The name of my cooking game is efficiency. I cook for efficiency only.
If your looking for Martha Stewart caliber dinners or dinners that would impress your all-natural-eating-yogi neighbor, you will not find that here.
If you are looking for simple efficient ways to feed your family then welcome to my blog and I am excited to share my time and money saving ways of prepping and freezing dinners with you.
**A note about me: I am a stay at home mom with four kids, three boys ages 5, almost 4 and 2, and a 7 month old daughter. My kids are all little so my dinners may stretch a little farther than yours because my young children eat like they have like tummies. And my sweet husband… I never put anything in front of him that he does not in return tell me, “this is the best dinner I’ve ever had, thank you for making dinner.” He is very gracious husband.
I cook for mostly children so almost everything on here is kid tested and approved.
In this post you will find two different sets of recipes. A starter freezer meal recipe list and the mother-load of recipes.
The starter list contains mostly crock pot recipes with simple ingredients to just get your feet wet in the world of freezer meal cooking. I even have included a list of ingredients at the end of this post.
The mother-load recipe list is if you are a go getter, sleeves rolled up and game face on ready to bust out an entire day of productivity. You will be tired but at the end you will be thrilled with all you accomplished in one day!
I prefer to shop one day and cook the next so I am only focused on one thing at a time. I do not feel any shame in putting a movie on for my kids or sending them out with their dad so I can get my cooking done. I also sacrifice my beloved nap on cooking day. Like I said: game face.
You will need:
Plenty of Ziplock Freezer Bags (I double bag everything)
Sharpie
Aluminum Foil Pans (I’ve heard from a friend you can buy these in bulk at Sam’s Club)
Saran Wrap or Wax Paper
Aluminum Foil
Cutting Board and good knives
Empty Dishwasher (I like to clean as I go)
Empty trash can (I don’t have time to waste taking out the garbage)
Apron (Check out ckstitches on etsy for cute handmade aprons from a friend.)
For Freezer Space:
I don’t keep much in my freezer except my dinners, Eggos (my middle two sons love Eggos), Chicken Nuggets, Popsicles, Uncrustables and steam fresh vegetables.
I have a freezer that is a pull out freezer underneath my fridge. I ditch all the bulky packaging of the Eggos, Popsicles, Uncrustables and those are all loose or in ziplocks in the top two drawers of my freezer. This leaves the two deeper bottom cavities of the freezer strictly for meals. You can also stagger when you buy your freezer junk. If you know your cooking at the beginning of the month maybe wait until mid month to restock your chicken nuggets and corn dogs when you’ve depleted your dinner stash a little.
Also, do not forget to press all the air out of your ziplock bags.
For Planning:
I have a dry erase monthly calendar on my refrigerator where I plan out all our meals. I have also found it helpful to plan in iCalendar on my iPhone or iMac. Then your planning is saved electronically.
For weekly planning I have an old picture frame on my counter which I have put cheery scrapbook paper inside and scrapbooking sticker letters. I write out what we are eating weekly in dry erase marker on the glass.
I pull meals from the freezer two-three at a time the day before I need the first one and keep them in the fridge.
For Fun:
I like productive cooking with a friend. Someone needs to pack up their stuff in a cooler and someone needs to share their kitchen but it is fun being productive and kicking mom life butt when you’re doing it with someone else.
Please share your pictures with me of your freezer meal cooking productivity on Instagram @rachelann314 . We can all kick mom life butt together and celebrate all productivity.
Cheers to cooking for efficiency. Recipes found in the links below.
Rachel Craddock 