Cooking ONCE a MONTH!!!

I am SUPER busy right now and don't have time to upload New Years and birthday pictures... but I will sometime this week. :) But I just wanted to share something that has really, really made me SO happy... in case it will help someone else.

Let me start by confessing something: I DO NOT LIKE TO COOK. But, I also dislike TV dinners, frozen pizza, etc. ... So it was dilemma. BUT I found something that has REALLY helped us save money on groceries (as well as helping us eat healthier)... I've chosen 10 main courses and then prepared double amounts of those main courses (so 20 meals in all) in one day. I shop the day before... so it is a big trip. I also try to get all the things like laundry detergent, dish soap, toilet paper that we will need that month. Because I am spending so much at once (and because a big, huge shopping trip with four kids in tow is pretty miserable) I am focused on getting in and out and make it through without any extras.

Since we started doing this we've really been able to take advantage of "economies of scale;" we haven't had to buy things like frozen pizza, pot pies, etc.; we've pretty much stopped eating out... except for VERY special occasions; and most importantly we have saved $100-200 a month on food.

I learned a system from a book I purchased from my booth neighbor at a craft fair. Their website is http://www.30mealsinoneday.com/ or http://www.dinnerisready.com/. They have recipes which I used the first time. (Now I that I know how to be efficient I use some of theirs and some of my own.) They also have software, which I wish I would have purchased, but couldn't afford at the time. They have books about lunches (which are for 1-2 people) as well.

I enlist Katie as my helper and that makes it go quicker (I think). The first time, I cooked 20+ meals in one day Katie said, "Wow Mom!! You are on fire!" I only do 20 instead of 30 because I pretty much have to quit at 2 pm when Ashton gets home from preschool.

I highly recommend their systems!!!