There is no doubt that the key to sticking to a real food diet is planning ahead. I like to call it “making your own convenience food.” Just imagine all those busy weeknights out at a late dance class or nighttime soccer practice and not having to worry about dinner (or resorting to the drive through) because you planned ahead. That’s what it’s all about!
So today I am here to introduce you to the Once a Month Mom (OAMM) website, which has taken planning ahead to a whole new level. OAMM offers meal plans where you can literally spend one day a month cooking and have enough food for weeks to come. We didn’t want to just take their word for it though so Kiran from our 100 Days of Real Food Team – who has 4 kids ages 9 and under by the way! – agreed to put the OAMM plan to the test for this sponsored post today. So I am super excited to share with you everything you could ever want to know from our very own first-hand “freezer cooking” experience!
By Kiran Dodeja Smith, 100 Days of Real Food Team
When Once a Month Mom was introduced to me, I was intrigued, to say the least. Cook just once a month and have your meals freezer ready for 4 weeks? It sounded too good to be true.
After signing up for a month, I watched this video in hopes that it would give me some insight as to how I would proceed. I then chose between 7 different plans; my choice was Whole Foods (not to be confused with the store – no correlation, actually, it’s just a plan with whole foods incorporated within).
How It Works
The directions seemed fairly straightforward: You get Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner recipes to last throughout the month. When it’s all said and done, I’d have 6-10 breakfasts, 8 lunches and 14 dinners. Sure; still sounded good to me. But what about the cooking part?
I started by looking at the menu for the month I was signed up for. In all honesty, while I’m open to new recipes, my kids are somewhat creatures of nature. Knowing them, I know that I can get away with different breakfast foods on the weekend but serving up something completely different during the week may not fly for them. So I opted to slightly tailor the menu by making the suggested Quinoa Carrot Breakfast Bars (a breakfast dish) to send to school in their lunches. I also made the Sun-dried Tomato and Sausage Egg Cupcakes (a breakfast) for use as lunch as opposed to the Cheesy Broccoli Rice Casserole Cups (a lunch). And last I decided not to make one of the suggested breakfasts (Slow Cooker Apple Pie Steel Cut Oats). For me, tailoring it to what I think will work for us and also trying to add some newness is key. To sum it up, with my changes I had 2 breakfasts, 1 lunch (I opted out of 3 others), 6 dinners and 5 “Add Ons” on the forefront to cook all in one day. Yikes.
Next I dove into some of the incredibly organized resources on OAMM by going over to the Recipe Cards. Members can adjust servings per meal (needed in my case) and also get directions for freezing (also needed for me).
The directions are outstanding. You are told exactly what to do the day before (chopping), if meat is needed to be cooked/thawed, etc. But never having done this before I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you I was feeling so overwhelmed with what was up and coming. Continue Reading »
By Lisa, on November 30th, 2011
“Real Food” Meal Plan #5 is finally finished! This particular meal plan utilizes fall produce that’s available at some farmers’ 
markets this time of year. The first four meal plans – including spring and summer – are available on our facebook page, but I’ve decided to make this one available to email subscribers only (see instructions below). These meals plans are incredibly detailed so I’ve only been able to crank out a new one every few months or so. But if you’re looking for some inspiration on a more regular basis then be sure to check out our sponsor, The Fresh 20. They offer new dinner meal plans weekly including vegetarian and gluten-free options!
As always, this is what you’ll find with my meal plans:
- One 7-day practical “real food” menu plan designed for busy families
- Complete meals listed each day for breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner with leftovers incorporated Continue Reading »
By Lisa, on August 3rd, 2011
You asked and I listened…here’s yet another free “real food” meal plan! This one utilizes produce that’s typically in-season during the summer months, and since so many of you have your own garden you have yet another cost-saving opportunity when stocking up for this meal plan. Creating these plans is rather labor-intensive though so I can only do it every so often. If you’d love to get some guidance on a more regular basis please check our sponsor, The Fresh 20, who cranks out new and creative meal plans on a weekly basis (including vegetarian and gluten-free options)!
As always, this is what you’ll find with the “100 Days of Real Food” meal plans:
- One 7-day practical “real food” menu plan designed for busy families
- Complete meals listed each day for breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner with leftovers incorporated
- Food quantities calculated for a family of four
- Corresponding grocery list showing what to buy in order of the store and actual cost for each item (as opposed to the price per serving) with seasonal ingredients highlighted so they can be purchased from the local farmers’ market if desired
- Budget-friendly prices comparable to what a family of four would receive on full food stamp (SNAP) benefits – $167/week – with plenty of additional cost-saving opportunities because: Continue Reading »
By Lisa, on May 16th, 2011
I am thrilled with how popular the first two “real food” meal plans have been! The obvious next step was to of course create another one. And going forward my hope is to create these meal plans seasonally so we can take advantage of some of the fresh,
tasty, local produce that is available at various times of the year. Therefore this meal plan is entitled “Meal Plan 3 – Late Spring,” and I’ve put stars next to all the shopping list items that are currently available at our local farmers’ market. So once again, this is what you can expect to find in Meal Plan #3:
- One 7-day practical “real food” menu plan designed for busy families
- Complete meals listed each day for breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner with leftovers incorporated
- Food quantities calculated for a family of four Continue Reading »
By Lisa, on April 4th, 2011
I’ve come across a lot of “meal plans” lately in both magazines and online. They’re always inspiring with so many different and creative ideas for breakfast, lunch and dinner (each meal requires a separate recipe of course and never utilizes “leftovers”). Sure, if someone else was doing all of the cooking for me I would sign right up for one of those plans.
Then some other meal plans tell me that their dish made with goat cheese only costs $2 per serving. Well guess what, you can’t buy goat cheese by the serving (it costs $4 a container at best!). So rather than complaining about it, I’ve decided to come up 
with my own meal plan – two of them actually. And this is what you’ll find:
- Two 7-day practical “real food” menu plans designed for busy families
- Complete meals listed each day for breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner
- Food quantities calculated for a family of four
- Corresponding grocery lists showing what to buy (in order of the store) and actual cost for each item
- Budget-friendly prices compatible to what a family of four would receive on full food stamp (SNAP) benefits – $167/week – with additional cost-saving opportunities because…
- Coupons were not used
- Sale prices were not used
- Prices for organic items were used in most cases Continue Reading »
