What is OMAC? It’s Once a Month Cooking. If you’re short on time, hate being in the kitchen after 5:00 p.m. then Once A Month Cooking might just be the key to decompressing after a long day of work. Between house chores, husband and kids, who wants to worry about dinner?
OAMC can be done any time of the year, these can range from simple to fancy dishes and can be created in just one to two hours of prepping, baking and then freezing.
Here are a few recipes and guidelines. These main dishes will be like making “bank” in the freezer. Be sure to follow the instruction tips carefully because freezing something the wrong way costs you time, money and not so fun tastes in your mouth. Both of the recipes written below are great for cooking once a month.
- ** To make this dish veg friendly, use vegetable stock and remove chicken from the ingredient list.
- 1 T. cooking oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped fine or use 2 green onions, diced
- 4 large cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 4.5 oz can of diced green chilies (mild or hot)
- 1 T . cumin (powdered works best)
- 1/2 t. ground red pepper
- 2 t. of oregano
- 1/2 t. ground cloves
- 1 15.5 oz can great white northern beans (do not drain)
- 1. 15.5 oz sweet corn or frozen (here in Nebraska, we just shave it off the cobb)
- 1 15.5 oz can of black beans (this can be added or not added to it, we love our black beans)
- 2 cups of cooked chicken chopped or two cans of canned chicken
- 5 cups of chicken broth
- Serve with shredded Monterrey jack cheese, sour cream and tortilla chips. To make it more kid friendly, skip the chili and onion, substitute a mild can of Rotel! (Cheese is optional).
- Instructions
- In a large pan combine oil, onion, garlic, and chilies. Saute until tender. Stir in the spices, beans, corn, chicken and chicken broth. Cook and stir until heated through. Adjust seasonings to your family’s tastebuds, then allow it to cool before storing the soup in a freezer bag or freezer container.This recipe serves 6 to 8 hungry people! If you would like to create another batch, simply double or triple the amount of each ingredient and dish out into your freezer containers!
- This is an easy recipe to make vegan, veggie or meat lovin' friendly!
Freezer Chili
This recipe can be created in your crock pot, you’ll have a meal for the next day and several batches to put in your deep freeze.
- 2 pounds of ground beef or turkey (To make it vegan friendly, simply do not add).
- 1 medium onion
- 1 green pepper
- 1 red pepper
- 3 large garlic cloves
- 4 cups of kidney beans
- 4 cups of pinto beans
- 2 cans crushed tomatoes
- 3 bay leaves
- salt
- chili powder
- cilantro
Instructions:
If you are using dried kidney beans, you will need to soak them overnight for at least 8 hours, otherwise 4 cans of kidney beans will do just fine. Chop your veggies, toss in crock pot. Set on low, simmering for 8 hours. Serve with cheese and sour cream.
Once the dish has cooled, divide the dish into portions based on your family size. Store portions in freezer safe containers, label and date your dish. On serving day, simply remove from freezer, toss back into your crock pot and simmer until warm. Or grab the dish out of the freezer the night before, allow it to dethaw, place dethawed chili in a pot and simmer until hot.
Roasted Sweet Potato Wraps with Carmelized Onions and Pesto
This recipe is adapted from The Kitchn (not misspelled) and makes about 11 wraps.
Freezing wraps can be tricky unless you know how to freeze them. You’ll need foil, freezer bags and a freezer container. First you will wrap your sweet potato wrap in foil, making it as air tight as possible. Next place your individual wraps in a freezer bag. To ensure no air gets to your wrap, use a freezer safe container or double up on your freezer bag.
This freezer tip will work for any wrap, not just this recipe!
Recipe
- 3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
- 1/2 cup pesto or your favorite spaghetti sauce
- 3 large portobello mushrooms, cleaned and sliced 1/4 inch thick
- 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in half
- 1 medium onion, peeled and sliced into 1/4 inch slices
- Parmesan cheese
- 10-12 whole wheat burrito size wraps
- 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- Olive oil
Instructions:
Place veggies in a bowl, toss with a little olive oil. Once veggies are coated, place on a baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Check on veggies often, turning them over as needed. Keep in mind the potatoes may take longer to bake, if needed remove all the veggies except the potatoes and allow them to cook through.
While these are baking, place onions in a skillet of hot olive oil and cook the onions, stirring occasionally until soft and caramelized. Set aside.
Grab your wraps, add pesto sauce and Parmesan cheese to the wraps, spreading the sauce as a thin layer over the wrap. Next add handful of sweet potato cubes, several mushroom slices, and a tablespoon each of caramelized onions, tomatoes, and Parmesan cheese. You can add more of the mixture, but this will make less than 11 wraps.
Folding: to roll the wrap, close the sides first, then roll from the bottom, tuck the sides in as you go. Repeat this process until mixture is gone.
These can be refrigerated for up to 3 days and they can be frozen up to six months. I try to use mine up within three months.
To de-thaw wraps, simply place them in the fridge the night before you plan to eat them or place wraps in oven at 350 degrees in oven (all plastic removed) for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove foil then continue to bake until veggies are heated through.
NOTE: These steps can be used for any kind of wrap mixture. Be sure to check my list of freezer safe foods before freezing however.
