Today's Pinterest topic is Freezer Meals. Have you heard of them? Basically, these super moms (and dads) make enough meals for the entire month(!) and freeze them for later use. I first heard about this from Stephanie at Mama and Baby Love. She has a fantastic ecookbook out that gives out her staple slow-cooker freezer meals. If you are looking to get started I would suggest her recipes. Once a Month Mom is also a great resource for getting started, recipes, and creating your own meal plan.
I have been doing freezer meals for a few months now with a few tweaks that works for me. First of all, I am not as ambitious as everyone else and only do them in two week increments. This allows me to cook throughout the week but have a back-up for when I don't feel like it. It also keeps the time spent preparing the meals to a minimum. I can get everything prepared in about 2 hours. I'm not ambitious enough to try to make breakfasts and lunches so I only make dinners. I usually use 5 recipes which makes 10 meals. The recipes I use are already doubled so that all you have to do is split the ingredients between freezer bags. I mainly do slow-cooker meals because assembly is as easy as splitting the ingredients into freezer bags or containers and throwing them in the freezer. Recently though, I have been making batches of food big enough to eat half and freeze the rest. It's given me a lot more freedom to cook a larger variety of food.
I will say I always have browned meat and shredded chicken in the freezer and fridge for quick meals like tacos or chicken salad.
The advantages of doing this are numerous. I don't have to worry about what I'm making for dinner every night. I can just throw the contents of a bag in my slow cooker and have a home-cooked meal without fuss. I know what is going into these meals and can easily adjust them to fit my family's needs (read: I can make my husband eat vegetables). I can usually squeeze dinner for two and lunch for me the next day out of each meal so it's very cost effective. We save so much money doing this because we don't have to eat out as much and we can shop the sales and cheaper in-season items. Plus, it's much easier to budget grocery money when you have a game plan for the week. Most importantly though, it saves time! I can spend a few hours on one day and stay out of the kitchen for a week or two if I want. My husband and I work opposite schedules usually so whenever we can squeeze in time together, we do it! Plus this is so easy, the husband can throw a meal together if I'm not at home to do it.
If you are looking to start doing this, here is my advice to you.
1. Start off small! If you don't want to make a full weekly/bi-weekly/monthly menu, just make a recipe or two and see how that works out for you. I'm not brave enough to make a full meal plan like the one's listed on OAMM's website, but I know I can do a week or two's worth of dinners with no problem.
2. Do your homework! I have spent a lot of time reading about different freezing techniques, getting things organized, and how to create my own recipes. It's much easier to create your own menus and recipes when you know what can freeze and what can't, for how long it can freeze, etc. I know this seems like a lot of work, but I promise it's so beneficial.
3. Be prepared! I spend time planning out my recipes, setting up my grocery list, and setting aside time to make my meals. This is hard to do on the fly so make sure you have made time to do this properly or you will end up wasting time and losing that "saves time" aspect.
4. Do what works for you! I've ready lots of stories and testimonials of people that really get into this and make monthly menus, and that is just too ambitious for me. You don't have to be super mom (or dad) to do this. It's okay to just do a few meals here and there.
5. Grab a partner! Doing this with someone else not only keeps you motivated, but also makes it fun. I often con the husband into putting bags together or helping me clean up. It helps me get the job done even quicker, plus gives us some bonding time together since we don't get a ton of that during the day.
I hope this inspires you to give this a try. It seems daunting when you first start out but it gets easier, and really is beneficial. You'll eat healthier, save money, and have more time to spend with family, friends, pets, whatever.
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