May's Big Cooking Day

Since last month's meal plan was such a success (we didn't go out to eat once and never ordered take out) I decided to do everything on my own this time. I chose recipes that I thought our family would like and I also added some sides and breakfast items this time. I cooked most of this on Saturday and a little more on Sunday. I tried to make sure that each meal would make enough for a dinner and for lunches the next day.

I thought it would be nice to share the links to the recipes I used and to also add comments about each of them. Each month I will comment on which meals worked out and which ones didn't.

I'm on my second month and I am happy to report that it's been fun and we've enjoyed trying new recipes. Charlie doesn't always eat the new food but that's no surprise because he's always been a picky eater. I did recently find out that both of the older boys really like Spanish Rice!

Breakfast:

• French Toast Sticks - I made this recipe without the butter and not so much sugar. Charlie ate two of them without any syrup and he really liked them.


• Blueberry Pancakes - I used the pancake mix from a box I had in the pantry and added vanilla and blueberries.

Lunch:

• Chicken Salad

Dinner:

• Pork Loin - We bought a large piece and cut it up into 3 separate pieces and froze them. Mike will grill them with his seasonings when the time comes and each piece will be enough for dinner and lunch the next day.
• Turkey Meatballs - We tasted these after they came out of the oven and they tasted very good and were moist.
• Chicken Spaghetti
• Oven baked Potato Wedges - I got the instructions from a very helpful and informative article that explains how to cook, freeze and reheat any type of potato.
• Applesauce - I used Rome apples, added a bit of cinnamon and no sugar. It turned out great. The baby liked it! The other boys haven't tried it yet.
• Pulled Pork - this was really simple to make and turned out very tasty. I'll definitely be making this again.
• Stir-Fry Chicken With Garlic Sauce
• Baked Chicken Fingers - I used this recipe but I did not bake the chicken fingers, instead I flash froze them then put them in Ziploc bags. On baking day I'll put them in the oven at 425 for 18-20 minutes.
  

The meals we liked from last month:
These are the original recipes, but they were adjusted a bit because they were all frozen and cooked later.

• Slow Cooker Chicken in Mushroom Sherry Sauce - I ended up mixing everything together in a Ziploc bag and placing it in the freezer. I thawed it out the night before then baked it in the oven. I served it over egg noodles and it was good.


• Buffalo Chicken Fajitas - For this I combined the cut up chicken and sauce in one bag and the veggies in the other bag and put them in the freezer. I only thawed out the chicken and sauce the night before (kept the veggies frozen.) Then on the day of cooking I cooked the chicken and sauce in one pan and the frozen veggies in the other. When both were cooked I added them together and topped it with the blue cheese.


• Baked Southwestern Egg Rolls - I assembled these then put them in Ziploc bags and froze. The day of cooking I followed the regular baking instructions. I really liked these a lot and would definitely make them again.
  
  

April's Big Cooking Day

I finally did it! Two weeks ago I took my grocery list to the store and picked up all the ingredients I needed to make a month's worth of dinners. On Sunday I prepared and froze all of the meals. My Freezer was stocked, full, absolutely packed! We're going on week 3 and I'm happy to say that I still have lots of meals left in the freezer. I've spent less time preparing meals and no time stressing about what we're going to have each day. What it has given me is more time to spend with my family.

I'm already putting together my menu/recipe list for next month. I really think this is saving us money and time. I must admit that I was exhausted by the time I was done preparing and freezing everything on my big day of cooking for the month, but the time and money I will be saving is worth it!

Besides saving time and money, the other thing I like about make ahead meals is trying new recipes. Most of the meals we've tried so far have been great and it's made me realize how many other things I could make in batches and freeze instead of spending lots of money on store bought items that definitely aren't as tasty as homemade. I'd like to try this bread recipe sometime.

I've been wanting to try this type of cooking for quite some time but always felt overwhelmed when it came to finding all of the recipes and compiling the shopping list. Then I found a website that did all of that for me, it's called Once a Month Mom and it's great. Everything is organized and ready to print, from the recipes to the grocery list and even labels with baking instructions. They even have a section on baby/toddler food. I thought this recipe for Toddler French Toast Sticks looked good and is something I'm going to try.