I did it! It's over! I followed the menu plan from onceamonthmom.com, which was my first time trying to meal plan that many days in advance, let alone cook/assemble that many meals in advance. Now, here's my review:
Pros:
- Tasty dishes that offer a lot of variety
- Although portions seem small for what my family (i.e. my husband) would consume, you can make two portions at once, or for lighter meals, just make one at a time.
- The main part of grocery shopping is done for the month, the meals are made/assembled, and I know my freezer is stocked for when my family is hungry, if we have guests, or if I'm invited somewhere and need to bring a dish.
- It's more fun cooking with someone else!
- The mess is gone! Come dinnertime, I'll only have minimal clean-up!
Cons:
- Uses a lot of time and energy
- High up-front cost
- A LOT of clean-up the day of cooking
Cost: Ingredients for April 2010's menus cost: $272.72, divided by two because I did it with my mother and the menu is meant to divide between two families of four or less. That means each of us spent $136.36, or $34.09 per week on meals! No, there aren't meals for each and every day, but we made 15 recipes, which gave us two portions of each dish. I'll explain how it works in the next post.
Overall Opinion: I am really impressed! I've already eaten/tasted three of the dishes, plus taste-testing while cooking, and while it stretched what I would normally buy for my family, everything tasted great!
Posts
Hmmm I've heard of this. Not sure its for me. I am good at really nothing. I have no talent save for cooking. I put my heart into cooking and I'm not sure you can put your heart into a meal meant for some random night 2 weeks from now....But I have to say that cooking is at its all time low as far as quality because of my busy, hectic lifestyle of late. So...this might benefit. DECISIONS! hahaha that's great though for ya.
ReplyDeleteSo glad you're happy with your investment! Now the big test...how it will taste after being frozen a while! I'm interested in doing some meals as backups for hectic days. Be waiting to hear your future reviews!
ReplyDeleteTonight we had Sicilian Meatloaf and I made potatoes w/carrots, garlic bread, and mac 'n cheese to go with it...it was pretty tasty! I've never been good at meatloaf, but this turned out good, even after being frozen! Keep in mind, most meals are assembled, frozen, then thawed and cooked...I'll keep taste-testing for you!
ReplyDeleteSounds tasty! I wonder if making my own and freezing would work- uncooked of course. Hmmm.....just might have to give that a try!
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