What I Learned From Freezer Cooking

I decided to cook all my meals for a month in one day again : )  In fact I've been cooking and freezing meals all day long.

You may wonder why someone would want to cook all their meals for the month in one day, when last month her house almost burned down (that might be a slight exaggeration). The fact of the matter is, cooking once a month means  A LOT of work in one day. But that's just it, it's JUST ONE day.

I was inspired after hearing the author of Once-A-Month Cooking on Focus on the Family last month, and I immediately started writing out a meal plan.
It made my evenings so much smoother last month and we had no emergency take out trips.  It also lowered our grocery budget slightly.

I normally would need to make up to three meals in one night because of picky eaters, so having a meal already made for our entree was great.  It just meant heating up a side or two I knew everyone would eat.

Everything I made turned out well after freezing too, with the exception of one rice dish that my husband and I didn't really care for.  My picky eaters however gobbled it up, go figure.

My favorite part about this whole endevour was how much faster I was able to clean my kitchen during the month.

Last month our menu included:

• Cheesy chicken and rice with broccoli
• Italian Chicken and rice
• Beef and cheese enchiladas
• Corned Beef
• Turkey Roast
• Sloppy Joes
• Meat Loaf
• Spaghetti and Meatballs

Hopefully I'll be able to ad some recipe links within the next few days.  In the mean time I would love to know what meals that you've made that freeze well.


Be sure to join my Tuesday Link-up at Lessons From Ivy.  (the other link parties I frequent are in my sidebar)

How to Save $1000 Dollars this Year

So how do you save $1000 in a year? Simply by doing 10 things that will save you 2 dollars a week each. Easy right?  Here's my list, I'd love to hear any of your suggestions as well.

1) Make my own Gluten free bread, my recipe costs less than a $1 a loaf (really good by gf standards).  GF bread at our supermarket costs $4 so this will save me $3 a week or $156 a year saved!

2)Use my cloth diapers, I may wait to start this one until after my family get's moved, I haven't been using them much lately because having 2 under 2 and trying to move has been needless to say, tricky.  But, let's say I even use cloth diapers half the time so I'd save $4 a week, or $208 a year! (Alright just typing that number makes me want to use them now, I think I will.....)

3) Dry my laundry outside, this one will have to wait until we move.  I've not run the numbers myself but supposedly this will save, $100 dollars a year easily.

4) Have leftover night once a week instead of making a new meal, or stretch protein by using more rice or beans (just try to eliminate food waste in general).  I'll figure conservatively this one will save my family $5 a week, or $260 a year.

5) Plan better for snacks on the road, no more dollar menu stops!  I confess this takes at least $3 a week from our income, if not more.  Figuring conservatively this will save $156 a year.

6) Use my Swagbucks gift certificates to buy GF flour from amazon. For this I would need to buy 8 packs of flour for $30 so I don't have to pay shipping.  This works out to be a two month supply in that time I typically earn $10 worth of gift certificates from Swagbucks, making each bag $2.50 a piece or $1.50 cheaper than buying it from my grocery store.  This will be a savings of $78 a year.

7) Stop buying a new Goodwill toy for my kids every week : ) They certainly have enough already and extended family tend to spoil them as much as I do.  This will save at least $52 a year.

If I implement these seven simple things my family will have save $1002 in just one year!!


I think I'll be copying the list and hanging it on my refrigerator to keep me motivated.  Any other ideas for this penny pinching Mamma?

By the way if you haven't tried Swagbucks yet, I've seriously made over $25 in gift cards this year without much effort.