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One of my very best friends who now lives at least 1500 miles away from me has joined the F-F list, and asked me a few questions about topics we discuss. I thought it might help some other new subscribers if I posted a few answers here. (Hi Sue, hope I don't embarrass you!) What does OAMC mean?OAMC - Once A Month Cooking, from the cookbook of the same name. The plan is that you spend one whole day and cook 30 DIFFERENT meals. It doesn't really make sense to me but some people enjoy it. Many people think that most of the recipes in the book aren't that great and it is quite expensive to just go out and buy all the cream soups, etc that they call for. F-F wisdom is to find recipes your family likes and then adapt them to freezer cooking. Most of us do "batch" or "session" cooking - like when ground beef is on sale, we do a ground beef session: spaghetti sauce, meatballs, taco meat, meatloaf, shepherd's pie, etc. Same with chicken breast or parts, even potatoes (Twice Stuffed Potatoes freeze great and you can do a whole oven's worth at a time, then warm them up for meals or lunches). Breakfast foods - Egg McMoms, Breakfast Burritos, french toast, etc. What is WM?WM - Weekend Mania. Every Thursday or Friday, Libby posts a topic for the weekend, and then whoever wants to contributes recipes on that topic. You can always post about different things, it's just kind of a fun thing for those of us who have been around a while and have seen most of the other recipes. Why boil hamburger?Boiling hamburger is great!! It is easy, fast, not messy and I think it removes more fat. Just put it in a big pot and just cover with water. Add onion and garlic if you want and simmer until brown. Stir now and then to break it up. It does go into finer chunks if you know what I mean. I thought it was weird too until I tried it. Some people save the broth for soup; it's not as strong as beef broth though. What about recipe software? (Actually Sue didn't ask this, I just offered more advice for free ;-) Many of us use MasterCook software to keep the recipes in. It's really great and you can find the older versions (3.0, 4.07) in some of the bargain bins at the computer/warehouse stores. You can then search and categorize and all kinds of neat things. My favorite thing is that if I have an ingredient I want to use, or plan to cook say pork chops, I can search for that ingredient and then choose the recipes to try. I've tried a lot of new ones that way. It also works great to keep recipes saved from the list. What's a price book? (Also my own contribution...) Just a notebook that you write down what you pay for the items you buy most frequently. I keep a page for major categories: meat, dairy, deli, breads, staples, canned goods, etc. I put the date I bought it, the store, the exact item and size, the price, if it was on sale, and then I figure the PRICE PER UNIT. That is the kicker! It is a wonderful way to learn to shop. It has really opened my eyes by comparing unit prices over a period of time. I won't EVER buy those little 8 ounce bags of shredded cheese again!! You can then decide if it is cheaper for you to buy Cheerios at Costco in the double big box, or at the store when they are on sale and you have coupons. Takes a bit of time to set up but after awhile you almost don't need it very often. |