Had to share this with you as I have made 3 MAJOR change-ups to simplify my life this past summer and it started with this plan. I'll post the others in their respective spots. But here in the kitchen, I have SEEN THE LIGHT my freezer cooking friends.
(I just re-read this post. No, I'm not affiliated with the cooking site, I'm just ridiculously excited about it and want to know if anyone else is doing it)
Short Story: Over the summer I did a 12-week program that taught me how to do batch prep cooking and it has simplified my life SO much and given me SO much more time to do other stuff. Here's how it works: I buy a $5 plan online. (I'm going with prepared plans to learn the process. I'll adjust the recipes down the line but so far they've all been pretty good). I go to Costco, I spend $150-$200 on ONLY the items for those recipes. I come home and I put it all in the fridge. Next day i spent only 2 hours (okay at first it took me 3 til I had the hang of it), watching this gal on video making the SAME EXACT meals and I prep about 24 meals in Ziploc bags. Two of each recipe. The only meat that gets cooked in advance is the ground beef. Then it ALL goes into the freezer and I have been able to have a hot cooked meal on the table SO easily all summer -- rather than stressing about what I'm gong to cook each day. I give my family a list of options, the kids pick and I throw it in the slow cooker or on the grill or whatever. I will never ever go back to any other way of cooking, the change has been THAT big!
Longer Story: I used to give a thumbs down to freezer cooking because it seemed like all the meals tasted the same once they were frozen and reheated. With this way of doing the prep the cooking is fresh and the ingredients taste fresh. You would never know it was frozen. And I'm not running to the store all the time -- which is a big deal because the store is a bit of a drive.
Now all of my freezer cooking friends, you can nod your heads knowingly and pat me on the back and say Welcome to the Club and ask what took me so long. I'm SO excited!
(The 12-Week program I used was called Grocery Budget Makeover by Erin Chase who runs a meal plans site. Had never heard of her before that night but apparently she has been around a while in the cooking world. Stumbled across her one night while I was furiously pounding away on the web searching for solutions because I had hit the wall and was SO sick of figuring out what was for dinner last Spring while trying to juggle a multiple sport household. I had maxxed out all my slow-cooker meals and was SO sick of cooking my own recipes - yet had no time to experiment and play in the kitchen because of our crazy schedule. And there she was. *insert Angels singing here* Erin Chase. Apparently this was the time she'd ever done this kind of program and said was running a closed group for people who needed to change the way they were handling their menu planning. A new business venture for her. She was gathering guinea pigs. I paid like $35 or so and jumped in with eyes closed. The course ran over the summer. I know there are other sites that do meal plans - had just never looked at them seriously before. Wow, what a game changer.
I will share a couple other life-changers that happened over the summer but in other areas. Would love to hear if any of you have done a purchased plan like this and which ones you like. There is another site by Leanne Ely (I like her too) but I've not tried her meals. I'm completely sold on the method though.
OH!!! And this gal provides adjustments for people that are Gluten Free!
*more angels singing*
(I just re-read this post. No, I'm not affiliated with the cooking site, I'm just ridiculously excited about it and want to know if anyone else is doing it)
Short Story: Over the summer I did a 12-week program that taught me how to do batch prep cooking and it has simplified my life SO much and given me SO much more time to do other stuff. Here's how it works: I buy a $5 plan online. (I'm going with prepared plans to learn the process. I'll adjust the recipes down the line but so far they've all been pretty good). I go to Costco, I spend $150-$200 on ONLY the items for those recipes. I come home and I put it all in the fridge. Next day i spent only 2 hours (okay at first it took me 3 til I had the hang of it), watching this gal on video making the SAME EXACT meals and I prep about 24 meals in Ziploc bags. Two of each recipe. The only meat that gets cooked in advance is the ground beef. Then it ALL goes into the freezer and I have been able to have a hot cooked meal on the table SO easily all summer -- rather than stressing about what I'm gong to cook each day. I give my family a list of options, the kids pick and I throw it in the slow cooker or on the grill or whatever. I will never ever go back to any other way of cooking, the change has been THAT big!
Longer Story: I used to give a thumbs down to freezer cooking because it seemed like all the meals tasted the same once they were frozen and reheated. With this way of doing the prep the cooking is fresh and the ingredients taste fresh. You would never know it was frozen. And I'm not running to the store all the time -- which is a big deal because the store is a bit of a drive.
Now all of my freezer cooking friends, you can nod your heads knowingly and pat me on the back and say Welcome to the Club and ask what took me so long. I'm SO excited!
(The 12-Week program I used was called Grocery Budget Makeover by Erin Chase who runs a meal plans site. Had never heard of her before that night but apparently she has been around a while in the cooking world. Stumbled across her one night while I was furiously pounding away on the web searching for solutions because I had hit the wall and was SO sick of figuring out what was for dinner last Spring while trying to juggle a multiple sport household. I had maxxed out all my slow-cooker meals and was SO sick of cooking my own recipes - yet had no time to experiment and play in the kitchen because of our crazy schedule. And there she was. *insert Angels singing here* Erin Chase. Apparently this was the time she'd ever done this kind of program and said was running a closed group for people who needed to change the way they were handling their menu planning. A new business venture for her. She was gathering guinea pigs. I paid like $35 or so and jumped in with eyes closed. The course ran over the summer. I know there are other sites that do meal plans - had just never looked at them seriously before. Wow, what a game changer.
I will share a couple other life-changers that happened over the summer but in other areas. Would love to hear if any of you have done a purchased plan like this and which ones you like. There is another site by Leanne Ely (I like her too) but I've not tried her meals. I'm completely sold on the method though.
OH!!! And this gal provides adjustments for people that are Gluten Free!
*more angels singing*
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