April Menu, Instructions, Grocery List, Labels & PODCAST!
I hope that you had a good March cooking experience and are looking forward to April! If you are new to the site this month, WELCOME. We are glad that you have decided to join us. Here is what you will need to participate in the Arpril OAM Cooking BIG DAY! Not sure how to get started, read here.
Spring is here and we are gearing up for great weather (I hope)! Our menu should reflect that as well. We have taken a look at the specials, sales, and in-season produce to try to bring you a diverse and fresh new menu! I hope you like what you see!
We also have a couple new resources that we have added! Last month we debuted the new printable labels, those are included in the new April menu as well. We have also added a PODCAST to our monthly menu post. This is a short (approximately 11 minutes) tutorial on the menu items we have chosen, their origin, why they were chosen and some helpful hints on navigating through the grocery list and recipes. We hope that you enjoy the podcast feature and hope to bring you more exciting information via future podcasts!
April Podcast – NEW!!
- Listen in the orange player at the top of this post…
April Menu
- Included below are the menu items that we will be preparing as part of our OAM Cooking BIG DAY. In the printable menu the menu items are listed as single, double, or quadruple depending on how much we need to make on the BIG DAY. The recipes linked below are ONLY for the single batch, to see the amounts we are making on the OAM BIG DAY you will need to visit the April Printable Menu.
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Breakfast
-
Lunches
-
Dinners
- Hammy Cheese
- Ham & Hashbrown Bake**
- Pizza-Stuffed Meatloaf
- Burritos
- No Fuss Chicken Cordon Bleu**
- Maple Honey Mustard Pork Chops**
- Beef Fajitas** (Don’t Panic Recipe)
- Orange-Apricot Pork Chops**
**Indicates meals that require NO COOKING on your OAM Cooking BIG DAY!
Grocery List
- Included in this spreadsheet you will find a listing of all the items you will need to complete your April OAM Cooking BIG DAY. For more instructions on how to use this, go here.
- Printable Grocery List
Instructions
- These are the step-by-step instructions you will need to quickly and efficiently approach your OAM Cooking BIG DAY!
- Printable Instructions
Labels – NEW!
Designed to be printed on Avery 8163 or equivalent! Readers who didn’t have labels available suggested just printing them on paper and taping them. Cheap and economical; I like it!
- April_Labels_1 – Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Coffee Cake, Egg Muffins
- April_Labels_2 – Frozen Fruit Cups, Ham & Potato Pockets
- April_Labels_3 – Zesty Slow Cooker Chicken Barbecue, Cheddar Butter Burgers
- April_Labels_4 – Chicken Pesto Spinach Salad, Hammy Cheese
- April_Labels_5 – Ham & Hashbrown Bake, Pizza-Stuffed Meatloaf
- April_Labels_6 – Burritos, No Fuss Chicken Cordon Bleu
- April_Labels_7 – Maple Honey Mustard Pork Chops, Beef Fajitas
- April_Labels_8 – Orange-Apricot Pork Chops, Blanks
Helpful Hints
- Tips from Once A Month Mom’s Tricia and Cortney AFTER their OAMC day.
- Tips and Stories from other readers.
What do you think of April’s menu?
And don’t forget to check out the right sidebar weekly to vote on past month’s menus!
Looks awesome, girls!!!
I liked the addition of the podcast, even if it did remind me of that old Saturday Night Live NPR sketch! If Alec Baldwin shows up on the podcast, I’m going to lose it!
Great menu!
I’ll contact his “people” and see what i can do! :)
I have been making the Ham and Hashbrown bake for probably 25 years! It’s a good recipe. It can be hard to mix when you make it in a large batch, so I mix it up in a clean, new dishpan and use rubber gloves to mix it all together by hand. It works well.
yea – you guys put so much time into this. It’s awesome!
Wonderful as always!
nom nom…I think I may actually try those ham and potato pockets too…Woah..I know – scary stuff I’m getting into!
You can do it! I know you can!
Do you have any info on substitutes for Equal in the fruit cup recipe? We don’t do artificial sweeteners; stevia or agave nectar would be best, but if you know of any subs we could figure it out.
