I admit, I have turned into a complete foodie. I never thought it would happen. I didn't like to cook, but as they say, necessity is the mother of invention!
A couple of years ago, at the beginning of the downturn of the economy, I (like many Americans) found myself without a job. All of the sudden, we were a one income family in a economy that was losing ground very quickly.
I had to find a way to cut corners in our budget, and fast!
I started looking at what we spent each month and was amazed at the amount of money that went to food each month! As I said, I didn't like to cook, so we ate out A LOT!
My first step was to stop that. I figured even if I didn't like to cook, I could make a box of hamburger helper, open a can of vegetables, and have a piece of fruit every night for an entire week and still not spend what we typically did when we went out. (Do you KNOW how many varieties of hamburger helper there are?!)
Inevitably, my family was crying for something different, so I started to look for some other ideas. That is when I discovered coupons....what an "a-ha" moment!
Since I had no job, I had some time on my hands, and took it as my personal mission to see how much money I could save with this whole coupon thing. My first impression of coupons was that they were only available on name brands that were ridiculously overpriced. I was a believer that generic brands were the way to go. Boy was I wrong!
I started to find some coupons online and started getting the Sunday paper. I started seeing that people were actually getting groceries for free--legitimately! I wanted that! After all, what's cheaper than free?!
I learned the strategies, and was so excited (as was my son) when we got our first big deal (4 boxes of instant Cream of Wheat for $.08!)
Well, the economy got worse, and pretty much everyone was affected in one way or another by tough times. As I was looking at the stockpile I had built, I thought...why not have a cooking party to use some of these things and get some meals in the freezer?
Thus, the Once a Month Cooking Club was born. I invited my mom, grandma and sister to my house one weekend. We spent the weekend making enough meals to put in the freezer to cover weeknight dinners for a month, along with some breakfast, dessert and side items.
This has become one of the best things we have ever done. Since then, we have set a date every 4-6 weeks, when they come and spend the weekend at my house and we get to laugh, visit and take care of dinner for the next month!
Through many trials, we have found some things don't freeze so well (raw potatoes-yuck!), some tricks that make things even yummier (when making pasta dishes, cook the pasta just short of al dente cooking time) and easier (gallon size plastic bags of food can be frozen flat and can be stacked to more efficiently use the space in your freezer). We have a variety of tastes in our family (everything from your typical meat and potatoes men, to seafood allergies, to hot and spicy lovers), but for the most part we have not had many complaints (ok...except the pizza meatloaf...lol), and we have discovered all kinds of things that are really yummy! I never thought I would see my dad eat Chinese, but Sweet and Sour Chicken Bowls are a regular item on our menu!
When I started this journey, my goal was to cut my family's monthly food costs by 50%. I have more than accomplished this and in the process, I have been able to help my extended family do the same. The greatest part is that I always know when I am going to get to see them again!
We have a lifetime of recipes to share, so I decided to start this blog. I hope you enjoy these recipes as much as we do!
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