Freezer Meals v.1 - "What, Why & How"

I am a woman on a mission.

A mission to save time, money, & having to do the dishes.

I'm on a mission to be healthy.

I want to be healthy and I want Matt to be healthy.

One day when we have them, I want our children to eat healthy.

I don't know what has gotten into me or why it's suddenly so important.

It is though, and here I go...a woman on a mission.

I recently joined a Meal Swap Group. I made the same recipe for 7 families (feeding at least 4 in each).

The recipe I made cost just over $70 and because it's just Matt and I, the 7 different meals we were given will last us 14 meals (7 dinners and then 7 lunches for left-overs).

I went grocery shopping at 9pm a few nights ago. I went late with a hoodie and tennis shoes (I hate being cold at the grocery store). I went late because I hate going grocery shopping. I get super annoyed when it's busy. I'd rather go in the quiet and be able to concentrate. I can't go with Matt either. It's something I like to do alone. (I get flustered in busy places..*like Ikea*..too many choices).

 I bought two freezer meal cookbooks at Barnes & Noble (post on them soon).
I am going to be making 18 recipes for this month which will make us 30 dinners and a months worth of breakfasts.

We are also eating way healthier than we usually do because of this! All the recipes in my book are "low-fat" and "light".
In one of the books I bought they have you cook in "mini sessions".
For this month we chose "Pork Chop Mini Session", "Crab Mini Session", "Pasta Mini Session #1".
Because of these mini sessions, I wasn't purchasing such a variety of meats which saved a lot of money.
Choosing a Pasta session for this month is also saving us a lot of money.
The exciting part is we may be eating a whole lot of pork or crab...but the recipes are all so so different!

We will have nights where we aren't home for dinner, go on dates or grill-out because it's getting warm, so a lot of these meals will go into next month.
I'll choose a beef, chicken and pasta sessions next month, so it will eventually become a larger variety.

Is this making any sense?

Here are the recipes I will be making this month -- most can stay frozen for 3-6 months!
I will post all of these as well :)
Pork Chop Mini Session
Dijon Pork Chops
Sweet-n-Sour Pork
Pork-Rice Skillet Bake
Herbed Pork Chops
Provencal Pork
Stuffed Pork Chops 
**made all of these recipes last night in just 3.5 hours (Matt and I cooked together) it was fun!**

Crab Mini Session
Crab Quesadillas
Crab Quiche
Crab-Rice Chowder
Crab Strata
Crab-Stuffed Manicotti


Pasta Mini Session #1
Italian Pasta Bake
Linguine with Vegetables
Three-Cheese Mac-n-Cheese
Italian Garden Pasta


Breakfasts
Pumpkin Pancakes **filled a c
Zucchini Muffins
Sausage, Egg & Cheese Breakfast Burritos


We also have the recipes from my Meal Swap group that will be nice to throw in here and there.


Just because these meals are frozen, it is not eating left overs. If any meats or noodles are cooked prior to freezing, I will cook them until they are just under cooked. That way they can finish during their re-heat and won't taste over-cooked like leftovers.

We'll see how this goes :)
Our freezer is already filling up. It feels great knowing that we have food for the whole month and don't have to worry about it. This is our last summer feeling "tight". I am loving this weight off my shoulders. We always spend way too much on groceries because we are constantly just going to buy dinner the night we need it...that always adds up. This way I know exactly what I've spent.

This month's total (breakfasts & dinners) = $268.00 !!!