Disclaimer***I am not a pro, I have limited experience doing OAMC, but I have done a ton of research and feel that I have some good tips and information to share based on my experiences and also what I have read.
FIRST STEP:
Decide whether you want to do this alone or with someone else. Regardless of how you decide to do it, I highly recommend not having small children around. Maybe there is another mom that does OAMC that would be willing to swap kids with you on cooking days.
SECOND STEP:
Next, decide what you want to get out of your cooking day. Do you need only main course dinners prepared? Or would you like breakfasts? Lunches? Side dishes? Snacks? Desserts? Personally, I usually do mostly main course dinners. I may throw in a side dish or two and maybe some breakfast items.
If you are doing this alone, you obviously get full choice on the recipes and ingredients used. But, if you will be working with someone, make the time to sit down and decide what each of you wants to cook. If you plan to do a full day, I would recommend starting with about ten to a dozen recipes at most, any more than that and you may become overwhelmed. Also, keep in mind that it will save money and probably time if you use recipes that have some of the same ingredients. This way, you can buy and prepare things in bulk.
A great resource for finding freezer meals is online at Recipezaar. This is one of my favourite sites! If you click on forums, there is a whole OAMC section with lots of great advice. Or, in the search bar at the top just type in OAMC and you will get a list of tried and true (and rated) recipes with comments from people who have tried them.
So in short:
- Pick a friend or plan to do it yourself.
- Sit down and find recipes suitable for freezing and make a list of the ones you (and possibly your friend) will plan on making.
PART TWO: Planning your Big Cooking Day
