March 2010 OAMM Menu, Podcast, Grocery List, Instructions and Labels
This is the winning Once A Month Mom & DOLE Frozen Fruit Contest menu! A big THANK YOU to DOLE Frozen Fruit for sponsoring this month-long contest! And congratulations Julie! She submitted this menu, it made it past the judges, and you have been weighing in your opinions throughout February. Julie worked hard on this menu and you, the readers, voted to make it your choice menu for March 2010.
Here is a reminder of the Finalists and their winnings:
Grand Prize (Julie):
- $250 cash
- Once A Month Mom Apron
- 5 Coupons for Free DOLE Frozen Fruit products.
- A pair of Crocs
1st & 2nd Runner Up (Kisti & Michelle):
- 5 Coupons for Free DOLE Frozen Fruit products.
- Once A Month Mom Apron
- Pair of Crocs.
You can listen to the podcast for my explanations of the recipes that Julie chose, as well as some of her suggestions and recommendations. You can also hear why it is the judges liked this menu.
(If you were hoping for one of the other two menus, they will be posted a some point in the future, most likely in the form of a future Once A Month Mom menu. For now, it is time to enjoy Julie’s creation!)
I hope you enjoy these meals as much as our early readers/cooks have. If you are new and not sure how to get started, read here. For frequently asked questions visit here. And there are several other helpful links under the Helpful Hints/Resources section to help you on your cooking journey. Good luck!
Podcast
- Due to illness there is a delay in the podcast. It will be up as soon as we can recover. :) This audio podcast will describe to you the items on sale for the month, the philosophy behind the meal choices and helpful hints for preparing for this months cooking day.
- Listen in the orange player at the top of this post…
Menu
- Included below are the menu items that we will be preparing as part of our Once A Month Cooking (OAMC) 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 OAMC BIG DAY you will need to visit the Printable March 2010 Menu.
Breakfasts
Lunches
Dinners
**Indicates meals that require NO COOKING on your OAMC BIG DAY!
Grocery List
- Included in this spreadsheet you will find a listing of all the items you will need to complete your March OAMC BIG DAY. For more instructions on how to use this, go here.
- Printable March 2010 OAMM Grocery List
Instructions
- These are the step-by-step instructions you will need to quickly and efficiently approach your OAMC BIG DAY!
- March 2010 OAMM Instructions
Labels
These customized labels are designed specifically for the March 2010 Once A Month Mom Menu. They contain not only the name of the dish but also the serving instructions for preparing the dish on your serving day. They make preparation of the dishes hassle free.
These labels are designed to be printed on Avery 8163
Helpful Hints/Resources
- How To Navigate the OAMM Menu
- Preparing For A Successful OAMC Day
- Adapting The Menu for YOUR Family
- Making the Menu Healthier
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
- Shopping For Your Cooking Day
- Final Shopping Trip For Your OAMC Day
- Choosing The Right Containers
Blogiversary Contests – Final Days
- Once A Month Mom Cook-Off (partnering with Amy’s Finer Things) – You have until March 8th to enter this contest. The linky for this contest will go up on Thursday, March 4th.
What do you think of March 2010’s menu?
And don’t forget you can always go back to March 2009′s menu if you are looking for something different!
Congratulations Julie!!! I can’t wait to try some of these recipes out, and thanks for including my mom’s enchiladas.
Jessie
Mom’s Enchiladas was on of the first recipes that we tried – it is my family’s favorite!!
But I was really hoping to see that strawberry bread recipe by another menu maker. Will we ever get that?
Congrats Julie!! I made her fruit and grain bars this weekend and my kids ATE THEM like crazy!!
Congrats on your win, Julie! Your menu sounds delicious! Can’t wait to try some of your recipes.
I am a little confused about the chicken spinach pita. Do you mix the spinach in before you freeze, or mix it in on serving day after everything has thawed?
Also – I’m hesitant about the enchiladas. It seems like every time I serve a tortilla based meal that has been frozen, the tortillas are so soggy and mushy, and they just have an overall gummy texture. Is this normal? Can it be avoided?
You need to look at the printable March 2010 menu for the adaptations for the pitas. You actually won’t be adding the spinach until the serving day. As for the enchiladas. This recipe has been on our menu twice. Once as part of a menu and once as an All-Star, meaning readers voted it one of the best! So I would say, give tortillas in the freezer one more try. I don’t think you will be disappointed!