If you go to the April menu and click on the fruit cups you will see that I substituted sugar, we aren’t doing sweetener either. Hope that helps!
Mmmmm…yummy stuff this week! And there is a GREAT sale on pork, chicken AND ground beef at the stores this week, so I think I’m going to take a stab at a little OAMC this month!
Yay!
I bought a TON of chicken but didn’t want to put together the Cordon Bleu casseroles just yet – I actually ended up cutting up the tenders, and flash freezing them on cookie sheets! I now have 2 big bags of frozen tenders that will be super easy to pull out when assembly day comes :) I read about flash freezing on another part of your site – never would have thought to do that before!
would need some fish and vegetable or bean dishes to be usable by me.
more heart healthy and lower fat. we eat meat once a week and poultry
once a week…….i try for 2 fish meals
There are definitely ways to adjust these menus to be heart healthy and low in fat. We do with our grocery shopping! Lots of time fish can be substituted as well in place of the listed meat.
You sound so professional on the podcast! And me likey ham. Yummmay.
I was thinking I need to sound a little more like Tricia and a little less a newscaster. . .:)
I am new to this site, so forgive me if this is a dumb question? The March menu is consumed in April, the April Menu you consume in May? or do you shop in the first week and do your cooking day in the next week? Maybe it doesn’t matter but I am a little OCD! I am just trying to figure it all out so that I can start as soon as possible.
I get that question a lot and thought I had written about it somewhere, now that I am looking I can’t find it. Guess I need to write a post about that! We post the menu on the 1st of the month (April) and then shop for it throughout the month. We cook at the end of April and then eat the food in May. So we are currently eating March’s menu items. You are more than welcome to shop in one week and cook that week. Whatever works for you. However, we do highlight sales from week to week and find that we save money by shopping throughout the month.
That works perfect and makes sense now, I found the part about the sales and stuff and knew you posted tips and things throughout the month but couldn’t find anything about my above question, so I was a little confused but I got it now and am anxious to get started.
You guys are awesome for doing this. So much work! I thank you though. I am cooking for my family and a friend who just had a baby so hopefully I can pull it off by myself!
Godspeed to you for doing it all yourself! Maybe you could ask around and find someone else interested in doing it and helping out the friend with a baby!
Love the labels! Great idea!
This is so wonderful, I can’t wait to try it out. A suggestion for those of us who really don’t know how to cook or are young and just starting out with stocking a kitchen; it might be useful to have a list of all kitchen appliances, utensils, etc that would be needed so I can make sure I have (or borrow) everything needed. Also, your step by step tutorials are AMAZING!!! Thank you for doing that!!!
THANKS! And I have been “thinking” that post up for some time now. I will get on writing it!
I’m new to this adventure but I think I’ll give it a go. I will have to modify some of the recipes for allergies but other than that I’m all in! :) Thanks
Jessie
We will love to see how you modify for the special diet! Make sure you keep us up to date!
I’m not a huge fan of ham. Is there a meat that could be substituted?
do you think your pork recipes would work well with chicken breast? my family does not eat pork, but the recipes sound so yummy@!
There is actually a chicken equivalent on the grocery list for those that want to substitute chicken for pork! :)
Are you freezing the CCCC coffee cake or just storing it? It sounds yummy! I am determined to do this one month!
Freezing it. . .the directions are in the printable April menu. Just thaw and microwave or bake to warm.
How much green onion is needed for the egg muffins. I can’t seem to find it on the recipe. Also, what would be the typical expiration date of keeping these meals in a refrigerator freezer? Thank you for all of your hard work. I love the site and I can’t wait to try the recipes!!
good catch, I missed putting it on there, it was a last minute change. The expiration date varies for different items. Here is a good resource.
6 green onions
Oops! One more thing. What is Spike seasoning? Never heard of that…sorry just learning cooking terms.
No problem. If you go to the link for the egg muffins she has a link that tells you about Spike Seasoning. It is new to me too!
