Freezer Meals

  I know I have written about this subject before, but I thought I'd revisit it. Have any of you ever done freezer meals, or monthly meal planning? Well, if you haven't, keep reading, it is wonderful thing to start!

  I originally bought this book Fix, Freeze, Feast, 2 years ago, to start a "Club" of moms who got together monthly and prepared meals together. It was in the works with about 4-6 ladies with families of the same size. I believe football season started for our boys and things just got to busy to actually put our plans into action. Sad, but true. I ended up doing it on my own and it was such a relief in my household chores. I would just wake up, decide what sounded good for dinner...pull it out of the freezer and let it thaw some on the counter and put it in to cook when the time was right. I had a homemade, healthy, no fuss, no mess, yummy meal awaiting my hubby and family when he got home from work. It made meal time pleasurable instead of stressful. It is quite nice too that these recipes are for a "club" of sorts, so all the recipes are for really big batches. I cut them in half or thirds depending on the recipe for one meal to feed our brood. Family dinner is SO important! How many families do you know that sit together at a table for dinner every night? This is one thing that Bob and I both think is so important for our family. Maybe once a week (but hardly ever) do we not actually sit together at the table and have dinner.

  I am an extremely picky food person. If I could get a job sniffing out drugs trying to be smuggled in/out of the country, like a narcotics dog...I'd be a millionaire! Unfortunately when it comes to the smell of food, my nose is more of a problem than a blessing. Wat too sensitive! I hate to admit this, but usually when I'm cooking dinner, I try to breath through my mouth, so I don't smell what I'm cooking...otherwise it becomes unappetizing. Again, sad, but true. Maybe this is why I prefer to eat out. I never have to smell it being cooked, or see what is going into it. lol Sorry, I get sidetracked...so the gist of this rant is that I'd probably eat about half of the recipes that are in this book. Which means if you are a "normal" person, you'd probably be willing to eat almost all of them. :)

  These are a few of my favorites: 

      *Garlic Mashed Potatoes

      *Margarita Pork Chops

      *Breakfast Burritos

      *Granola

      *Manicotti

 There is a Freezer Inventory list to keep track of what you have put in and taken out. 

  Also, these Freezer Labels with directions for cooking, that you can print out and attached to your meals before placing them in the freezer.

  A perfect idea for meals maybe for a family that just had a new baby, or for any other reason that may come up to give a meal! Instead of it being a burden to figure out what you're going to give, and how you'll have time to do it, this allows you many options at your fingertips so that you may give freely without hesitation. That in itself is a blessing!

-I did notice that the cover is new on Amazon for this book, but I would assume that the meals are the same, or if anything, improved.

  I encourage you to look into this type of meal planning. You and your family will be blessed by it. I have gotten out of the habit of using the freezer meals when we moved and I am hurting because of it. I have gotten into the habit of not figuring out what we are having until 30min before we need to eat. Not a good idea! So, back to what I know works for us...I can't wait to start again. It's actually quite fun to take one day and prepare all your meals for the month, or even 2 weeks at a time. It's one day of messes and hard work, for a month of ease. Anything to help be organized and do our jobs of keepers of our homes, in a way that is pleasing to the Lord.

Blessings~Heather