There's myth out there that something--an appliance, a process, a thing--will somehow make the arduous task of providing three square rations a day for preschoolers and picky husbands less, well, painful. Or at least prevent a few emotional breakdowns. Shopping for, preparing, serving and cleaning up that much food for that many people (who seem to throw more of it on the floor than eat it) makes my head hurt. Every. Day. They keep wanting more food! Please just stop!!!
So the idea of preparing the bulk of my breakfasts, lunches and dinners for the month seems a bit too good to be true. My version of Coronado's gold, treasure at the end of the rainbow, cellulite eraser pen... To have a freezer stocked full of paleo-approved goodness, labeled with thawing directions, is about as good as a visit from Mary Poppins. I need to give this trick a try.
A recent series of wasteful grocery shopping sprees and waaaaay too much last-minute take-out inspired yet another Google search of "paleo menu plan recipes," landing me at Once a Month Meals. Here's what pushed me over the edge to buy a month's worth of groceries and go for it.
I was under the impression that once-a-month cooking:
- saves time
- saves money by cutting down on waste
- saves a bit of sanity
- answers the worst question ever asked by anybody, "What's for dinner, Mom???"
So I end up spending three hours in four grocery stores buying all the junk for an entire month. It's intense. And right off the bat I notice that I'm not impulse buying a single thing. Something I've never accomplished. There's just no more money to spare with spending so much at one time. Unexpected problem solver right off the bat. Plus I was also smarter about picking the place with the best meat specials for the day. Started at Super Walmart for pantry items and kitchen necessities, then off to HEB for produce and weird stuff like coconut aminos. Kroger rounded it out with $1.87/lb. chicken breasts (rock on!) after a quick stop at the natural food store for arrowroot powder. (Why does that place always smell like a seance???)
How much? Well, I used the paleo plan this go around, but didn't buy grass-fed beef or free range chicken, or much of anything organic. I just bought regular 'ole ground beef and cancer-causing, hormone-injected chicken. And the total bill came to $540 for a meal plan for 5 people. That includes our usual produce for snacks and sides. I'll have to buy a few more things here and there throughout the month. It made double of all these things:
Breakfasts
Lunches
- Paleo Creamed Spinach with Chicken
- Orange Chicken
- Crunchy Paleo Chicken Strips
- BBQ Bacon Apple Chicken
- Italian Slow-Cooker Chili**
Dinners
- Paleo Slow-Cooker Pork Tenderloin with Apples and Honey**
- Paleo Beef Lettuce Wraps**
- Paleo Bruschetta Chicken
- Paleo Stuffed Peppers
- Oven Roasted Paleo Indian-Spiced Roast Chicken**
- Slow-Cooker Beef Stew**
- Paleo Eggplant Lasagna
I did have to think on my feet a bit. There was an error in the shopping spreadsheet for the amount f stew meat needed, and I didn't have but 1/3 of what I needed for two recipes--so I incorporated the veggies used for them along with extra chicken. Ended up with a truckload of chicken, so had plenty to reorganize and then poach some for chicken salad. The cold cereal is rockstar awesome. Most of us like BBQ bacon apple chicken. We did alright with the stuffed peppers. But then I screwed up and didn't buy enough ground beef for the eggplant lasagna, so I attempted a mushroom eggplant curry which I tried to choke down. Zero Asian cooking skills.
The actual prep day is still a blur. I remember waking up early and getting started, and at some point took the children out to ride bikes, and then also had a visitor over, but I'm pretty sure it clocked in at 15 HOURS to cook everything. Yes, it hurt. The back, the shoulders--they ached. Completing the baking the night before helped and then I wrapped up three dinners the next morning. They recommend finishing it all in one punishing day, but I just couldn't do it with my four babes five and under.
And I stopped at least twice to do a big sweep clean mid-cooking and then one big clean up after the big day and another one the following morning. There were many pauses to clean bowls and pans and pots as well. Chapped, wrinkly fingers. I hit a wall around 3pm and it laughed at my coffee.
But I have a freezer full of food!!! And I'm more oriented to thinking frugally about using it up. No, it's not the absolute best food I've ever eaten in my life. But it has a decidedly paleo-feel, and I'd get the same results if I surfer the blogosphere for recipes. Many of the selections used are from low-carb bloggers anyway. The kids scarfed down crunchy paleo chicken strips, which will have to be a keeper in the future--nice curry spice to that one.
I'd have to agree that it saves me money in the long run. Our out-to-eatings had gotten out of hand and we were spending close to $900 per month in food. We can shave that by about $150, maintain our weekly date night and Sunday lunch out AND increase the quality of food we eat at home by using this plan. It's doable and I'd recommend it.
One disclaimer:
Anybody can cook for the month flying solo. It takes the mind of a hostage negotiator to cook with four children in the house. Here's how to survive without casualties: Tell them what's going on! "Mommy is going to cook all day." "All day, Mommy??" "All day, children. You can help me with x, y, and z, but you're going to have to find something fun to do while I'm cooking." I saved a new app for them to mess with that day (photo booth) and they experimented with that for quite sometime. They helped me make an assembly line for the chicken strips and learned a good lesson on efficiency. We rotated alone play-time in their rooms, I got out the fort, they got to watch a movie with popcorn when things got really dirty. Get your crap in order with the children and all with go well.
No comments:
Post a Comment