Monday, April 23, 2012

6 Hours....16 meal preps...plus smoothies and breakfast!

6 Hours....16 meal preps...plus smoothies and breakfast!

I did it! I spent 2 hours each morning for 3 days last week making meal preps for the freezer. I am not a big fan of spending the whole day in the kitchen, nor do I have the time. My family is not big on crock pot casseroles, so I need frozen items that are ready to go for fresh, healthy meals. This totally worked for me! I found it to be easy and completely do-able!

I went to Costco and bought large amounts of meat and fruit! I did not make actual meals, but I prepared things that i can turn into easy meals!

Here's what's in my freezer.....

2 packs of shredded organic chicken
1 pack of 4 marinated organic chicken breasts (plus dinner that day)
2 packs of meatballs
4 burgers (plus dinner for that day)
2 packs pulled pork (plus dinner for that day)
3 packs ground turkey breast sausage (homemade)
2 packs ground turkey breast burgers (homemade)
Pineapple Coconut Popsicles
8 family smoothie packs
3 single smoothie packs
Blueberry Muffins
Raspberry Muffins
Pumpkin Pancakes
Buttermilk Pancakes
French Toast

So, as you can see, I did not limit myself to dinner. The possibilities for dinner are endless! I can make tacos, pulled pork sandwiches, meatball subs or spaghetti, turkey burgers or regular burgers, i can use the sausage for breakfast or pizza. It was so nice to have dinner ready for the day I was in the kitchen too! The smoothies are working out great paired with the muffins for a super quick meal or snack in between soccer and swimming....or tball and football. It has been crazy around here for the past few weeks with spring sports and getting the garden planted. Having part of a meal ready to go has been awesome!

I am hoping this will last me a month. I don't need a meal for every night of the week. Sometimes I will have leftovers, and sometimes we go out, or sometimes I am at work and the family has oatmeal for dinner! I will share the shopping list, recipes and how to's throughout the week. I will try to be as thorough as possible. You don't have to use organic like I did, and you certainly don't have to grind your own meat like I did! You could use boxed muffins and frozen fruit if you need to! Whatever you do, don't make this overwhelming! Have fun, make it as simple or complex as you are comfortable with.

I have a foodsaver which i could not live without. I REUSE my bags unless they have raw meat in them. If you don't have a foodsaver, make sure you have plenty of plastic baggies that you can reuse also.









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