Tricia–the first link in the ‘menu’ paragraph goes to the Feb google menu. The other links work ok though. :)
Thanks so much! I missed that. I got it fixed though thanks to you! :)
Great site. Thanks! This is my second month doing OAM cooking. I have a suggestion: Could you post some info on food safety? For instance in your instructions you state “can’t be frozen becaue we wont be cooking again…” I don’t understand this but I assume it for bacteria??? Also, I always rinse chicken and pork when I take it out of the package before cooking it. But my neighbor doesn’t. Who is right? Also, if you keep lifting the lid off slow cooker while cooking ground beef it wont get up to the correct temp for killing microbes… etc. Just a suggestion. Would be a good resource to have on the site. Thanks again we are really enjoying your strategy and meal recommendations!
Great idea. I will start thinking up some posts. Sounds like it would make a great series! :)
Congrats Julie! I am looking forward to using your recipies!
This will be my first month OAMC and Ill be honest, Im not impressed with this menu! :(
Except for maybe the mini meatloaves and enchiladas…..
There are plenty of other menus on the site if you are looking for something different. You can check out last March’s for comparable sale items. Last February or April would likely work for you too!
Julie,
Congrats on your win, I was working on doing a menu for the contest and had a few recipes similar to yours but I didn’t finish the entry but yours still turned out much better than mine would have. I like the fact that overall, they are pretty easy to make as it is a lot to do on one cooking day! I can’t wait to try the tortillini soup.
Just wanted to say thank you! This was my first attempt at OAMC, and even
though I was somewhat disorganized, I made half the recipes in
about 9 hours over the course of 2 days! You have saved me for my
upcoming surgery. At least I know, my family will be well fed while I
recuperated!
So glad you enjoyed it!
One note about chicken pot pie recipe: Must use a LARGE/HUGE stock pot. Not a pan as stated in instructions. It needs to “steam” under a closed lid with frequent stirring to cook veggies. Otherwise you will be cooking this for hours. Learn from my mistake!
Also, the directions are a bit confusing. Under containers needed it said 16 mini loaf pans and in the actual directions it looks like you use 4 regular loaf pans. I used the mini loaf pans and had to do single crusts (not enough pie crust) and had a TON of leftover filling. Still worked out okay though.
This is my second month cooking from OAMM. I did it by myself in Feb. (January’s Menu)with help of my 8 year old daughter. We have a family of six so I did the whole thing by myself for our own fam. and to give away some meals for sick/new moms. It worked great. I used used 3 9×13 pans instead of 4 8×8 and worked out good and sometimes had leftovers. Last time it took me 3 days to get it all done. Hope I learned some and this time I plan to prep one day and assemble the next. I have been telling many people about this site. It is a huge help. Thank you!!! I was tired when I finished last time – but so excited to have all that food ready to go! I am looking forward to getting started today on this months menue!!
Didn’t have any luck finding frozen bread dough. Where do you get it?
That’s weird. I have gotten it at Meijer and at Kroger in the past. It is usually near the other breads, like garlic, but down on the bottom shelf. Not really at eye level. Good luck!
[...] March Menu at Once A Month Mom – I’m already planning for my next big cooking day. I had a blast last Saturday cooking up a storm and am loving having a full freezer! [...]
I don’t understand how many meals I will be getting. For example the chicken nuggets meal says it will serve 16 and will be quadrupled. When I cook it am I supposed to be multiplying that recipe by 4? Is that how the grocery list is figured? Does quadrupled mean that me and my partner will each get 4 of that meal or how many are we getting? I am really confused about the quantities.
Please see the “Navigating the OAMM monthly menu” post at the bottom of the post under “Resources”. If it still doesn’t answer your questions please email me and I will clarify. ;)
I’m confused. The directions for chopping vegetables says 7lb of diced onions plus 8 sliced onions. Though the grocery list only says 6lb of onions, which is wrong?
I’m not exactly sure, when all else fails go by the cup measurements. When you have enough cups you will have the right amount. I can look into making the change but not for a day or two as I am out of town. Sorry. :(
Vanderbilt’s Wife’s Mom’s Enchiladas are to die for!! I forget how I came about them last fall–probably a link through a link but I saw this and was immediately interested because I love enchiladas but do not like the red sauce on top. These were marvelous!!! A definite must try! YUMMO
Okay, so I start a coaching job next week during dinner time. Monday I decide to look online and cook ahead. I found this site. Went shopping at 10:00 and begin cooking by 12:00. Was done with 10 meals by 10:00 that night, exhausted but felt great! We ate the Italian Sausage Soup that night and Mom’s Enchiladas the next. Wow!! Great food and I just had my 13 year old pull dinner out of the freezer last night. (Pizza Rolls) Thank you so much for this great resource. I started with this month though ‘cuz I couldn’t open April’s menu. Already planning and shopping for next Month. A little prep should definately go a long way!
I’m glad you are loving it and that it is helping you and your family out. I’m excited about May’s menu.
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