Stock Your Freezer, One Meal At A Time

Scrolling through social media can sometimes make you feel that you need to completely stock your freezer with 3 months of healthy AND kid approved meals to be successful in meal planning with freezer meals. I’m here to tell you that it is simply NOT true!

I take baby steps with everything in life. When I have gone any other route by sprinting, running or leaping, I always fall flat on my face. No lie. That just doesn’t work for me or my personality. I need to take things slow, understand them and most importantly, make it doable without adding any undue stress or frustration. Because let’s face it…motherhood is the largest emotional rollercoaster of life and we are in the front seat of the very first car with our eyes wide open!

Now, don’t get me wrong, I would love to have my freezer full of healthy and kid approved meals but realistically in this season of life, that is not going to happen. If I had that much extra time on my hands…I would take a nap!

So, how can this be made easier? I’m so glad you asked! Here are 5 baby steps to make dinner time easier.

1st Step…Take out your family calendar. Which day is the craziest? Which day do you wish you had more hours in the day? Which day has you feeling more stressed?

***Hint: It’s usually the day you open a bottle of wine as soon as the kids are in bed.

2nd Step…Think of your one tried and true meal that you know the family will eat. Does it have chicken? Or pork? Or maybe even ground beef? Then that’s where you start. Search for some freezer meal recipes or better yet, go on your favorite social media site and ask for suggestions. You will be amazed at the number of responses and recommendations you will get!

Here is my all-time favorite freezer meal starter: Honey Balsamic Chicken Breasts & Veggies from Damn Delicious. It’s a one pan meal which are by far, my favorite. Who wants to wash more dishes? Not me!

I call this a “freezer meal starter” because I only freeze the raw chicken with the marinade. I still have to prepare the veggies the day of but that’s easy peasy!

3rd Step…Make your shopping list and double the ingredients for the one recipe that you will be freezing.

***Don’t forget to add freezer bags to your list!

***Shopping Tip: The Fresh Market has $2.99 Tuesdays where you can get skinless, boneless chicken breasts for $2.99/lb!! Find one in your area and stock up on some chicken.

4th Step…Prepare the selected meal this week for dinner and throw one in the freezer. Make sure to date and label it! I promise, preparing the freezer meal will not add a lot of extra time to your already busy schedule. It will actually end up saving you time.

***Put a sticky note on your fridge to remind you that you have a meal ready to go. There are many fancy apps and web based programs you can use too but let’s keep it simple for right now. Let’s learn from the kids and take baby steps.

5th Step… The night before you want to serve it, make sure to take it out of the freezer and stick it in the fridge to defrost overnight. I usually have the kids wash the veggies for me on the day we will eat it. It keeps them busy and out from under my feet. They love it and I love making memories in the kitchen in with them, but no more than once a week! Baby steps, remember? 😉

***Word of caution…Make sure to put out extra dish towels. There may be a lil’ extra water on your floor…and your counters…and the couch if they get a hold of the sprayer!

So… Your mission, should you choose to accept it involves planning and making one extra dinner to freeze this week and eat it next week.

Do you accept?