Cook More Real Food Event: May 20th-June 12th
I’ve been writing lots about saving money on a whole foods diet, especially around the launch of my new book, Real Food on a Real Budget. Hearing about concepts that will help you to cook more from scratch, improve your diet and lighten up your grocery budget is a really good thing.
Actually DOING those things and putting into practice what you’ve learned is even better.
That’s why over the next 4 weeks, I will be running a special, practical series here at Keeper of the Home. The goal?
- help you cook more real, whole foods
- from scratch
- in less time
- in order to save money.
Sound good?
Here’s the plan:
May 20th (today) :: Introduction
Get you on board, starting to think about how you will implement these upcoming activities into to your life. Also, start spreading the word and inviting others to join in with us!
May 25th (Tues) :: Pantry Inventory
I’ll walk you through my own process of taking stock of what I already have in my house, figuring out what needs to be used up, and getting things more organized and accessible.
May 28th (Fri) :: Freezer Inventory
We’ll do the same thing as with our pantries, but focusing instead on our freezers. Surely you’re like me and also have things that have become burried and forgotten, and need to be put to good use!
June 1st (Tues) :: Meal Planning
Using the knowledge of what we have available to us, together we’ll create meal plans with 3 purposes:
- to use up what we have, so that we can shop less in June and save up some money (this is a great opportunity to start saving up some extra money for bulk food purchases!)
- to get you more used to meal planning in general and see how it can help you make better food, with less time and stress
- to prepare for a couple days of food prep and cooking ahead (see below), to stock our freezers with meals and snacks for busy days!
June 7th and 8th (Mon/Tues) :: Freezer Cooking and Food Prep Event
I will be spending as much time as I can spare over the course of 2 days, to do food prep that makes meals come together easier, and to put away meals (or meal components), baking and snacks in my freezer and pantry.
This isn’t necessarily Once-a-Month-Cooking. It can be, if you have the time and desire. Personally, I find it hard to get enough solid cooking time with 3 little ones to do true OAMC cooking.
I will, however, be squeezing in every bit of kitchen time I can get during those 2 days, to cook ahead and do the things that will make pulling together real food and wholesome meals much, much easier for the rest of the month. I have the additional goal of having pre-made food to make our upcoming move (July 1st) that much easier by not having to think about cooking.
I will be live tweeting and updating Facebook during those 2 days with my progress, and I will invite you to do the same. At the end, I will blog my own results, and then post a link-up so that you can share your own results with everyone one.
Want to join in?
Visit the Event page on Facebook and confirm that you’ll be joining in! Share it with your friends as well.
If you haven’t already, you can follow me on Twitter or “like” my Facebook page, to keep updated.
Or simply leave a comment below and tell me that you’re in!
This sounds great! I can’t wait to read all your tips and utilize them in my own home 🙂
.-= Hollie´s last blog ..No ‘Poo Photos =-.
This sounds fantastic! Thanks so much for taking the time to do this. I received your book earlier this week and have been enjoying it very much so I can’t wait for this series. I have been needing some serious help in the motivation and “just do it” areas 🙂
i”m in too…this sounds great!
I am in!!
LOVE this! Hope you don’t mind, but I’m going to blog about your event today. It’s so easy to feel overwhelmed at the idea of freezer cooking, but breaking it down and walking people through the process will make it much more managable. Thanks!
@Gabrielle, Of course not, please go ahead and blog about it! The more people that join us, the better! 🙂
@Stephanie @ Keeper of the Home, That’s what I was thinking! I love freezer cooking and would love to see more moms attempt it. It’s a sanity saver!
.-= Gabrielle´s last blog ..Thrifty Thursday: Keeper of the Home’s Cook More Real Food Event =-.
Hey there! I recently found your site and have really loved it. I have made several of your recipes and they have all been big hits at our house. My husband has had a love affair with the power bars ever since I made the first batch. He wants me to make them constantly!!!! :>
I do have a slight suggestion…even with the new site design, I find it hard to follow how you have your recipes organized. I know you link to Heavenly Homemakers for some of your recipes. I love how hers are organized as I can go to main dish, dessert, bread, etc. I have quite caught on to how to navigate through the ones on here. Perhaps I need a lesson on what to do. I personally think it would appeal more to people if it was more user friendly.
Okay. Enough said.
