I’ve been begging Manchops for years to get a Costco card. In the past I’ll admit it was only because they sell those ridiculously huge chocolate muffins in bulk as well as books and furniture! Shopping there seems like a rite of passage. The times I’ve tagged along with my friends that have memberships, I’ve felt like I was instantly inducted into the “cool group”. SAHM’s in their designer sweats, getting Capri Sun in bulk, stocking up for the weekend poolside barbecue and then unloading all of the goods into their huge white Escalade’s. Oh yes, a little part of me wants a bit of that. And a Bugaboo and a Petunia Pickle Bottom diaper bag, because deep down I remember pasting the blue KEDS label from my old sneaks to the back of my new generic white tennies.
But now, I have reasonable desires for the beloved Costco card. And as is necessary in our household, I have internet proof on why I need it!
I’ve fallen in love with the concept of “once a month cooking” or “freezer cooking”. Basically what it appears to be is that you spend one day planning out your meals for the whole month, another finding where the best deals are and shopping , and another day cooking all at once. Then your done! For the Month!
This appeals to me on so many levels:
1. The hour of hell - Each day at around 4pm everyone seems to freak out in our house. The kids are cranky, hungry and want ….I have no idea what they want actually. The dog starts barking at everyone coming home from work. Dustin comes home and wants to relax and have my attention. I’m spent and want to throw myself head first into the kiddie pool in our backyard. But, the pressing issue is dinner. We have to get fed and Taquitos every night just isn’t healthy. Having the meals already prepared would be amazing! I could just heat up my pre chopped meats, veggies, etc in a skillet while I sit down and share a diet coke with the hubs.
2. Clean up - Have you noticed how wonderful clean up is after left over nights? Bang! It’s done! I think it would be like that with OAMC because mostly everything is stored in freezer bags. No pans, pots, cutting boards….just clearing the table and you’re done!
3. Saving money - buying in bulk is so much cheaper. (I’m coming Costco!!!) I’d get my meats and canned foods from beloved Costco once a month and then get the perishables from the local farms and gardens once a week.
This site offers a service that does all the menu planning, grocery lists and nutritional research for you! I’m gonna try their freebie menu next month.
Does anyone else do this? Wanna make a go of it in June with me? If it works out we could swap our monthly menus and cut down on even more work 
10 Comments
I had no idea how superficial your reasonings for going to Costco were! Glad I kept saying no
Seriously though, I think the funniest thing about this post is how you abbreviated everything without explanation (AEWE). I’m still not convinced, but you are the uDOH so you may have your way.
I have a Costco membership and I gotta say, it’s fantastic. Considering you have 4 (soon to be 5) mouth to feed, you could actually get your 50 dollar fee back just by going there and eating all the free samples as “lunch” on the weekends. Not to mention cheap 1.50 hotdog/drink or 2 for 2 pizza slices.
I did try preplanning food before but only by weekly since I don’t like having month-old food regardless of how freshly frozen it is. And seeing as you have more people in your family, you might not have enough space for a month worth of food in the fridge. But yes, it is definitely helpful when it comes time for meals. Perhaps you should invest a little on those vacuum ziploc machine so food stays fresher longer.
As for Costco membership, I don’t know when my renewal is so I can’t say for myself but you could combine with another person and go half and half since they issue 2 cards for 50 bucks. Or if you don’t mind the insane driving, you can always knock on my door on weekends and we can go together! We can skip around the aisles ooh-ing and ahh-ing at stuff while hubbies push carts full of needless wholesale-size crap.
@ Alajandro - The thought of skippping down the aisles with you at Costco had me laughing so hard that Maddie kept asking “Ok Mommy?”
I’ve read about that fancy freeze wrap thing on other sites too. If this ends up working then I’ll look into it.
We don’t have Costco here :(. I guess I can’t participate.
@ Chas - Costco is just a wholesale shop like Sam’s, BJ’s or the like and it’s not neccesary for once a month cooking….i’ve just found it to be a good excuse to convince Dustin to get me the Costco card
I would love it if you participated still. You can just do your shopping at your regular places.
That’s so funny. I pestered Adam for a few years about the Costco thing, too! We finally got a membership a few months ago and I love it, especially having a toddler that eats real food now.
I’ve never been brave enough to try the once a month cooking, though I seriously need to get better at meal planning. A few friends and I recently started a meal exchange where once every few weeks we each make two entrees for each family and get 8 freezable entrees in return, if that makes sense. So far, so good. It is a lot of work to make all the stuff ahead of time, but it is so great being able to pop something in the oven and not make a big mess. That’s the worst part about cooking in my opinion- cleaning up!
And the previous commenter is right. You can have free lunch with all the samples at costco! I am a sucker for the $1.50 hot dog lunch, though…
I have never done it by myself but have done the once a month cooking for a co-op. There were around 7 to 10 people and we each cooked 1 or 2 meals enough for all the families then met once a month to exchange. We tried to keep our costs down and it was wonderful. That hour of hell. Totally get it. And we had a list and we posted it on our fridge and each morning we would check it out and see what sounded good and take it out of the freezer. Then just pop it into the oven and make a salad or something to go with it. If my husband was home more we would probably still do it. I just can only eat the same thing so much.
What a great concept! I don’t even cook at all because the prep just bums me out all around. But I think I could handle one day a month. Maybe I’ll throw my hat into the ring!
Jane, Pinks & Blues
I have a Sam’s membership along with the daily dilemma of what to cook for dinner. I love this idea I’m just terrible at using the freezer, things tend to get lost in there like it’s a black hole. I would love to talk more about cost and planning. I’m very interested though!
I had a OAMC book, and I was so overwhelmed by even the “simple” tasks to make the meals, that I gave up… tried a few things, but gave up.. I do have a sams membership, adn I love to get frozen entrees (SP?) like bbq chicken wings, and pasta cheese stuffed shells, and shrimp to make stirfry. I find that heat the food to eat is easier for me than starting from scratch like OAMC suggested. Love to hear how it goes for you