OAMC (Once-A-Month Cooking)

Entry in progress—B.P.
 
Wikipedia: Once-a-month cooking 
The concept of once-a-month cooking (OAMC) is to spend a set time cooking, be it a day or two, but with an end result of having enough meals to last through the whole month. OAMC recipes usually involve freezing the meals until needed.

The idea of cooking ahead for the freezer began many years ago, probably at about the advent of home refrigerator/freezers. But in recent years, thanks to bestselling books like Frozen Assets: Cook for a Day, Eat for a Month and Once-a-Month Cooking, the concept has acquired almost a cult-like following. There are now numerous books, popular online discussion groups, official cooking clubs, and even businesses that allow people to prepare meals to take home for their freezer.
 
Advantages
The primary advantage to this method of cooking is to save time over the course of the month by buying groceries in bulk on the cook date. There are some other substantial advantages, however:
 
. Saved food resources. Buying what is needed and preparing it into a finished dish right away rather than losing track of it or losing it to spoilage
. Saved energy. Cooking several dishes at once means less pre-heat time and better use of the energy that is being consumed
. Saved money. Having a ready supply of finished meals makes it less tempting to eat out because “you’re just too tired to cook”
 
Many groups participate in a batch cooking or OAMC for communal consumption. When practiced on this large scale, the benefits mentioned above are even more pronounced. Church kitchens are often usurped for these cooking binges as they are usually the readily available source of commercial cooking equipment. Many restaurants (especially dinner-only establishments) are also available for rental if a church kitchen is not available.
 
Titus 2 Homemaker
What is OAMC?
OAMC stands for Once-A-Month Cooking. It’s also known as freezer cooking, bulk cooking, or mega cooking. This doesn’t necessarily have to be done once a month. Many people cook once a week, or once every two months. Still others just double the recipe each time they cook and freeze the second for later use, without having any special cooking sessions.
 
OAMC is the process of cooking multiple meals in one cooking session, saving on cleanup and making more efficient use of preparation time. There are many books about OAMC: Once a Month Cooking, Dinner’s in the Freezer, etc. The one that I have, and use, and recommend, though, is The Freezer Cooking Manual. It actually provides the forms and help for you to devise your own plan, utilizing your own recipes. It also includes a selection of recipes (which are actually real foods that real people eat - even real kids!) and lots of helpful information, such as freezing information and conversion charts. (I found that when I read the others, they left me feeling dependent on using their plans exactly as written, though they were full of recipes we just don’t eat.) I also find their recipe layout very easy to follow.
 
Once a Month Cooking World
Step-by-Step Guide to Once a Month Cooking     
by Candace Anderson
Does the thought of making thirty meals in one day sound beyond impossible? Before you write off once-a-month-cooking as something only Martha Stewart wanna-bes can manage, let’s break it down step-by-step so you can visualize the whole process.  Once you see how easy it is, you will have your freezer filled with ready-to-serve meals in no time.
 
The next time you panic because it is 6:00 and you have no idea what is for dinner, just remember the stack of meals you have in the freezer; your stress will melt like butter.  Ask anyone who loves once a month cooking (a.k.a. OAMC or freezer cooking), and they will tell you it is the cure for the “what’s for dinner” dilemma.
 
OCLC WorldCat record
Dinner’s ready : the once a month cooking method
by Mimi Wilson; Mary Beth Lagerborg
Type:  Book; English
Publisher: Littleton, CO : Freeze and Save, 1984, ©1982.
   
Google Groups: misc.education.home-school.misc
From: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Date: Sun, 17 Sep 1995 23:54:25 -0400
Subject: Re: Eating on $70 a week
 
Laurie, there is an AOL-only Once-A-Month cooking Email group, and you can ask BLJean to be added to the list.
 
I suspect that most of the $$$ savings of OAMC is supposed to be from not having to do impulse-buying when you have to go to the store every day to pick up things to finish dinner with.
 
Google Groups: rec.food.cooking
Newsgroups: rec.food.baking, rec.food.cooking
From: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) (L.P.)
Date: 1997/06/24
Subject: Help with OAMC (once A Month Cooking) and Make a Mix
 
Can someone please post some recipes from the Make a Mix Book and/or OAMC recipes? I’ve never tried cooking for the entire month but it sounds very interesting!
 
Google Books
Spending:
Webster’s Quotations, Facts and Phrases
By Icon Group International, Inc.
2008
Pg. 511:
Once a month cooking. The concept of Once a month cooking, or OAMC is to spend a set time cooking, be it a day or two, but with an end result of having enough meals to last through the whole month.