Has anyone been able to find Spike Seasoning in store rather than having to order online? Not sure I want to buy it in a six pack you know?
I found the Spike seasoning today at Publix.
I’m in agreement to some of the others..we don’t eat much cheese, ham or push the meat around here…and eat whole grain..last month I used whole wheat pastry flour for regular in the pancakes/and the muffins were already whole grain..
this month you’ll have me thinking..fat free/low fat versions of the cream cheese/sour cream/cheeses (we don’t eat much cheese as the fat free doesn’t melt well and even the low fat has a lot of fat..so will lessen the amounts in the recipes)…
for the burger I buy Laura’s lean 4% fat ground beef..spendy..but soooo good and minimal fat…also, you can substitute half TVP (textured vegetable protein) at least for the burritos..the meatloaf probably wouldn’t hold together as well…turkey pepperoni..slightly less fat…
a few less chocolate chips..although, I do add the nuts in things as that is a healthy fat…
for the fruit cups..I’m planning on just buying costco’s big bag of mixed frozen fruit as it’s already similar variety..maybe add some frozen blueberries to it..and cut the pieces up a bit smaller..that way I can get an instant variety and probably better condition than the fruit I’m seeing right now at my kroger/costco/walmart…can you say lazy???
I’m going to add a couple of vegetarian/or at least high veggie content to my personal menu that day so I can rotate with things not based on meat/cheese..last night had the minestrone soup/last month (and a salad my husband made)yummy!
and for the egg muffins..I’m picking up the egg beater/costco brand in bulk…lessen the fat right off the bat!..save the colored eggs for easter..eat as deviled..middle aged..need all the fat lessening as I can get
and thanks for your hard work! I’ve done this similar menu planning on my own for years..and it’s fun to get someone else’s opinion on the process…
although, I usually plan around what I already have vs. making a shop list..so I’m trying to incorporate my freezer stockpile..I’m a MAJOR coupon queen and have a back log of a lot of supplies!
oh yeah!, in my shop list I’m adding a couple more 8 or 9″ square pyrex pans as the thaw process and just general carrying to the freezer worked so much nicer with real vs foil pans…get a rotation then I don’t have to buy disposable every month..and keep a few(foil ones) for having to give to shut ins/get well casseroles/etc..
So I hit some really good meat sales this week, but i hadn’t planned on cooking just yet – if you buy your meat ahead of time do you freeze until cooking day and thaw it out, or wait to buy?
Depends on the meat and what we are doing with it. Here is a good rule of thumb – if we are cooking it on the cooking day of you can freeze it. If we are NOT cooking it, make sure you divide it into the portion sizes you are going to want so that you can add it frozen to any marinade/dish. You do not want to freeze, thaw, and then refreeze without cooking. In the case of ham, it is already cooked before we have to freeze it. And in most cases the “use by” date will be after your scheduled cooking day (if you are doing by the end of the month) because of the process of preserving ham.
That’s what I thought too, but I wanted to make sure….I have pork and chicken on the cooking plan and I want to make sure it comes out right! Thanks!!
For labels and any .docs, if you don’t have the MS Office Suite, have you considered Open Office? You can save documents in a .doc format and upload and share here just as you do .pdfs.
Thanks for the menu! I am trying this for the first time this month with a friend… will be an adventure!
Why can’t there be a vegetarian version of this site??? That would be a dream come true for my family.
ditto on the vegetarian..or at least a more predominant focus on veggies and grains..things that are more healthy..we eat meat usually..no more than half the time..and things like ham about 2-3 times a year..mostly because of the nitrites/nitrates/salts/preservatives/etc..
clean eating magazine has an article on freezer cooking recipes this month..I’ll toss in a couple of those with some of these..
I don’t know how well it freezes, but I know that my sister in law (a strict vegetarian) just subs tofu, veggie burgers/patties, etc for regular meats in recipes and her cooking is YUMMY. I’m sure most of the recipes could be adjusted….
I cannot seem to print the grocery list and other documents…does this have to do with the google reader? Any hints on how I can print these off so that I can get started? Thanks for the help and all of your hard work. Can’t wait to try this!
