so that cooking it will be simple because all you have to do is heat it up. Also, you should know that it's important to plan ahead when you're working on once a month cooking because you'll go grocery shopping once for all the things you need to make these really great meals.
So, before you get started with your once a month cooking, you'll want to consider what meals you will be preparing. Some that are easy to make and easy to freeze include lasagna, soups, chili and different types of casseroles. With lasagna, you will put the meal together, and then cook it in the oven when you're ready to use it. However, with some other meals that include meats such as chicken, you should cook the meat first. This will help you to know that the meat is fully cooked and your meal is safe and healthy.
Planning your meals for once a month cooking can seem daunting, but once you get the hang of it, you'll be so glad you started your project and made sure to plan. Once you know what meals you would like to make, it's time to make a grocery list. Since you'll be buying the ingredients to make many different meals, it's a good idea to buy in bulk when you can. This will save you money and help you to make sure you have all the ingredients you will need.http://tinyurl.com/7uerpqj
Choose A Day - Remember Its Only 12 Days Of Cooking A Year
Once you have decided on what meals you will be making and you've gotten all of your ingredients, it's time to choose a day for your once a month cooking. Many people choose to take a day off and make several meals all at one time. This is where the time saving part comes in because you will find that you're cooking everything you need in one day and putting several different meals together at one time.
While this might seem challenging, it's important to remember that for the one day you spend cooking, you will have the rest of the month to not cook. For many people, the knowledge that they have fresh, healthy meals already prepared that anyone in the family can heat up is well worth the day of cooking that you will have to go through. After all you are only allocating 12 days a year to cook!
Once a month cooking might not be the best option for some people and you may choose to only make up a few meals as "stand ins" for when you don't feel like cooking dinner, but many people find that this is a great way to save money and have healthy meals at their fingertips every night of the week.
It is just about every mother's dream to be able to stay home and care for their children. Unfortunately, this dream is becoming harder and harder to obtain. Within every minute of every day the price of our necessities is rising. It's not just the fuel that we use in our cars and to heat our homes, but every other utility, household product, and now more than ever, the food that we eat.http://tinyurl.com/7uerpqj
Because of this, many stay-at-home-mom's are now scrambling and searching for a "perfect" home-based business. They don't want to lose their dream. They finally managed to cut-back to the bare-minimum, they have learned how to frugally cook and thrift shop like the pros, there is no way they can trim the budget any further; and yet, after all their hard work they are finding themselves in a panic over their finances once again.http://tinyurl.com/7uerpqj
The variety of home-based businesses is much larger than it used to be, and according to my research a new online business is created every 10 seconds. You can imagine how confusing this can be for someone with very little business experience. Because so many mothers are now looking for online businesses I have pin-pointed some questions you may want to ask yourself before deciding on a particular business.
1. How much do I have to invest?
2. On top of the initial investment, do I have to purchase a certain amount of product each month?
3. Do I have to sell anything? If so, how do I go about selling my products? Will anyone be available to help me when I have questions?
4. How will I be paid? How often will I be paid? Who will pay me?
5. Am I paid on commission? Is the company considered to be an MLM? What is an MLM? If it is an MLM, how many levels will I be paid for?
6. How do I advertise? Do I have to pay for advertising? How much will I be able to budget for advertising? Is it possible to "successfully" use free advertising?
7. Do I have to have long-distance available on my phone? Can I afford to pay for extra fees on my bill? Do I need call-waiting, DSL or three-way calling? Will I be able to keep my children quiet while I'm on the phone?
8. How long will it take before I start to see a profit?
9. Do I need a website? Does the company supply a website? If not, who will help me create a website?
It's important to understand that ANY business online can be successful as long as you learn it, practice it, and master it. Whether it's a business that requires 12 hours of your time a day or just 2-3 hours, you will have to commit to learning it inside and out. An online business is still a business and it should be taken seriously.http://tinyurl.com/7uerpqj
If you're thinking about starting your own online business I suggest you do your homework. Explore as many areas as you can, and most importantly ask questions. Decide what's most important to you, is it the amount of hours you'll need to work each day or how much you will have to invest just to get started? It may be confusing, but it's actually a good thing there are so many business opportunities available to us, it means there really is a "perfect" business out there for each of us!
Life is so busy nowadays, seems like we are rushing all the time. Rushing to get up, rushing to take our kids to school, rushing to work, rushing back home, rushing to prepare dinner, rushing to put the kids to bed. Imagine if we would cut out one of these tasks from our day. Imagine cooking once a month with healthy freezer recipes. Imagine how much stress and time it will free up for us.
