Freezer Meals

This post is going to be a bit odd in that isn't about my kids at all. Well, unless you consider that the point is to feed the kids..... :P

I think the concept of freezer meals is a great idea. I have friends who swear by them. I loathe fast food, and yet I find us ordering in or picking something up more often than I like because we're busy in the evenings. (And sometimes, I'm lazy in the evenings. :P) Between Karate, AWANA, Band/Co-op, and It's-been-a-Really-Long-Day Syndrome, sometimes it's just easier to order in......or eat cereal for supper. And sometimes, that's fine. But I like options, and freezer meals seem like a healthy, pocketbook friendly option.

The problem, however, lies in two major components of the freezer meal concept. Problem 1: I hate the grocery store. Hate it with a fiery purple passion one usually reserves for root canals and major car repairs. And I'm pretty sure that buying enough stuff to cook meals to put in my freezer in addition to our regular grocery list is going to make for a longer, more in-depth grocery store trip. Yuck.

Problem 2: Somewhere along the way, I have discovered that I really just don't like to cook. I'm pretty good at it; it's just that cooking requires time I'd generally rather be spending doing something else. And freezer cooking is like a whole day of cooking. Eek! However, since I'm pretty fond of eating, as is everyone else in the house, I'm just gonna have to get over this one.

And so, we embark on the freezer meal adventure. At least we're going to give it a try.

Step One. I bought a very cool book called Dinner is Ready! 30 Meals in One Day by Deanna Buxton. She has some great tips, some great recipes, and some great ideas. I am not industrious to try to make 30 meals my first time out, so our trial is going to be more like 10 Meals in One Day. :D

Step Two: Choose meals. We will be freezing: Birds Nest Pie, Stew, Manicotti (2 portions), Brown Sugar Pork Chops, Salisbury Steak and Gravy, Cantonese Meatballs, Chicken Cordon Bleu, Swiss Ham and Noodles, Meatloaf, Swiss Steak, and Oven Stew, Candied Carrots, Swiss Broccoli and Squash, and Sweet and Sour chicken.

Recipes cards, although some of this stuff I have memorized (like stew and manicotti)

Step Three: Go to the store. See that giant grocery list I referred to earlier below. It actually wasn't a terrible trip. I made the boys go (haven't done that in ages) so they could take their own cart off to help gather things, and that worked out pretty well. :) Plus, Cub and I treated ourselves to Caramel Javakula's from Seattle's Best while we were out. Hey, a little bribery never hurts. :-D

The aftermath. I think a grocery store may have exploded in my kitchen. :P

Step Four was a little prep work the night before. I chopped up things like veggies and ham, so I didn't have to do it while I was cooking. It was a tip from the book, and it was a HUGE timesaver.

Step Five: Cook. We came home from church, got everyone settled in with food and entertainment, and away I went. I cooked my way through Murphy's Romance and Sneakers, a couple of mildly epic Taz meltdowns, three loads of laundry, and a teensy bit of school planning for the week.

The fruit of my labors:

The first set to go in the freezer

The second set

 Aaaaand, I'm DONE. I can no longer feel my feet, but overall, I'm pretty happy with how the day went. :)