I’m not sure why you are having problems as the document is open to everyone. Every once and awhile there are issues over at Google so you may want to try again. You also may want to try using a different browser. If you are still having issues after trying this again, email us and we will get you the information.
Wow!! I just made the egg muffins. They are delicious!! I made them in regular muffin pans first. I am now trying them in the silicone. I’ll let you know how they turn out.
Great! Glad to hear you are enjoying them. Let us know how which you like better.
Silicone is definitely the way to go. This is the first time I’ve used the silicone. The muffins just slid right out.
I’ll have to add silicone pans to my list next month..this month I focused on more 8″ glass/pyrex pans as the foil/metal ones just don’t thaw out overnight..and even after two nights I’ve had them pretty frozen and take forever to heat up..not fun when I’m waking at 2:30 a.m. and can’t stay up later for dinner to heat up…
this month I bought some pans that are supposed to be completely stick proof and need no greasing..have to wash by hand/purchased at Target..we’ll see if they really are nonstick..that would be great for reheated casseroles.
I was wondering what the proper amount of pork is to buy. it says 48oz in the grocery list, but says to buy an additional 12 lbs chicken if substituting for pork. Since the amounts aren’t equivalent, I’m wondering if I am missing something.
Thanks for the work you’re doing, I love this website!
Hmm. It is NOT 48 oz of pork chops, it is 48 each pork chops. I have fixed that in the grocery list. I estimated that it would be approximately 12 lbs of chicken to equal 48 pork chops. The pork chops are listed as each so that people have the option of choosing thickness, cut and quality of pork chops. Thanks for pointing this out!
Thanks Tricia!
I just tried the Hammy cheese. The whole family loved it. We ate it fresh using leftover ham from easter dinner and I put another one in the freezer for later. When I was making it it seemed a little dry so I added some milk. It was still a little dry and I think the recipie would be better if even more milk was added. I’m guessing 1-2 cups of milk should do it. Let me know what you think when you make it.
Good to note. I will keep my eye out when we make it. This coming weekend! YIKES!
Tricia, I bow down to you – you are by far the queen of organization! I am actually considering doing OAMC now…. :) Maybe I’ll get started next month??
Now that would be a feat for me! I think you will like it, really!
I’ve tried other sites that have monthly menus and my success so far has been spotty. My biggest complaint about the previous sites I tried were that they were too meat oriented. As others have mentioned, we like only like to eat a chicken/pork/beef dish 2 or 3 times a week.
I like the fact that your menu has breakfast and lunch too, although with all the kids in daycare, I don’t think I’ll make many of the lunches since PB&J is our standard!
Well I guess I start my shopping now, but I don’t think I’ll accumulate all my stuff to do the April menu in April (or probably only at the end of the month). Is that how other people do it or do you post the grocery list ahead of time so we can start stockpiling?
Keep up the good work!
-Lil
I post the grocery list at the beginning of the month so that you can cook at the end of the month. You can also shop in a few days and get pretty much all you need too. Whatever works for you.
I’m interested in trying this on my own – it looks fun :) I know your menu is for (2) families of 4. Do the recipes make enough for leftovers or just one meal? I’m wondering b/c it’s just 2 of us, and I’m thinking about just cutting the recipes in half and having leftovers. But I don’t want so many leftovers that we get overrun :)
There is a post on adjusting the menu for your family, that should help you with this dilemma. You might also be surprised who would be willing to join you if you were interested in finding a partner.
You are famous! I just listened to the podcast…so helpful!!!
I have a question regarding the grocery list. Is this everything for both of you or do you each get everything on the grocery list?
Yes, it is everything for both of you to get. One person can shop or you can divide and conquer however you would like.
Pizza Stuffed Meatloaf looks good to me!
Just wondering if nutritional information can be found for the menu items?
No, that is one thing we don’t provide. Sorry. I have a post coming out on Friday talking about how we personally make ours healthier. Hope it helps.
I love this! You gals are doing great work here.
I’m especially excited to see a ham-based menu as I have half an Easter ham ready to use.
