How to Stock Your Freezer With Meals

Stocking up on meals takes me to a happy place in my own mind and saves me frustration, money and time. If you have meals already prepared and frozen, ready to pop in the oven, you won’t be seeing the pizza guy on a weekly basis or going out for fast food when you’ve resolved to feed your family more healthy meals. The reward comes when you can pull something out in the morning to thaw, knowing dinner will be ready to slip in the oven as you rush off to after school ball practice or swim lessons.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• A kitchen
• Once-a-Month Cooking cookbook
• Food
• Cooking supplies
• Ziploc containers
• Foil pans
• Plastic wrap and aluminum foil

1. 

   Check out sites like www.mygrocerydeals.com or www.groceryguide.com before you head to the grocery store. Enter your zip code and instantly get your local grocery store deals for the week. This helps you save money while you also fill your freezer. Also head for the stock-up stores like Aldi, Sam’s Club and Costco.

2. 
   a great resource

   Buy the book “Once-a-Month Cooking: A Proven System for Spending Less Time in the Kitchen and Enjoying Delicious, Homemade Meals Everyday” by Mary Beth Lagerborg and Mimi Wilson and give their 2-week plan a shot to start. It should take about five hours to pack your freezer with 14 meals.

3. 
   make it snappy

   Meal preparation stores are a great way to snag a Girls’ Night Out while also accomplishing a sometimes-dreaded task. Not only do they provide the containers, food and supplies, but you don’t have to clean your kitchen. In about two hours you can make 10-12 meals for a family of four to six. Meal prep stores have come a long way in the last few years. Some let you breeze in and grab your pre-ordered food to go, and some even deliver to your home or business. You can order regular- or family-size entrees, and many are even healthy or low-fat! Many also have programs where you can spend time with your children while learning how to cook healthy meals!

4. 

   Consider ordering from a delivery service like Schwan’s (www.schwans.com). You can order online, and they offer prepared meals like chicken enchiladas, six-cheese tortellini and sliced beef with mashed potatoes, as well as side dishes and, of course, dessert. They even have 100-, 200- and 300-calorie products, as well as a $1 per serving menu and 30-minute meals.

5. Market Day (www.marketday.com) is an exciting concept that lets you choose from over 160 restaurant-quality foods like kid-friendly snacks, entrees and desserts. The neat part is that a portion of your purchase goes toward helping out a local school or organization. Finally, a fundraiser with something a busy parent (or anyone, really!) can actually use – food.

Resources

• The Kerrie Show
• Dinner's In The Freezer
• 30 Day Gourmet
• Easy Meal Prep
• Meal Assembly Stores

[jbechtold]

on 4/23/2009 Great article. I always keep dinner in the freezer for those days I just can't make dinner. (like most the days). This is also good for someone in recovery.