Hooray for Me...er...the Garden!

As I begin to focus and organize my life as the homemaker I should have been for the past (almost) seven years, I made a "goal list" for each of the weeks of May. This week's major goal is to garden, so I cleaned/weeded the flower bed in front of the house, and since my allergies weren't acting crazy as usual, I went out back to the actual garden. To my surprise, I have lots of garlic and onion chives, an oregano bush (it's much larger than last year already!), sage, parsley, and the dill that originally wouldn't grow has spread like wildfire--we now have seven dill plants throughout the garden! Yikes! To top that, the strawberries that wouldn't grow last year have really taken off....all through the garden. Is any damage done when strawberries grow in the middle of an oregano plant? lol Any tips on whether or not I should be restricting my strawberries to a certain area of the garden and how if so?

I plan on getting some more herbs tomorrow, such as basil and my favorite--yet my husband's most dreaded--rosemary. I will see what else sparks my interest as well. Hubby still needs to till, so I can only plan in the remainder of the rows that are already growing herbs. I will also get some pretty flowers for out front to snazz it up.

Oh, and we had our first freezer cooking flop last night. I made Slow Cooker Chicken in Mushroom Sherry Sauce, but hubby thought it was too sweet. I thought it was all right. Lovely said, "It's not really good." Cuddlebug said, "It's yummy, but not really much."--she's only four, but already a pro at flipping a compliment! I'm not freezer cooking tonight, so you will have to wait on the next review...

How Once a Month Cooking Works

I've heard that once a month cooking and freezer cooking saves time and money, but I had no idea until I tried it out myself. I was very hesitant, as I enjoy fresh foods and I've become very picky about how I eat my meat, etc. However, I followed the April 2010 menu from onceamonthmom.com and I can't help but be impressed! Here is how it works:

1. Print out the menu, grocery list, individual recipes, and directions from onceamonthmom.com


2. Go over the grocery list. Check off all ingredients you already have. For the ingredients you will need to buy, place the store name of where you will buy them and how much they will cost. I found it easier to make separate lists for each store after I looked through the Sunday ads. I shopped at Kroger, Meijer, Sam's Club, and Whole Foods, so I made a simple spread sheet, divided by department, for each store. Then, I wrote down what I paid and checked off the item once I got home.


3. Read through the recipes! Make sure you have the equipment/pots/pans necessary to cook/assemble each meal.


4. Plan which day to perform the cook. The menu is meant to be used with two families, but you could double the recipe if more famililes want to join.


5. The night before, chop/slice/mince all veggies. Follow the directions for anything else that might need performed the night before OAMC Day.


6. Start cooking early on OAMC Day! I actually used two days because we started so late in the afternoon the first day, and I was cooking until late the following night (because my mom didn't have mini muffin pans, I didn't bring any, and so I had to bring that recipe home to finish...in other words, read the recipes thoroughly before you start!)


7. Be prepared to do a lot of cleaning, but I feel this is totally worth it to have a freezer stocked full of food!

**Note**

Most meals are not "cooked" ahead--they are simply assembed and placed in the freezer, and therefore only need thawed and cooked the day you plan on eating them. Breads/muffins/egg rolls are baked ahead of time, however.

OAMC (Freezer Cooking) Review

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!

Me? An OAMC?

Much to my reader's dismay (I'm sure), my latest addiction has been reading homeschool blogs. I read them, I click on all of their links, I scour their sources, and I have gleaned lots of useful information, and of late, a little bit of guilt.

No one is Super Mom who can do it all--we all have priorities--but I have discovered new and useful ways to help our household. Since work has been slow for my husband, I have really been trying to cut costs and to help in any way possible. So, while reading about the numerous homeschool families with 12 children who live in 3 bedroom houses (yes, that equals more than 4 children per room since mom and dad usually have a room just for them and perhaps the newest addition), I wonder how on earth they can pay for everything. I love reading their advice, and now I plan to implement some of it.

Goal #1 (lists just seem to work for me lately---uh oh--I really am turning into my mother!)
Make my own laundry soap. Is it really easy? Is it really cheaper? Does it really work? I shall find out!

Goal #3
Clean out the freezer in the garage. We have some very old deer meat out there, I'm sure, so I need to clean that out. Also, there is still gunk from the great meltdown of '08, so I need to actually clean the freezer as well. Yes, I've found enough guts to admit I haven't cleaned it yet.

Goal #2
Try out being an OAMC (Once A Month Cook) for one month. I have discovered I love fresh food, and I've recently begun experimenting with new foods, so I'm not sure how this will work. However, I've also noticed I go through the entire kitchen at night if I don't have a plan, and my husband does as well. Now, I did mention the OAMC possibility and he immediately said, "That doesn't sound good," meaning, "That sounds gross." So, we'll give it a whirl and see what happens. I found a really awesome OAMC link, Once a Month Mom, that gives monthly menus and grocery lists available for print.

Of course I've read about the families that don't use paper towels or napkins (or other disposable paper products), but I just can't see doing laundry for that many napkins, etc. (Roses is a napkin hound, using at least two at each meal), so perhaps these will be later goals.

Have any of you tried OAMC? Making your own laundry soap? What works/doesn't work for you?