I thought I had more time!!!

It’s okay, relax, I didn’t mean to scare years off your life.  After all, as a life coach I’m all about helping you make life better, not shorter!

This week’s theme of back to school will bring you ideas, tips and tricks to begin planning and organizing now in order to simplify the upcoming days.  So whether you are a student prepping to hit the books, a parent juggling everything that the school year will bring, or just someone who could use some tools to give you a bit more breathing room, you’ll find some answers!

Today let’s tackle a very simple idea – freezer meals.  Hang on – even if you cook for one or don’t cook at all, check this out.  You can create make-ahead meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  The whole idea is to be able to create homemade, healthy meals that you can portion and store in your freezer so that, when you get home after a long day, you can have yummy homemade meals that just need to be thawed and reheated.  This can help you save time, money and resist driving through the fast food lane!  If you don’t cook, you can go to a large market (like Whole Foods or ShopRite) and find all kinds of store-made/homemade meals, soups, chili, etc., which you can then bring home and portion/freeze as well.  Add a salad (either made by you or a “bag-o-salad” from the market), and you’ve got a wonderful, quick meal.

I’ve listed some websites below where you can find great recipes for make-ahead freezer meals.  Additionally, they offer ideas for options like getting a group together to share cooking/meal prep (like a “freezer club”).  A Google search will result in a plethora of other sites as well.  While I try to stick to healthy meals, sometimes I venture into places with incredible but not-as-healthy recipes, and then I may just vary a recipe to find a healthier version.  Your choice!

One other thing I’d like to mention about freezer make-ahead meals — when you have extra meals, and you know of someone who is sick, or a friend who just had a baby, or someone who is going through something that keeps them from cooking/eating healthfully, you have an immediate way to bless them/love on them by bringing them a meal or two.  It doesn’t take much to offer a kindness, and can make a huge difference to the recipient!  

So there is your first tip that you can begin today – double your meal tonight, then freeze it and there you go!  You are on your way to a much easier entry into the school year.  Won’t it be nice after a long day of shopping for school supplies or clothes to come home, grab something from your freezer, and within a matter of minutes serve yourself, your family or friends a homemade meal?  Please do share your favorite freezer recipes in the comments below, or email me at [email protected], and maybe I will feature you and your recipe on an upcoming blog!

Ready to start cooking?

http://www.cookinglight.com/food/recipe-finder/freezer-meals

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/freezer-cooking/