More About Once A Month Mom

Once Talani got home from running his errands he was able to keep the kids occupied. Here, they are relaxing after a tough round of watching cartoons. So cute! This was actually taken just after I finished cooking, so I promptly got in the recliner for a little nap. I nearly stole one of the kiddos from the couch to join me, but couldn't make myself possibly wake them.







Before Talani got home, I had already begun cooking and preparing the food. Once a month mom (OAMM) suggests having a baby sitter to take the children away so Mom can work on cooking. Since I didn't get a sitter, I had to take frequent breaks to entertain Dianna and Jarod. Here, Jarod and I cuddle on the kitchen floor after he brought the blanket in with him to get some "Mommy Love".
Another OAMM rule I broke: the instructions for preparation are for 2 moms working together. Since I just made 4 recipes, I worked solo.




In the last post, Talani posted a picture of chicken in the crockpot. That was 5 pounds of chicken, all to be used in our Asian Chicken Salad. I shredded the chicken in the food processor, added chopped red and green bell pepper, pineapple, onion, garlic, and a sauce made from teriyaki sauce and peanut butter. I ended up having to use my largest container to hold all the chicken salad for mixing - a 9 x 11 deep dish cake carrier. Each of the gallon bags pictured here contain a quart bag of chicken salad as well as several pita halves. To serve this meal, all I will have to do is thaw the chicken salad in the fridge during the work day and nuke the pitas for a few seconds to soften them up. A little rice on the side will be all we need to make this a complete meal, since there are plenty of veggies in the salad.
I also made mocha-chip muffins for breakfasts. The recipe made enough to provide four weekday breakfasts.
Next came sundried-tomato-basil pinwheels: cream cheese, garlic, sundried tomatoes, and basil all blended together, spread onto flour tortillas, rolled up, and sliced into little pinwheels. That recipe also made 4 meals. We will need to add a salad or baked potatoes or something to fill out that meal.
Last, I prepared a crock-pot meal of cheesy chicken. Boneless, skinless chicken, cheddar cheese soup, red and green bell pepper, and a little bit of salsa each went into 4 gallon-sized ziploc bags. Now, to prepare these meals, I will empty the bag into the crockpot in the morning and let the crockpot do the work over the course of a day. A pot of pasta or rice will finish out this meal; maybe a little garlic bread on the side.
So, over all, we have 4 breakfasts and 12 dinners or lunches. I spent about $100 buying the groceries for this, although some of what I bought was more than I would need. For example, I needed 1 c. of sugar, but I bought 10 lb. I have enough instant coffee and chocolate chips to make another 4-breakfast-batch of mocha chip muffins. I'm figuring that the average cost per meal, after I make the other batch of muffins, is around $5.00, and that includes the cost of pasta, potatoes, or rice added to the side.
I'm praising the Lord for the opportunity to provide good quality, healthy, EASY meals for the family at an affordable price.
I suppose we'll have to blog again later this week and let everyone know if the food was actually any good! In the meantime, check out the website: onceamonthmom.com.