Bulk Cooking and OAMC

Posted by Beth Gasser on April 16, 2010 1 Comment

Savory Pork Chops I have posted before about freezer cooking and OAMC (Once a Month Cooking) which I continue to do. I always field questions about how I do things or for more ideas. Today I was inspired to post a couple pictures of the dish I was making for our upcoming freezer trade.

I found a recipe for Savory Pork Chops, which is pork chops dredged in a flour and dried mustard mixture, slightly browned, and then marinaded in a sauce (mustard, orange marmalade, soy sauce, onion). Since we have four families in our club, I wanted to average about eight smaller portions per family. Pricing out pre-cut pork chops was spendy. I decided to buy a very large pork loin on sale for $12.00 and cut my own. I ended up with eight, good sized-fairly thick chops per family. This means there maybe leftovers and more than one meal out of this one dish. When you break that down, it’s $3.00 for a family meal. Most of the ingredients for the sauce I had, but I bought a jar of orange marmalade and then used part of it for a different recipe (Orange Ginger Chicken).

002 Not only is the meal inexpensive and tasty, all that is left to be done is dump it from a bag into the oven or crockpot!

Confession: I let other Mom’s cook for my family

Posted by Jackie Kaufenberg on December 12, 2009 1 Comment

Guest Confession from Jackie Kaufenberg: As a mom who works full-time out of the home and has three kids ages four and younger, I do not have much free time. At times I would find myself getting home from work, instantly having kids asking me for snacks or throwing tantrums on the kitchen floor, all while I had no idea what I would make for dinner that night. I have always been a a bit of a foodie, but with kids, a foodie can suddenly find themselves emerged into the easy world of hamburger helper and macaroni and cheese.

About a year and a half ago, a friend had forwarded me a video that was on a local news station, about a group of mom’s who had started a local cooking club. The idea seemed brilliant: 8 moms, one evening a month, cooking 10 meals for each family, all that can be frozen and cooked as needed during the month. The idea of this really excited me because it seemed like such a time saver. I want to provide healthy meals for my family, but without losing the family time to cooking or eating dinner at 7:30 at night. Luckily, Cindy at Tidy Tightwads who started the cooking club on the news video, was also able to help me start a cooking club.

Now my freezer is stocked with delicious meals, side dishes, and breads. I have started new friendships and reconnected with old friends through cooking club. I have a little more time with my family and less time worrying about what I am going to whip up for dinner. I have made recipes that I would not have made on my own, and have even learned a thing or two about cooking. As a bonus, we have developed a great relationship with our local grocer, who gathers the groceries on our list each month, and gives us a discount off the total, saving us some money too. It is a relief to know that a delicious meal is only a thaw away. So, even though a different mom may have cooked our meal of the evening, we enjoy every bite.

Filed Under: Confessions of a Mom | Tagged: Tagged With: freezer meals, oamc, once a month cooking

Recipe: Carry Along Hotdogs

Posted by Beth Gasser on April 3, 2009 1 Comment

I have to credit Cindy Haugland for this recipe. She brought this recipe to our OAMC (Once a Month Cooking) club years ago, and it was a big hit. We just made these last night on the grill; our first grill food of the spring! This recipe is easy, a kid pleaser, and a nice escape from plain old hot dogs. I believe the name of this recipe refers to them being wrapped in tinfoil so that, technically, they could be carried along to a picnic, tailgate party, or softball practise.

These can be made up and frozen, prior to heating. Simply follow the recipe below, wrap in foil, and freeze. They work great to take traveling or camping during the summer. We keep the freezer stocked for quick lunches with the kids in between swim lessons and softball. Need a side? We peel potatoes, onion, and some carrots/peas, place in some foil and throw it on the grill about a half hour before the hot dogs. Yumm!

Carry Along Hotdog Recipe

Hot Dogs (fully cooked kind)

Hot dog buns

Ketchup

Mustard

Cheese slices

Pickle Relish

Chopped green onion

Mix two parts ketchup to one part (each) of the remaining ingredients in a bowl. Split the hot dogs length-wise in half. Cut cheese slices in half. Open the bun, place a tablespoon of sauce down the bun. Place cheese between two halves of hot dog and place in the bun. Wrap tightly in tinfoil, sealing the edges. Place on the grill or in the oven until hot and cheese is bubbly. Leave in the foil until ready to eat.

Filed Under: Recipes | Tagged: Tagged With: carry along hotdogs, freezer recipes, hot dog, hot dog recipe, hotdog recipes, hotdogs, once a month cooking, picnic food, tailgate food, tailgate recipes

Recipe: Crockpot Wild Rice Soup

Posted by Beth Gasser on March 26, 2009 1 Comment

This is such a tasty soup, that the kids love. It is full of naughty stuff, so it’s a treat when we make it. We first made this soup in my Once a Month Cooking club, which quickly became a repeat recipe. It freezes great.

Wild Rice Soup Recipe

3 slices bacon, cut in 1 inch pieces (cooked/crumbed)

4 tablespoons onion, minced (fresh or dried)

10 1/2 ounces can cream of potato soup

2 cups milk

8 ounces American cheese (Velveeta will work)

1 cup wild rice, cooked according to pkg.

Mix together and cook in the crockpot until hot and bubbly. This recipe doesn’t make a ton, so if you have a bigger family or big eaters, you may want to double it. It’s great as a leftover and it freezes well. This is one of our OAMC (Once a month cooking) recipes.

Filed Under: Recipes | Tagged: Tagged With: crock pot recipe, crockpot recipe, crockpot wild rice soup, easy crock pot wild rice soup, freezer recipe, oamc, oamc recipes, once a month cooking, wild rice recipes, wild rice soup, wild rice soup recipe, wildrice recipes