How to fill your freezer with foods you love (zero extra time!)

Hi reader, I've heard that you save money when you make a meal plan, right? Well, did you know that you can save TIME when you plan too? I like to call this my Get Ahead Action Plan, and it's an awesome combination of batch cooking + freezer cooking + meal planning. When done right, it can save you HOURS in the kitchen each week. Let me show you how it works:   Make a meal plan. Aim to make extras of ONE thing every day. Use those extras in future meals and save time! I don't know about you, but I love seeing examples of how things work in real life, so let me take one week of my recent May meal plans and show you what my Get Ahead Action Plan would look like: Sunday: Giant Italian Meatballs // 15-minute Spaghetti // Side Salad Make a double batch of meatballs; freeze. Make 2x batch of sauce and freeze for later (would make a great pizza sauce!). Prep 2x side salad for dinner this week, but make extras for lunches too. Go ahead and prep salad for dinner tomorrow and cut veggies for Tuesday while I'm at it. Save all scraps for stock. Make 3x batch of Caesar salad dressing (today, Tuesday, Wednesday). Monday: Vegetarian Taco Salad // Jalapeno Cheddar Biscuits You need brown rice and black beans for the salad, so I (personally) would make 2lbs black beans in my Instant Pot and freeze extras in 2 cup portions. Then, I'd make a 4x batch of brown rice in my Instant Pot and freeze extras in 2 cup portions. Both salad and biscuits call for shredded cheese, so I'd shred the entire block and freeze in ½ cup portions. Make a 2x batch of biscuits for Thursday, but aim for 4x batch (meal idea on Wednesday!) Tuesday: Chicken Caesar Salad Wraps // Sliced Veggies with Pesto Hummus If I wasn't already pulling chicken from the freezer, I'd cook 2 whole chickens in the oven at the same time (or in the Instant Pot or slow cooker) and pull all the meat off all the bones; freeze in 2 cup portions. Immediately start a batch of Instant Pot chicken stock with all the bones AND the scraps I've been saving for stock. Make 1 pound garbanzo beans in Instant Pot and freeze in 2 cup portions. Wednesday: Savory Pasta with Onion, Bacon and Greens // Side Salad (Meal Idea) Cook a full 1lb of bacon and add BLTs to the menu next week using reserved biscuits instead of bread. Thursday: Tomato Basil Soup // Jalapeno Cheddar Biscuits Make a 3x batch of soup; freeze in either a gallon bag (for 4 of us) or quart bag (to mix/match soup night). Friday: Instant Pot BBQ Chicken // Homemade Buns // Cilantro Lime Coleslaw Make 2x or 3x batch of homemade buns; freeze. (Meal Idea) If I'm not using chicken from the freezer, make 2x Instant Pot BBQ chicken and add Southwestern Chicken Salad to the menu next week. Will use black beans and salsa I made earlier this week. Saturday: Kung Pao Chicken with Vegetables // Instant Pot Brown Rice Use chicken from Tuesday and brown rice from Monday, if available. By being intentional in getting ahead, at the end of the week you'll now have AT LEAST:   1 batch of giant meatballs 1-2 quarts of spaghetti sauce caesar dressing 6-8 cups of brown rice 6-8 cups of black beans shredded cheddar cheese 2 dozen jalapeno cheddar biscuits 6-8 cups of shredded chicken 6-8 quarts of chicken stock 3-4 cups of garbanzo beans 1/2 pound of cooked bacon 1-2 gallons of tomato basil soup 2 dozen hamburger buns That's a lot of food, prepped and ready to go! At a quick glance, I see at least FIVE full meals ready when I need them... Meatballs + Sauce BBQ Chicken Salad w/Biscuits Soup Southwestern Salad Chicken Sandwiches ...plus ingredients to make so much more! I'd love to hear how you plan to get ahead, reader. Can you hit "reply" and share with me how you're going to make the most of the time you spend in the kitchen this week? Too busy for eat real food on a budget? Join Grocery Budget Mastermind to make changes AND save money in short 5-minute chunks of time. Grocery Budget Mastermind is a community created for everyday people who are busy and simply want to save money on food. Every month we break down big real food ideas (meal planning, budgeting, cooking from scratch etc.) into bite-size pieces that only take 5 minutes to implement!! It's only $5 to join (yes, really!) and you make your money back in just ONE 5-minute task! >> Click here to learn more! <<  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ If you enjoy a recipe, be sure to give it a 5-star rating! (you can also tell us why you love it so much in the comments ♥) Homemade Taco Seasoning Mix up this homemade taco seasoning recipe in only 2 minutes! It's not too spicy, not too mild, and WAY better (and cheaper!) than the packet. We use it for ground beef taco meat and my kids always clean their plates!   Read More Here   Slow Cooker Ribs These slow cooker ribs are perfectly tender and juicy, and fall-off-the-bone delicious! With easy prep, they taste just as good as grilled without all the work! Pair with Stovetop Mac and Cheese and Instant Pot Steamed Veggies for a delicious meal. Read More Here  30+ Ways to Use a Stand Mixer You can use your stand mixer for a lot more than just dessert! Try one of over 40 cake mixer recipes and hacks in your kitchen to save time and effort today! Read More Here  Slow Cooker Blueberry Cobbler This simple blueberry cobbler recipe is so yummy! Just dump the ingredients in the slow cooker and in a few hours, you'll have the perfect summer dessert. Use Homemade Cake Mix or Bisquick, fresh or frozen berries, and you can even make it gluten-free! Read More Here

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