Gratitude and frozen food

This was originally meant to be a post about my first attempts at once a month cooking, but is turning into an impromptu tribute to B, who is saving my hide yet again.  Last night, the Big Dude and I went to see The Two Towers at our local theater, met with some friends, had a good time.  After the movie ended, I walked down to the ATM to get cash for the sitter, and then went home.  I took our sitter home, then went to the store for a late-night grocery run to allow me to do some bulk recipes today.  Imagine my surprise when I went to get my card out to pay, only to find that I didn’t have it??  So no getting groceries, or getting money for laundry (I live in an apartment without a washer and dryer).  Fast forward to today, when B. not only offers up money for laundry, but also offers to bring it to me since I am also currently carless.  This has absolutely not been my week at all.  And I felt/still feel like a total heel for finally accepting her offer, but I can’t take staring at the mountain of laundry any more!  So thank you, B., for bailing me out without a moment’s hesitation.  Hugs

Now, to get to the other reason for the post-once a month cooking!  I’m familiar with it, having helped others prepare food for it, but I’ve never felt the need to do it for myself.  But after having stocked up a bunch of meat, I’d really like to get some order to my freezer.  I found a great site, called Once A Month Mom.  I like it because they have recipes up for gluten free, whole food, and diet menus.  I’ve already tried a couple of recipes, like the shredded beef and the homemade refried beans, and they were wonderful!  I don’t plan to follow the menus to the letter, but I am going through and picking out recipes based on what I need to use up.  Did I also mention that you can find recipes based on a key ingredient?  It’s so easy to use!  They offer printable grocery lists, labels, and just about anything else you could need.  And it’s all free! 

If it helps, get a friend to cook and split the results with you.  B. and I are planning to do the French toast sticks together at some point, and I’ll probably be making a bunch of lunch and dinner meals with my sister soon.  She and her husband have four kids, they both work full time, and she works second shift.  If anyone needs a plan like this, it’s her!