Once A Month Cooking Menu and Tips

I mentioned in a previous post that I was a big fan of Recipe Zaar due to the thousands and thousands of fantastic recipes it offers.  Most of my recipes for this month are from there and while there are a few new recipes, most I have prepared before and were delicious!

A few tips, before I share the recipes.  Many of the recipes call for cooked chicken.  I like to prepare this the day before in a crock pot with a little seasoning.  I end up with tender chicken and stock to add to individual recipes.  If a recipe calls for cooked ground beef, I also do that the night before.  Before starting on a recipe, I like to line the casserole dishes I'll be using with aluminum foil, taped together on the outside with masking tape.  I then spray the inner side with Pam cooking spray, so that nothing sticks after it's been cooked in the oven.  Once the recipe is assembled I fold the extra foil to seal it and use more masking tape to secure it before putting it into the freezer.  I also apply pre-made labels so that everything is clearly marked.  A lot of recipes can just be assembled into a freezer Ziploc style bag.

Now, the recipes for this month.  I know a lot of OAMC cooks prepare fewer dishes and make more servings, but that's just not how I roll.

For dinner we are having:
Honey Sesame Dump Chicken-I love this recipe; it so simple to assemble into gallon size freezer bags, and most ingredients I already have on hand. It's a great one for the crock pot!

Dijon Pork Loin Roast-Though this recipe calls for a pork loin, I've found it works great for pork chops and can be cooked either in the oven or a crock pot.

Mrs. O'Brien's Chicken-The ingredients in this one almost scared me away, but I'm glad I tried it.  It's a very strange combination, but somehow it works to make a great tasting meal.  Another one I love to put into the crock pot!

Tator Tot Casserole-This recipe is comfort food at it's finest!  This particular recipe doesn't call for it, but I like to add corn, and I know a friend who puts peas in.  Any vegetable will work, it's very versatile.

Chicken Tetrazzini-This recipe is pretty straight forward and easy to make, it reheats well and is quite delicious.

BBQ Chicken Basil Calzones-There are not enough words to describe this one, I think it's my new favorite meal of all time.  We use Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce that we get at Costco and substitute celery for the mushrooms.  I also use pre-made pizza dough that I get from my grocery stores deli.  And though the recipe calls for them to be baked before freezing, I've frozen them without baking (after not reading the instructions properly) and no harm has been done.

I will also be making breakfast sandwiches for Justin to take in the mornings:
Breakfast Sandwiches

Once a month cooking is a lot of work, however it is highly rewarding.  Knowing that every night dinner is already prepared allows me to spend more quality time with Tysen once I get home from work.  I started doing OAMC because of that very reason.  The fall is a hard time in our household, Justin has football and doesn't get home until well after 6:00.  In the past I would rush from work to pick-up Tysen at daycare, then rush home to get dinner started.  Now, while I still rush to pick-up Tysen, our afternoons are filled with playing cars, reading stories and building forts.  I hope I've inspired at least one person to give OAMC a try!