Inside: Never panic about dinner again. 46 Easy Freezer Meals to the Rescue.

photo by Ricardo Alfaro

When we lived up in the mountain a few years back, I would have to drive “down the hill” to go grocery shopping.

At first, it was very romantic packing up the kids for more than half a day, driving down the mountain far enough into the atmosphere that you left wearing a jacket and arrived needing a bathing suit. Yeah, it got old quickly.

I tried shopping “just around the corner”.

At first, it didn’t bother me that it was a little bit more expensive. Until it did.

Why would I buy eggs for $14/dozen just around the corner, when that would only get me partially through one breakfast? Feeding five sons is not for the faint of heart. Scrambled eggs require 18 eggs for my brood.

Revelation: I needed to go to our local club store and discount grocery to make our budget work at least twice a month.  But there was a problem.

The Grocery Stores that made my budget work were 40 miles away and 4,000 feet down the mountain.

I could find the 4-hours needed to run down the mountain to stock up on toilet paper, bacon, and beef twice a month, but it always came at a cost: my energy.

If I sat down for more than two seconds, my eyelids would slam shut and drool would begin to run down my chin. Not an issue if it’s bedtime and I am curled up on the sofa. This is a problem of you need to drive up a mountain to unload a boatload of groceries and make dinner.

I’m glad someone invented those raised street reflectors in the middle of the road!” Exhaustion.

photo by Elisabet Dominguez

If my family would stop needing toilet paper at a reasonable price, I’d have nothing to complain about. But, alas, the need for TP is as sure as the fact that my laundry basket is always full.

At the end of the day, after driving  down the mountain with all the kids, shopping at two busy stores, teaching my kids that ‘it’s not ok to slap your brother with the package of bacon’, and realizing that I lost my grocery list somewhere along the way, that LAST thing I want to do is make dinner.

I had to come up with a plan. It made no sense to corral 4-5 squirrely boys down Mt. Everest to trudge through the heat and crowds to save a few bucks only to be so tired when I got home that I blew the budget on take-out food.

My Solution?

Freezer meals.

Ladies, those freezer bags in my freezer saved my life too many times to count.

Anytime I can double, triple, or quadruple a recipe I do- and I freeze the extra servings. There is a method to my madness. Sure, making a larger portion requires more dicing and chopping, but most recipes do not take too much longer to make bigger batches.

These meal prep time are even “cooking camps” for my kids.

I am a happy mom because, on any given day, I can simply grab a bag and defrost a wonderful homemade meal.

This makes me smile like when your baby found your secret stash of oreos just before bedtime.

Photo by Levi Saunders

If you have a house full of kids, a schedule busy enough to make a grown man cry, or if you need to drive 4,000 feet down a mountain to the nearest affordable grocery store, I highly suggest becoming an expert at doubling and freezing meals.

Freezer Meal Resources:

Freezer Meals By Once a Month Mom

“Once a Month Meals gives you everything you need to shop, prep and cook a bulk of your monthly meals in just one day — and freeze those meals for when you want to eat them.”

Freezer Meals on the Cheap: By A Turtle’s Life for Me

“Have you ever heard the story about the boy who woke up on a gorgeous day and his dad told him he had to go out back and chop firewood.  The boy asked why he had to spend a warm, summer day chopping firewood and the dad said it was so he didn’t have to do it on a cold, winter day.

That’s how I feel about freezer meals.  It’s all about sucking it up and committing to an afternoon of slaving away in the kitchen, because you know it will make life SO much easier for the next couple months.  This way, when you have that warm, summer day when you’re running your kids here and there and life seems so chaotic… dinner is already made and you look like supermom for doing it all and still putting a healthy dinner on the table!”

Cooking Camp for Kids: Teaching Your Kids to Cook- One Tasty Recipe at a Time. By Bekki @ A Better Way to Homeschool

“Teaching kids to cook is an invaluable life skill… but it takes time and commitment. With Cooking Camp 1, you will have everything you need to coach and train your kids to become “experts of their meal” over time. Cooking takes practice. There is no way around that. These are family loved recipes shared from my home to yours.” [leadpages_leadbox leadbox_id=146e73e46639c5] [/leadpages_leadbox]

https://abetterwaytohomeschool.com/product/cooking-camp-teaching-kids-cook

Don’t Panic! Dinner’s in the Freezer!

“Hectic lifestyles and over-full schedules make traditional cooking methods nearly obsolete in many families. The results are poor nutrition and budgets strained by the high cost of fast food or commercially prepared meals. Don’t Panic-Dinner’s in the Freezer offers a simple and economical alternative, featuring dozens of recipes designed to be prepared and frozen for future use.

With 100,000 copies sold, this book gives practical tips for planning, organizing, and shopping for meals, as well as unique ways to freeze and reheat prepared foods. Every recipe includes measurements for cooking alone or as a joint venture with one or two friends. Families, singles, retirees-everyone who needs to eat-will find fast and easy answers to the question, “What’s for dinner?”

Your Turn.

What is your favorite freezable meal? Drop it in the comments below. Pretty please:)

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