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Once A Month Cooking - Main Dish

© Michelle Marshall

Once A Month Cooking (or as I like to call it, OAMC) is a convenient way to prepare meals ahead of time so that when you are too busy to prepare the meals you have some already waiting for you.

OAMC is a convenient way to have healthy meals on hand for those nights when you just don't have the time to prepare a meal and clean up after cooking it! I personally don't need a month's worth of meals cooked up and frozen for use, but I wouldn't mind cooking up a couple week's worth of meals to have on hand.

I've begun collecting some OAMC recipes that sound good to me (and have included some of my own tried and true recipes) and I hope that they will become your starting point for OAMC. At the end of the article I have provided some helpful freezer friendly tips. Also, be sure to check out my selected books, as a few of them deal with freezer cooking and OAMC.

Be sure to check back as I will revisit this topic with new recipes, new tips and timesavers.

The following are recipes recommended for OAMC.

Chicken Pot Pie
YIELD: 2 potpies (6-8 servings each)

Ingredients
2 cups diced peeled potatoes
1 3/4 cups sliced carrots
2/3 cup chopped onion (I use dried minced onions to taste)
1 cup butter or margarine (I always use butter!)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried thyme
3/4 teaspoon pepper
3 cups chicken broth
1-1/2 cups milk
4 cups cubed cooked chicken
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup frozen corn
Pastry for two double-crust pies (9 inches)

Directions:
Place potatoes and carrots in large saucepan; cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 8-10 minutes or until crisp-tender. Drain and set aside. In a large skillet, saute onion in butter until tender. Stir in the flour, salt, thyme and pepper until blended. Gradually stir in broth and milk. Bring to a boil, cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Add the chicken, peas, corn, potatoes and carrots; remove from the heat.

Line two 9-inch plates with bottom pastry; trim even with edge of plate. Fill pastry shells with chicken mixture. Roll out remaining pastry to fit top of pies. Cut slits or decorative cutouts in pastry. Place over filling; trim, seal and flute edges.

If you want to eat one immediately: Bake one potpie at 425 degrees F for 35-40 minutes or until crust is lightly browned. Let stand for 15 minutes before cutting. Cover and freeze remaining potpie for up to 3 months.