I have always been a stay at home Mom since I had my first child 5 years ago. I have two beautiful kids and a very helpful husband and we are blessed. With the second child though, our needs and wants grew and I decided to step in the working shoes.http://tinyurl.com/7uerpqj
Last month, I started working for the first time. While it was a lot of fun and gave me the much needed self esteem, it made me feel the pain of the hundreds of thousands of working moms out there whose jobs don't end once they come home from work. I felt more empathy for all those single moms out there who are not even lucky enough to have the help they so deserve. Add to that a tight budget and life can not get much more difficult.
I would put in a day's work, rush home and while my husband and kids went swimming, I stayed home...not to relax, but to cook. This got old pretty soon. I researched the internet for freezer recipes I could make once a month and have healthy food ready every evening.
I found 'Frugal Mom's Guide to Once a Month Cooking' which has over 70 easy to use freezer recipes. I used to hate running to the grocery store at the last minute, but with the grocery list in this ebook for the once a month freezer recipes, I just shop once a month and have everything I need for my freezer recipes.http://tinyurl.com/7uerpqj
What I like about this ebook is its step by step freezer recipes, it does not take for granted that I am an experienced chef. Plus I did not have to go to the store to buy it or wait for it to be delivered, being an ebook, I got instant access.
I love going swimming with my family and sitting down for a peaceful meal knowing I did not have to slog over it nor pay for a take out. I wish I had tried freezer recipes long back, would have saved all that money we spent buying junk from the fast food place down the street.
At the end of a busy day, what's the one thing you're looking forward to? Relaxing on the couch, taking a long bath, reading a good book...cooking a home cooked meal? Yeah, right. Unless you consider cooking a treat, which most tired mothers do not, the idea of coming up with yet another healthy and tasty dinner is just too much, and certainly not fun.
What would you say if I told you there is a method that has become very popular among exhausted parents that gets the cooking done and meals prepared and made ready for the busy work weeks. No, I'm not talking about hiring a live in cook. Besides that's just another person to deal with. No, what I'm suggesting is something called 'once a month cooking.' Yep, you read it correctly. Also known as 'freezer cooking', it's a concept that's really taking off.http://tinyurl.com/7uerpqj
The idea is to set aside a couple of days where you cook your little heart out. That way your family gets really good dinners for the rest of the month and your time is freed up to do things like enjoy that hot bath or take tap dancing lessons...whatever floats your boat.
What I've heard from moms who have tried 'OAMC' is that not only are they saving time and making good food, but they're actually saving money too. Seems like they're keeping their budget on track by planning their meals. Makes sense.
Giving in to exhaustion and driving through a burger joint is way too easy. It's expensive and unhealthy, but we all know that. What I suggest is taking on the challenge of planning a month's worth of meals, buying the ingredients and supplies and scheduling the days to do the work. You can do it all in one day, but if that sounds like a little more than what you're willing to take on, then break up the cooking into two days.
So, what do you think? Sound like a good idea? If 'freezer cooking' is something you'd like to try, there are a few things that you need to get clear before you begin. First of all, don't go into it blind. Make a plan and schedule the time. Don't schedule a cooking weekend during one of your family's busiest times. Avoid holidays and other deadlines. This is supposed to be a positive thing you're doing here. In fact, if you can find someone to watch your kids while you cook, then by all means take them up on it. If not, then let the older kids help and have lots of fun things for the little guys to do while you're busy making their lives better.http://tinyurl.com/7uerpqj
Naturally, you're going to need some good, easy, affordable menus for your meals. Plan this well so you save money. Don't wait to do the shopping on your actual cooking day. There's nothing more frustrating than the grocery store anyway. Be sure you have your list with you and look for bargains and bulk pricing and use those coupons when you can.
Decide how you plan on storing your meals and make sure you have all of the storage bags and containers ready. I like to start off my cooking extravaganza with a well organized and clean kitchen. I do not like distractions when I'm in super cook mode. Get out your crock pot and make as many crock pot recipes as you can so your oven is free for casseroles etc.
Ready to give 'once a month cooking' a go? You'll soon discover that it's fun being frugal and way smarter than fast or convenience foods for your family's health and budget. Involve your friends and other family members and make it an event. However you do it, just plan well and reap the rewards. Have fun super cooking!http://tinyurl.com/7uerpqj