What a great service! I used to provide weekly menus and grocery lists for families, but found it nearly sucked my life away – and left me with no time left for my kids and business. Your approach to bundling efforts into one big day is a very efficient use of time – perfect for busy families. Glad to have found your blog!
Quick question – the chicken in the crock pot recipe – if you have frozen chicken do you put it in the crock pot frozen or thaw it first. Sorry new to the whole crock pot thing!
No problem. I think that I indicated cooking times based on frozen or unfrozen. I always use frozen chicken breasts when making the BBQ and it takes about the same time anyway.
No problem. I think that I indicated cooking times based on frozen or unfrozen. I always use frozen chicken breasts when making the BBQ and it takes about the same time anyway.
Love your site. Do I have to cook all of the meals ahead of time? For instance, the BBQ chicken recipe, can I just combine all the ingredients and freeze and when ready cook in the crockpot the day I eat it?
I did the BBQ chicken tonight and it is SOOOO good! I cooked it on high for about 4 hours and then shredded it in the food processor and dumped it back in the sauce on low for awhile. I also added a little minced garlic and onion to the sauce just for our personal taste. This is a real winner. I served it with some homemade coleslaw and one of the fruit cups for dessert.
My DH is VERY pleased with this month’s menu!
Started doing some of the cooking for this month and just thought I would say that if I was doing it again, I would use the deep dish pans for the chicken cordon bleu because man are my dishes slam packed full! Just thought I would pass it along!
Thanks! Glad you are joining us. And we ran into the same thing with the Cordon Bleu yesterday. I plan to do a little updating to the menu today.
We (and I can say we as this month I demanded help..last month it took tooooooo long for one cranky tired person at the end of the day) did our cooking yesterday..recipes are winners..as the cooked ones we taste tested as we went along (benefits of helping)…left one of the pasta salads in the frig for the lunch break (and sent extra in kid’s lunches today). At the end of the day I put one of the barbecued chicken in the frig for dinner and popped one in the freezer…and made the full 4 coffee cakes and sent two out to neighbor ladies (who’ve been watching out from my husband/he’s laid off and taking over house husband duties as I’ve gone back to work). They were way good..although, I had bought plain applesauce to use in place of half the butter..and then totally spaced it and put in the full butter…and used low fat sour cream..
now, my egg muffins were ginormous and gorgeous when I pulled out of the oven..then they deflated and looked a bit more pathetic..wish I could of kept them standing at attention…and I rued my spillovers on the metal muffin tin..immmensely…and rued the fact I decided against the silicone muffin purchase for this month..I’m still scrubbing this morning..stuck on egg/stuck on muffin paper…I’ll break down and buy silicone next time. Side note..the completely non stick glass 8″ square pans from Target I bought are fantastic..even my husband was raving about them. they advertise that you never need to use any oil/spray or anything..and stuff just cleans up…and truly..even burnt on food just comes right out…only negative is you forever have to hand wash and never use metal/sharp cutting tools in it..but wow..they save spray and scrubbing…
so thanks so much for this month’s menus..I’m looking forward to 97% lazy days of cooking in the month..and 3% working like a dog!
for the cordon bleu..I ran out of 8/9″ pans as we had extra stuff for the enchiladas so doubled up on the quantity..and then ran short of the couple of foil pans from last month..and the “real” glass/metal pans that I own…so used a 7X 11″ pan…and a 9″ round cake pan..and those worked out fine for the casserole..although, they have a rounded top with the foil and don’t stack perfectly..but set the rectangle on top of the loaf/meatloaf pans in the freezer…
and I made a list of what was left from last month/what I stuffed in there this month..and misc things that can be used up easily so my husband and kids stand a chance of knowing what’s for dinner…I’m on a weird work schedule so they have been the chefs in training..wrote the list so they can cross off quantity as they use so then perhaps at the end of the month we can adjust next month’s menu for whatever is leftover…
Had BBq chicken and cooking pal had the meatloaf. Both were huge hits! This was one of the best BBQ chicken recipes I have ever had.
