WHOLE FOODS March 2012 Menu
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I know it may not feel like it yet, but spring is coming! I was excited to be assigned the month of March for my first full menu post because I love cooking with spring produce. Start thinking green thoughts because this month you’ll see lots of asparagus, artichoke, greens, peas, and don’t forget corned beef and cabbage for St. Pat’s. If you’re looking for some substitutions, some other seasonal vegetables include broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, celery, and spinach. I encourage you to find a local farmer’s market and see what you can find.
While in many ways we tend to lighten up for spring, I know that many are still experiencing cooler weather. You have a few options to grill if weather permits, but you also have several hearty soups and stews to warm you up when needed. One is Chicken Tikka Masala, a popular Indian dish, served with Garlic Indian Naan. If you have never tried it before, take a leap! We had friends share this meal with us after our 2nd son was born this past spring. Even my toddler loved it, and it didn’t bother my nursing babe a bit.
Last, you may notice that this month is a little heavy on the baked goods (see the Add Ons below.) Don’t freak out just yet. We do expect that you have been drawn to our Whole Foods menu because of your desire to cook from scratch. But we also just finished up our discussion on grains as part of our Get Real series. We hope that you’re itching to use all of that new knowledge in your kitchen, and wanted to give you an opportunity.
Mini Deep Dish Pizzas
That said, if you are newer to Whole Foods, or you simply don’t have as much time to spend in the kitchen this month, you are welcome to substitute high quality store or bakery bought items as desired. If you do decide to bake it all from scratch, you can take comfort in the fact that you don’t have to do everything all at once. Some of your dough will be started the night before and will rise overnight, and some of it doesn’t have to rise at all. If nothing else, make your pizza dough from scratch. It is easy and you’ll get the most “bang” for the few extra minutes you spend.
First of all, this isn’t for the grocery store Whole Foods, it is a menu for those that want to spend more time making their meals from scratch. For a detailed explanation of what is involved in creating this menu we have a post welcoming you to this menu. If you are new and not sure how to get started we have a wonderful series starting with 5 easy steps to get you on your way to once a month cooking. Good luck!
Is your family making the transition to whole foods in 2012? Or maybe you have set a New Year’s Resolution to eat healthier in 2012? Or perhaps you find yourself curious about the whole foods/real food lifestyle? Whatever the case may be, you should consider joining us for our year-long journey to help families transition to real food if they so desire through Get Real 2012!
Breakfasts
Green Smoothie Bags
Lunches
- Italian White Bean Soup
- Mini Deep Dish Pizzas with Chicken and Artichoke
- Black Bean Chicken Taquitos
Dinners
- Crockpot Corned Beef and Cabbage **
- Spring Minestrone Soup
- Chicken Stir Fry with Sugar Snap Peas **
- Chipotle Grill Roasted Rack of Pork **
- Chicken Tikka Masala (popular Indian dish)
- Fifteen Bean Soup with Pork
Add Ons
**Indicates meals that require NO COOKING on your OAMC BIG DAY aka “throw and go” meals, perfect for the family who needs to adjust to just do the quick meals!
Recipe Cards
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Grocery List
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Instructions
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Labels
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Pinterest:
Are you a person that likes to see the menus visually? Perhaps you should check out the March 2012 Whole Foods Menu via Pinterest to see the yummy goodness you will be cooking up on this menu. Not sure what Pinterest is all about, check out what Once A Month Mom has to say about it.
Facebook Fan Party:
OAMM Facebook Fan Page Party – March 11th 2012, 9:00 pm – 9:30 pm EST – We will be able to chat via video AND messaging during the event through FACEBOOK! How cool is that? We will be talking about the current month’s menus, answer your burning questions about freezer cooking and have fun getting to know one another. You can also see other past recordings from that tab as well. This is a great way to meet fellow Once A Month Mom’s or get your questions answered as you get started.
Instructions for viewing live-stream:
- Go to the Once A Month Mom Facebook Fan Page.
- Click on the “FB Fan Night” Tab on the left side margin.
- Hit “view live recording” – If I am live streaming it will show you what is happening in progress. If I am not live streaming at the time, you will have the option to click through other videos that I have recorded in the past.
- Enjoy!
