strummin' on the ol' banjo

I think cooking would be much more interesting to me if I had live banjo music available.
Anyhow, I believe it's a well established fact that I hate to cook and would never do it if I could afford someone else cooking my meals. (T helps some but generally gets home so late that we'd be eating after bedtime. And then there was that time he made "soup" where one of the ingredients was Cheezits...) So. We have the options of feeding the family on restaurant or fast food, or I get off my lazy butt and cook.
Sigh.
I'd been wishing for recipes that I knew would freeze, that were not all tomato-based or cream-soup-based. Unless we're talking about the fennel family, I refuse foods based on texture, so the stuff HAD to freeze well. In passing an office mate mentioned onceamonthmom.com. Once you get past the icky name, you get a website with a month's worth of recipes that you cook all in one day, adjusted for size and freezability (is too a word). If you follow the menu exactly, there's even a schedule that tells you what order to chop and cook, how to package, and (if you're working with a friend) who chops what. We are a somewhat picky family, so I've been picking and choosing recipes. (For example, the White Chicken Chili was FANTASTIC as written for T and me, but was too spicy for either boy to eat. The second time I made it I adjusted appropriately and they inhaled it.) Last weekend, I took a few hours and made three meals, and we ate them throughout the week. All three were ruled "delicious" by all members of the family. One was prepped ahead of time and cooked in the crock pot on the day we ate it, two were marinated and either grilled or roasted on the day.
This week I'm getting more ambitious and prepping six eight recipes. It's a boatload of work on the day you do all the prep, but I don't actually spend more than about half an hour each night afterwards making the main dish and fixing sides.

Here's the haul for today:
Meatloaf (my recipe)
Chili (my recipe)
Chicken Orzo Skillet
Bacon Broccoli Penne
Cauliflower Mac N Cheese
Chicken with Sweet Potatoes and Butternut Squash
Slow Cooker Chicken with Pineapple and Peppers
Chicken Fried Rice



In most cases you do a double recipe and freeze two family-size servings, but I only did that with recipes we've tried already. We had the Chicken Fried Rice for dinner tonight, and next time I'll double it. I'm tempted to quadruple the white chicken chili next time.

Bug was hungry.



And a bit maniacal.