Thanks for your insights and hard work,
Teri
@Teri Selbher, Have you been sneaking in to my backend, seeing what I’m up to? 🙂
Your suggestion is perfect timing, as I am creating a recipe page so that my recipes would be very quick and simple to find. It should be up within the next week or two!
I’m in. Just spent $150 at Costco!
I’m in, but I’m on Twitter not Facebook. I just got your book this morning and I’m looking forward to put into practice.
I’ll be watching – I just did something similar- also prepping for a move. I decided it was time to eat down the freezer for a couple weeks, rather then move it all! And then I plan to restock and bulk up again in late June, July in prep for a coming baby in late July to be prepared for that!
I will be reading along and may post a time or two with my experiences and link back!
I’m so in! My husband and I were just talking about this…we feel like we waste so much food and would love to be better about meal planning and using up what we already have!
This is perfect…thank you!
I’ll look forward to seeing your ideas…especially about how to do things faster. I am having A LOT of trouble getting anything done these days since I am constantly interupted by the kids it seems. I know…I only have 2. I find this such a hard stage (14 months to 2 was really super hard with my oldest, so we’re 2 months in with the baby…we’ll see).
I will love to see the ideas, but I won’t be implementing any probably at this particular time, seeing that its the busiest time of year for our family- gardening, having company, my husband’s job and he will be away too for a bit. But I’ll be reading!
I am going to try my best to join in with you! I tried doing OAMC days a few months ago and it did not go well for me – I think I bit off a bit more than I could chew. It was pretty overwhelming to me, so I’ve been hesitant to try it again. But, it was definitely nice throughout that month to already have things ready to go in the freezer. I like your idea of just doing prep work, to make dinner time easier. Maybe that is a better idea for me than trying to prepare whole meals. I’m interested to hear what you have to share!
Stephanie, I am totally interested. But I’m wondering if your notes and advice on budget saving tips will be based on your local area or more for the readers that are in the US? I’m local to you so I am very interested in the local savings you are doing.
Thanks
Tara V
.-= Tara V´s last blog ..Black Bean Quesadillas =-.
@Tara V, I always try to keep money saving tips relevant to everyone, rather than just applying them to specific places/stores, etc. I might mention something as an example, but generally it’s just that, an example. I do love sharing about local savings, too… in fact, you might like a new project I have up my sleeve. I can’t say anything quite yet, but soon I will be able to share more. 🙂
I’m looking forward to this. I have been making small changes and it has not been very difficult. In fact, it has been pretty easy. I feel so much better about what I’m serving my family – I know how I feed them today is laying the groundwork for how they will eat later, and that has helped me stop putting it off. This series will also help, because I’m not the best cook! Thanks!
I’m signed up. I’m really working on getting my family eating healthier. I can use all the ideas and tips I can get to help my in this process. Thank you.
Always looking for healthier cooking ideas!
We’re in. I just feel sick every time I have to throw out veggies gone bad. I love the food but hate the prep and planning.
Hey! I have been enjoying your site. I signed up on FB on the 20th but have not yet seen (or been able to find) the course. Am I not looking in the correct place?
@Joy, Well, it’s not actually a course, but the events will begin next Tuesday. I will be posting that day on how to organize/take inventory of our pantries. There will be subsequent posts every 3-5 days after that, with each next event/challenge. Glad you’ll be joining us!
Okay! Thank you for the reply. I am looking forward to following this on your blog. Can’t wait!
I would love to join in for this event. Thanks for hosting…
I’m in. I so need this.
Ok ladies..you are my bloggy accountability team! Thanks Stephanie, this will be very good for me 🙂
.-= Leah´s last blog ..Move For Him Monday-Episode 4 =-.
I am excited to learn some new things.
I’m ready to join! I love the feeling of clearing everything out and using it all for meals! I feel so resourceful when I do – nothing is wasted!
I’ve decided to participate. While I feel really good about how well my family eats, I thought that it would be fun to play along with everyone else. I found today’s post about the pantry inventory to be especially inspiring.
.-= Jodi Anderson´s last blog ..happy trumps misery =-.
I am so in! This sounds awesome and just in time. I have really been wanting to make changes and this is just the motivation I need.
.-= Julie´s last blog ..Ellie’s School Activities – Farm =-.
WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL ideas! Love this post. So glad you mentioned on your FB page today. I am definitely going to check this out and if you don’t mind, I’d like to share these links with my FB friends. Blessings to you and appreciation for all your terrific ideas and recipes, Kelly