Over all most dishes made more than the list said except for pork. I think the ounces were off on that so I Highly recommend doing a count not going by ounces.
Yes, it is suppose to be 48 each pork chops NOT 48 oz. That is fixed. Although I will say that for a family of four 32 pork chops would be plenty.
The BBQ chicken was a huge success along with the ham/hashbrown dish. Both are hits and as my husband says “Keepers”. I have already cooked this months meals because my daughter is having a baby any minute. Lots of drs. appts etc. This has been working great.
I do have a question regarding the pesto salad. I kept one out to eat (which is another keeper) and froze the rest. I’m nervous because of the mayo. I hope it won’t be a problem.
yea, I took a little gamble with this one. I think it should be okay though. We will see. . .I like to live on the edge every now and again. It isn’t a question of “safety” as much as texture/consistency.
I was a bit concerned about the mayo/yogurt combo too..as it normally separated and kinda curdles when frozen..which is why it isn’t recommended..I was hoping the oil content of the pesto would help bind it…my concern on this one was those poor grape tomatoes…raw tomatos don’t look so pretty after freezing..nor do they hold any consistency…so we ate half right out of the frig so the cost of the cashews/pesto wouldn’t be down the drain…we’ll see but I’m not holding out too much hope..I think I should of traded red pepper or something else in lieu of the tomatos..a veggie that holds up better to freezing…
You are suppose to be on vacation crazy woman.
LOL
We leave tomorrow!!!! (Friday) :) Lots to do before then!
What is spike seasoning? Does it come labled as that?
If you follow the egg muffin link she has a post about Spike seasoning. I just used Mrs. Dash and some spices or something that I thought would be equivalent.
I didn’t use the Spike either. I used a little seasoned salt and called it good enough. Worked for us.
I love you!
i just found this site and I am Excited to get going. fyi- for printing google docs you can export the file as .xls and open it in your own excel or as a pdf and open it as an acrobat file
and i forgot for the instructions if you download something like cutePDF (it’s free) you can “print” to a pdf then print that
I love your ideas and organization! You make it sound so easy! Thanks!
Can I make the Beef Fajitas without the Tequila? Or will it matter since it is a marinade and will be cooked. Pregnancy question…. ?????
The tequila should cook out and not be a pregnancy issue, but I can understand if you want to err on the safe side. I would say just use another freezer fajita recipe. I think there are some good ones on recipezaar if I remember correctly.
All the alcohol does NOT cook out of dishes. Here’s a link that will help people figure out how much alcohol is retained with different prep amounts. http://www.whatscookingamerica.net/Q-A/AlcoholCooking.htm
I just discovered your site and am really impressed. I can’t wait to try out your ideas. I noticed what you said about emailing us the recipes etc. to make them easier to print but what I did was go to the Google Docs and hit file, export, and then PDF…it turns them into a PDF file which I find much easier for saving and printing. Hope that helps.
Tried the Ham and Hashbrown Bake and it is wonderful!!! I can’t wait to try some of the other recipes. Thanks so much for a great web site.
[...] This uses the sauce in this recipe from All Recipes that I originally found here at Once a Month Mom. [...]
I just made the Maple Honey Mustard Porkchops. They were absolutely delicious!!! I wanted to make you aware, though, that the printable menu for that recipe is incorrect. The honey is missing completely, and the measurements of .25 cups for syrup, honey and mustard should be .5 cups (2T x 4 = .5 cups, 4T = .25 cups). I don’t know how everyone rated the porkchops on your April poll, but if they didn’t rate very high, that might have been why. With these corrections, my 2 year old ate every bit of his portion (he doesn’t usually eat meat very well), and my husbnad raved (he’s not a big honey mustard fan). They were easy and really yummy!! Can’t beat that combo!!
Thanks for all the effort you put into these menus. I really appreciate having them available to cook from and for ideas. If I had a blog, your site would be mentioned an awful lot! :-)
Band together.
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[...] example, on April’s menu is a No Fuss Chicken Cordon Bleu, simply make it in 2 loaf pans instead of an 8×8 pan. This [...]