I have mentioned many times about being a busy mom of 4….and when I say busy, I mean BUSY!! With four children very active in hockey and other activities, we are constantly on the go! Which means I am always looking for ways to make my life easier, especially when it comes to planning and preparing meals. I do my best to save time, by either making a BIG batch of soup, chili, spaghetti, etc and we eat that for a couple of meals, throwing half in the freezer for those nights that are EXTRA crazy. But, having the same thing for dinner repeatedly can get VERY boring ( as my kids like to point out)!  Though, as we all know, trying to come up with something different every night is exhausting! We have all been there, that dreaded “what am I going to make for dinner” ??

So when I was offered to try out “Once A Month Mom“ a website geared towards bulk cooking/freezer friendly meals, I jumped at the opportunity! Created by Tricia Callahan, “Once A Month Mom” takes care of all the meal planning for me…..for a FULL month!! I SIMPLY choose a menu plan that BEST suits me and my family, from one of the 6 listed on their site – choices being Traditional, Whole Foods, Gluten Free/Dairy Free, Baby Food, Vegetarian and Diet and then pick the month I want to follow.

Each meal plan comes with:

• printable recipe cards
• a grocery list
• food prep & cooking instructions
• an easy to follow conversion chart
• labels for each recipe

I decided to go with the “November Vegetarian Menu Plan” for my family, as I felt the meals listed were ones that best suited my style of cooking, using limited processed, whole foods for the majority of the recipes. The menu should yield approximately 6-10 breakfasts, 8 lunches and 16 dinners, having us eating each entree 2 times within the month. If I want to make more of a certain dish, I simply use the easy conversion chart that comes with each recipe, figure out how many servings I wish to make, and then make the following adjustments for each ingredient.

I LOVE how user friendly the “Once A Month Mom” site is. It is so easy to navigate my way around, and is FULL of FABULOUS information, kitchen tips, and resources. I was fascinated by the “Sliced & Diced“ section under the resource tab. A page devoted to giving you the low down on everything from raw/cooked meat and vegetable conversions, to canned beans vs. dry, even how many raspberries or strawberries are in a pint. I could of read this section for hours!

I am SO excited to get started! Having my freezer FULL of ready made, home cooked meals especially around this time of year is going to make for (fingers & toes crossed ) a stress free holiday season. I am planning on doing my bulk cooking on Sunday, Dec 2nd. Hopefully having the kitchen to myself, although I may enlist the help of my children and put them on “chopping” duty.

Stay tuned for part 2 in my “Once A Month Mom”  journey.

To check out more from Once a Month Mom, click here. Follow OAMM on Facebook and Twitter.