Meal Planning is an important step in the freezer cooking process. Knowing what you are going to make, and when you are going to make it, is imperative in being able to successfully enjoy your new way of cooking.
Another thing to consider, is how long a meal will take to prepare the evening that you plan to make it. On Wednesday night, my two oldest children go to church youth group, and because of what time I have to get them there, I have to make dinner a bit earlier than I normally do. This can affect what I pull out of the freezer that night. Often I make something easy, like sub sandwiches and soup, or macaroni and cheese or even spaghetti from a jar (gasp) – nope, not every meal is completely home-made. But it is important to keep in mind, what your evenings look like, so you don’t get to the point, where anything you have to prepare is going to take an hour to cook in the oven. That can drastically change how effective or easy, freezer cooking can be for your family.
Another important step in meal planning, is taking into consideration the types of freezer cooking sessions you will be doing. For instance, you might focus on chicken and ground beef recipes this month, and next month you might focus on ground turkey and ham. There is another way to do this, and I will explain how I did it when I got started and how I maintain it, in the next article. I think it will help you tremendously.
When you are finished filling out the calendar, you will need to hold onto it and keep it handy during the cooking process, in case you need to make changes and you will need it once all the meals have been prepared.
Please see Freezer Cooking: Meal Planning (1) for more helpful advice on meal planning.
For more of my articles on freezer cooking, please see the freezer cooking section in the frugal living blog or for some excellent recipes to prepare, visit the food blog. I have contributed some exclusively for freezer cooking, however you can use many of the great ones already there!