Freezer Meals 101: All Things Considered

 

Freezer Meals 101:  All Things Considered

Make ahead meals... sounds fantastic doesn't it?  You open up your freezer, pop a meal into the oven, and without much effort, a hot and healthy meal appears in front of your family.  For my family and me, the work that I have to put into prepping these meals are worth it, but be forewarned:  you will work hard for the convenience!  So before you dive in head first, let's consider the work you have to put into freezer meals BEFORE you even begin cooking.

Things to consider BEFORE you pull out your recipe book:

1)  Your Family - Your family must be willing to eat the same ten or so meals in rotation for three months.  For the first month it will seem easy, but then as you get on into month two and three you begin to get tired of what you have in the freezer and start eating out or ordering pizza.  There are a few ways of dealing with this.  One, you could make 50 different meals, but honestly, that is just too much work for me.  Two, you could only make enough meals for one month, but if I am going to spend the time and energy, I want the end product to last longer than a month!  The third option is how my husband and I deal with the constant rotation.  Five nights a week we eat freezer meals, one night we go out on a date, and the last night we experiment with a new recipe for dinner.  This way we have the convenience of the freezer meals, but also enough spice to keep us interested in eating healthy meals at home! 

2) Is it worth it to you to spend two or three days cooking? - I typically allow myself three days to complete my list, shop for groceries, and cook.  By the end of the third day my back hurts, my feet are killing me, and I am just plain tired.  On the other hand, I am extremely proud of my accomplishment, and I know that we will have healthy meals at least five nights out of the week.  I really appreciate it during our busy weeks when I rarely see my home, much less my kitchen!  It is worth it to me, but is it to you?

3) Do you like to keep ice cream in the freezer? - If you do, and you have the standard apartment freezer like me, you might want to consider different meal options.  Make sure you have room for what is important to you!  It works out well for us, to not have room in our freezer for quarts of ice cream, as we only do desserts on the weekend!

Now What?

So, have you decided to dive into the world of make ahead meals?  Huzzah!  Now what?  If you're like me, you will want to hit the store within the hour and get started!  Let me be the first to tell you: this is a bad idea!  I did not fully understand what would freeze well, and half of the meals I made the first time were edible but not very tasty.  Needless to say, we were not rushing home for dinner!  After that I decided to go a different route.  Whenever I made our favorite recipes, I would double the recipe and freeze the second batch.  This way I was able to experiment with which recipes freeze well without wasting a bunch of money on meals that I was unsure of.  Another way that you could experiment is by hosting a meal swap!  That way, everyone ends up with multiple meals to try, but only one meal to prepare!  It is a great way to gather new recipes as well!

I hope that this post will encourage you to really stop and consider what make ahead meals actually cost.  Just so we are clear, by cost I mean time, energy, and comfort.  Monetarily, freezer meals are much cheaper since you buy most ingredients in bulk.  I'm going to brag for just a minute... I just purchased everything I need to make three months of meals today for $166.00!  I will explain in later posts exactly how I did that, but for now I just want you to consider the non-monetary costs of make ahead meals!

In my next post I will discuss how I prepare my house, myself, and my list!  Until next time!

Sincerely, 

Mrs. Sweets

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