Meal Plan with Freezer Meals

I previously posted a Blog and YouTube video in which I discussed 3 methods for meal planning. Be sure to check those out! But today, I wanted to share another method, that allows you to cook once and eat twice.

Watch Me Discuss

Cook Once, Eat Twice

There are two simple ways to cook once and eat twice, both utilizing the power of your freezer (and sometimes just your refrigerator). This isn't rocket science, but sometimes we need to be reminded of ways to make our lives easier!

Method 1 - Weekend Cook Ahead

We have all seen the videos or read the articles about people who pick one Sunday a month a prep and freeze 20-30 meals. That's not exactly what I'm talking about here because that seems crazy to me. I like a very toned-down version of this.

We typically have a little more free time on the weekend. Use the time wisely to get ahead on weeknight meals.

If you can spend just a couple of hours on the weekend prepping a couple of meals, you can save yourself some time during those hectic weeknights. Now again, I'm not talking about spending all day prepping meals, just an hour or two. Use that time to make a big pot of soup or a dish that will have leftovers (lasagna, pot roast, etc). You can eat half the meal that night and freeze the leftovers for a quick meal next week.

Method 2 - Just Double and Freeze

Maybe your weekends are too busy for batch cooking. Or, maybe you simply don't want to spend your precious weekend time in the kitchen...I get that (okay, not really. I love spending time in the kitchen :-) ).

Anytime you are cooking in the kitchen, you can double the whole recipe or just a part of a meal that you're making, and freeze the leftovers for a meal the next week. Depending on the meal, it usually doesn't take significantly longer to cook a double-sized recipe.

For example -

Meals:

• If you're making lasagna, make 2 and freeze one.

• If you are making 4 chicken breasts for your family of 4, cook 8 and freeze 4.

• Whenever you make soup or chili, make enough to freeze too.

• Make some enchiladas to cook tonight, and also place some in an aluminum baking dish to freeze.

• Making pot pies? Make two, freeze one.

• Grilling steak? Grill more than you need and freeze some. Then, next week, slice them up to have on salad or serve in a gravy.

• Cook a bigger pork loin than you need and freeze some pulled pork.

• When you bake cookies, be sure to freeze several for next week. (Dessert is important too!)

Ingredients:

• If it's taco Tuesday and you're going to make 1 lb of taco meat, make 2 lbs and freeze half for tacos next week.

• Make extra meatballs.

• Double your recipe for falafel.

• Make a big batch of this fresh marinara sauce and freeze some to use as pizza sauce next week.

• When you make the pizza, make twice as much dough for the crust and freeze it.

These are just a few examples. The bottom line is to simply plan on making more food than you will eat and freeze the rest. You don't have to do this for every meal, just once or twice a week.

Method 3 - Combine the Two

That's right. Cook a little extra on the weekend, then double a weeknight meal. Now, every week you have two frozen meals with very little extra effort. Work smarter, not harder.

The Most Important Thing!

Now this is the most important thing: You must make a plan to use the leftover food NEXT week! If you don't, you will forget that it's in the freezer, and it will go to waste. If you double and freeze at least one meal every week, you will always have at least one night of ready-made meals to incorporate into your meal plan.

Pin It For Later