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TwitterAside from the four months during the summer of 2010, I have not worked a 40-hour work week since becoming a mother.
As you know, we are getting out of debt. A surefire way to help tackle that debt involves this mama adding a day to her work week. (Gulp!)
It also means more time away from home. And that, my friends, is going to be the real challenge.
I have watched in awe as my fellow co-workers – all full-time employees – manage their work and home lives with grace and efficiency. I have four stay-at-home days to accomplish what these men and women do in two – on Saturday and Sunday.
A sampling of chores: Laundry, grocery shopping, errand running, bill paying, organizing, house cleaning, all accomplished in between shuttling their children from one activity to the next, quality family time and maybe throw in a social engagement or two.
And now I must learn this juggling act for myself.
Things are going to change around here if that transition is going to go smoothly.
One thing I decided to try is Once A Month Cooking (OAMC), or producing a month’s worth of cooking in one or two days. You spend an entire day cooking and freezing meals, so you don’t have to cook for the rest of the month. You’re planning your meals in advance, so you’re sticking to a budget. Sounds like a great idea to save time and money, right?
After a long day at work, the last thing I want to do is cook dinner. So, we’d grab a bite to eat. Not anymore. No more take-out. We are saving money. And that starts in the kitchen.
My neighbor recommended Dinner is Ready, a book filled with hundreds of freezer-worthy recipes. I tried this last year sometime, and the meals turned out great. But I never carved the time out of my schedule to do it again.
With the impending work week shift, I was finally motivated to give this another whirl.
I gathered ingredients. (Note: I spent $174.15 for this grocery trip.) The Coffee-mate was to help me survive this ordeal without alcohol.
The next day, I took the older boys to school and dropped my 3-year-old off at day care.
I was in the zone.
I cooked and chopped and cried (onions do it to me every time), then hit repeat.
My kitchen was a disaster.
When I finished, I had packaged nearly 30 meals in seven hours. I made nine recipes (including lasagna, beef stew, meatballs and chicken enchiladas), doubled them and then divided each recipe into thirds — a total of 27 meals. (Find recipes from beef fajitas to chicken parmigana.)
If I add the $30 daycare expense to the grocery bill, I spent $7.56 per meal. Not too shabby, especially when you’re looking for ways to spend less money.
I was exhausted and sore the next day, but I no longer dread the “what’s for dinner?” question. I’ll now have more time to focus on my family. And my pocketbook is happy.
Judy Daniell is married with three sons. She works part time. Read her Wednesdays on momaha.com
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Posted by: Anna on 01/25/2012 @ 1:26 pm:
Good for you!!
Posted by: Linda on 01/25/2012 @ 1:53 pm:
Way to go, Judy!!!!!! I’m proud of you! I never had the where-with-all to manage that!!!! I’m very impressed! Great way to save $$$$$$!
Posted by: AmyH on 01/25/2012 @ 1:56 pm:
My friends and I are going to be doing this sometime in the next month. However, we are going to do “2 week cooking” first. All of us stay home with small children, so are plan is to do it on a Saturday when our husbands are around to watch the kids. We will start small and maybe do a months worth later. I dont think I have enough freezer space right now for a whole month, plus all the meat we have in there already!
Posted by: Kathy Koch Joyce on 01/25/2012 @ 3:02 pm:
I did two weeks worth for my parents after my dad had surgery in AZ last year. In the summer, I am always cooking for a crowd, so it felt like that…or Thanksgiving. As long as you set aside a day for it, it is OK. Where I mess up is when I am doubling and doing two recipes at once. ADD, you ask? Yeah…
Posted by: Louise on 01/25/2012 @ 3:06 pm:
I’d love to find four or five single ladies who would like to do this. We all have recipe favorites but they’re intended for a larger family – spaghetti & meatballs, chicken casserole, chili – but I don’t have freezer space to store a whole recipe and who wants to eat chili for eight weeks?
Posted by: mom2lulu on 01/25/2012 @ 3:16 pm:
Love this idea. But I wonder how practical it is with working full-time. I work full-time and my weekends whiz by — even though I am fairly organized and I try not to overbook myself on weekends. I am just ready to collapse on weekends..I would think it would be hard to designate one of those eight weekend days of the month to cooking?
Posted by: BarbInNebraska on 01/25/2012 @ 7:45 pm:
Now you have to do a follow up post on how they all tasted. I tried that meal concept we had in Omaha few years back that you go and prepare meals there and then bring them home to freeze. My family didn’t like them because they were heavy on the ‘Cream of Whatever’ for the sauce.
Good for you for tackling this! I’ve always wanted to try this too.
Posted by: Judy Daniell on 01/25/2012 @ 9:33 pm:
Well, the first meal was a hit, which is hard with this family, but so far so good. I think 2-week cooking is great idea. The other day someone posted on Momaha’s FB page about putting together a class on it.
I chatted with a couple of gals today who worked full-time when they did it, and they loved it. That one day on the weekend to give up was worth coming home, throwing dinner in the oven, and then playing with the kids while it cooked the rest of the month.
Posted by: Amy Grace on 01/26/2012 @ 8:25 am:
I sooo need to do this, Judy. I have often said dinnertime is my least favorite time. Not because of the time I get to sit and chat and catch up with my family, but the time right before it when I have to figure out what to feed them. So we too, would end up getting take out or going out to dinner (which now btw easily costs $50 for a family of 4!)My biggest hurdle is my freezer space – we have one of those freezer on the bottom units – it nicely fits ice, a loaf of bread and 2 boxes of thin mints. Maybe I’ll start with 5 meals instead….
Posted by: Mara on 01/26/2012 @ 10:10 am:
I have thought about doing this for years! I think it is a very smart thing to do. I think it might be really fun to do with a girlfriend – maybe not quite as productive and you might need more than coffee creamer. Good luck on the new work schedule!
Posted by: mom2lulu on 01/26/2012 @ 10:34 am:
That was my other question — are the meals good and healthy? I checked out the web site, though, and it looked like they have something for everything.
Posted by: Heidi W on 01/26/2012 @ 2:29 pm:
SUPER MOM! She is able to laugh contagiously, cook courageously, and feed her family wisely. You need an “S” imprinted on your apron. I’m impressed!