Test Cooks
Each month we have some wonderful volunteers who “test” out the menu prior to publication. They do an amazing job of helping to eliminate confusion and mistakes. They may not catch everything but they sure do catch A LOT! If you are interested in test cook, feel free to volunteer. Here is a little bit about this month’s test cooks:
- Kiza Francis – Mom of 2 bio-kids (ages 3 and 1) and 2 step-kids (ages 11 and 15). I work full time at a desk job and I’m a runner/triathlete. My husband is also a runner/triathlete and eats following the Paleo diet. We’re a family that tries to follow “natural” methods when it comes to eating and raising our kids.
Get Started
Are you new to Once A Month Mom or once a month cooking (oamc) in general? If so, you might want to spend a few minutes (or hours) on the Get Started Series. If you are in a real hurry to catch on we have written some simple steps for getting started. Welcome!
If you are feeling abundantly blessed and generous feel free to donate. 
this menu looks great!! I am looking to use dry black beans for the black bean taquitos and also make some black bean burgers but have never cooked with them before. Can you tell me how I can make them by chance? Thanks!
Thanks Kerry! I would highly suggest taking a look at this ebook if you’re interested in cooking with beans and there is a recipe for burgers in there!
great, will do- thanks
This looks *amazing*. I am definitely going to do this menu. Fortunately, I have to make room in my freezer first, from the last OAMM cooking day I did!
Great recipes! Thanks so much for including my corn beef & cabbage post! :) Hope everyone enjoys!
This looks really good! But-I have a request for more beef and fish. We get a side of beef every year and I would love to incorporate more of what I already have into my cooking day. Thanks!
Great idea! We try to keep a good variety – this month you have the brisket, and I think you’ll have some good opportunities in the coming months. Especially as we discuss the topic of meat in our Get Real series.
The Naan recipe is missing some water. Original recipe has 1/4 cup to mix with yeast and 3/4 cup to mix in later. My doubled recipe printed only showed .5 cups.
I didn’t see that in the original recipe until just now. I have changed the card to reflect the right amount.
Sorry to be annoying, but I am unable to change the servings amount. Am I missing a magic step??
Kim did you follow the instructions here first? http://onceamonthmom.com/all-menus-saving-printing-google-document-grocery-lists-recipe-cards-instructions/
Yes you are missing a magic step. :) You will find it here – http://onceamonthmom.com/all-menus-saving-printing-google-document-grocery-lists-recipe-cards-instructions/
I am looking forward to making my own english muffins!!! and mini deep dish pizza with chicken and artichoke? YUM!
I blogged about this since I’m loving it so much! http://koskersidlewild.blogspot.com/2012/03/from-my-freezer-to-your-table.html
Really excited about this month’s menu…and can’t believe I’m actually EXCITED about trying to make homemade English muffins and garlic naan. Apparently that means I’ve come along way in the past few months! : )
You HAVE come a long way! Way to go!
What are the steps for freezing the black bean taquitos? Thank you:)
All freezing directions can be found in the printable recipe cards – please click over to those for full instructions.
Oh, sorry, and Thank you!!
Help me understand how this works with the tortillas. I entered ’5′ servings, and the spreadsheet multiplies the tortilla recipe by 5. The original tortilla recipe makes 12-18 tortillas. Do I really end up needing 60-90 tortillas? It looks like they’re only used in the taquitos. Maybe I’m just having trouble wrapping my head around the amounts needed!
Hi Katie yes, because for 1 serving of the taquitos you need 5 tortillas. And then the cards make two meals per serving so 10 total so for 5 people you would need about 50 and we err on the larger side since you are making the tortillas yourself there is no standard size. Does that help?
Yep, makes sense now! I’ve never had taquitos and was thinking 1-2 would be enough for each person, similar to a burrito or enchilada!
Are all the measurements for the meats in pounds?
Yes all meats are in pounds
Has anyone ever tried making the taquitos already cooked and then freezing? I do this with burritos all the time, but they don’t get baked… My son gets out his lunches and microwaves them usually, and he’s already gone through all of last month’s cooking, plus some, so I need recipes that don’t need to be baked after freezing. Thanks!
I haven’t tried it, but is sounds like it should work. I would recommend packaging them in individual servings like you would your burritos.
This menu was wonderful! I got together with 3 friends to cook a total of 12 servings. The only problem we had was trying to figure out how many greens to buy and how to fit the soups in pots. We especially enjoyed the English breakfast muffins and the chicken tikka masala. Thank you for all your work putting this together!
I can’t seem to change the servings? I am on the first tab of the file and it won’t let me change the field.
Please follow the instructions located in this post: http://onceamonthmom.com/all-menus-saving-printing-google-document-grocery-lists-recipe-cards-instructions/