My Freezer Meal Planning Part 1

It’s planning time again!  Even though I have a freezer stuffed with soup right now I’m looking ahead to my next round that I’ll be prepping in December.  Why do I plan this far in advance?  The biggest reason is that I have a hard time deciding what to make.  I have tons of great recipes, but to decide on only 13-15 (that’s how much my freezer can hold) is challenging for me.  Especially because I have a tendency to pick recipes with chicken and have that be the only meat option.  So right now I’m going through all of my recipes and picking some favorites and throwing in a few new ones as I always do.  Seriously, it can take me 3-4 weeks to make up my mind on what to make.  I don’t sit down and do it all at once 🙂

I also plan this far in advance because I know that food always goes on mega sales in November.  Having my shopping list ready to hit sale items helps me save on cost.  I haven’t spent over $150 yet on a round of prep so I feel that this method works for me to save money.  Not saving a ton of time at this stage, but I find this part of the process relaxing so I use it to chill out from the day.  I’m kind of a nerd like that.

I have a lot of people that ask me about my process and why I plan so early, so there it is!

Update: With any planning session there is usually something that comes up that causes a slight delay.  This time I had all of the recipes pulled and was making out my list when I realized that I didn’t have healthy recipes. I usually try to make most of mine healthy.  Back to planning I go (this time with eating before planning)!