Freezer Meal Tips

I've been doing freezer meals for years, and even hosted workshops through Wildtree where we put freezer meals together at "parties", so I have a few tips to share.  I hope to help you avoid the many mistakes I've made myself!

Freezer Meals are one of the ways we can make meal time less stressful.  I don't know about you, but it's sure nice when I can pull something from the freezer and all the prepwork is done!  If you're new to freezer meals, or not sure where to begin, I highly recommend starting with some simple ground meat recipes. 

Another helpful pointer to making freezer meals is to either get your kids involved, or invite a friend to join the fun!  A couple years ago one of my good friends and I would get together about three times a year specifically to make freezer meals.  We had so much fun and the day ended with food to fill our freezers!

1.  ALWAYS double bag your meals.  After you fill a ziploc bag full of meat/veggies/etc there's a good chance it could break.  So, double bag them...it also seems to help them stay fresh longer.

2.  Label with a sticky label on the inside bag.  If it falls off it's still on the inside and won't fall all over your freezer and you are left with a questionable meal.  

3.  Date and include cooking instructions.  The day of making your meals, you think it's crazy to repeatedly write Crockpot, Low 6-8 hours.  Shred. Etc... But trust me, you will thank yourself later for leaving instructions!!

4.  Don't get overambitious.  Many times simple "dump" recipes are great and don't need cooking prior to freezing.  I typically plan all dump meals except one...and that's usually enough!

5.  Almost anything can be frozen, but I find I don't like the texture of mushrooms and potatoes after they've been frozen so I add those at the time of cooking.

6.  If you think it seems overwhelming to do a lot in one day, practice making double batches of all your suppers, and after one week you will have 5-7 meals in your freezer.  Simple as that!  

7.  Look through your freezer first before planning!  It's much cheaper and makes a lot more sense to use any meat you already have :)

8.  Make a detailed grocery list...and don't buy anything else but what's for the freezer meals on your trip.  Yes, this is hard, but you can calculate cost much easier this way. I try and keep all my freezer meals under $10 each...and shoot for closer to $5-$8 depending on the protein.

9.  Write out the recipes you are trying somewhere so that if you like them, you can remake them!  An easy thing to forget is where you found the recipe...then you're searching every pinterest site or cookbook trying to remember where you found it.

10.  Make the meals with a friend!  Goes much faster and is just more fun :)