I love doing meal prep because it makes my daily life so much easier! When I get up in the morning all I have to think about is what I’m going to pull out of the freezer. I can’t even put into words how much more peaceful I am because I don’t have to think about dinner. Now, I still do menu planning on our family calendar and I plan what we are going to have for dinner based upon how much time I have to prep that particular day. For example, one day last week I was out all day and I wasn’t sure what time I would be getting home so I planned Chicken Lasagna. I placed the pans of frozen lasagna in the oven in the morning so all we had to do was turn on the oven on and make some corn. Other days when I know I will be home and will have time, I will plan meals where the pasta or rice needs to be cooked.

All of these meals are so easy to prepare on meal prep day and on the day of cooking. I planned each meal to be eaten 3 times except for a few. I did this so we are not eating the same things over and over and there is a little variety to our menu. Chicken Lasagna, Chicken Bacon Stackers, and Chicken Caprese were the meals I planned twice because of freezer space and the time it takes to plan these meals.

I had originally planned to do 29 meals but I was able to get 31 meals out of the supplies I purchased. This is another advantage of preparing your meals ahead of time. There is a lot less waste and sometimes you are able to make the supplies go a little further. For example, if you add 2 cans of diced tomatoes to your taco meat you can get another meal out of it. For $1.60 more I got another meal of Taco Tots.

I spent approximately $353 for 31 meals. That averages out to be about $11.38 per meal feeding 8-10 people. I shopped at Sam’s Club for all my meats and cheeses, Aldi for my produce and Wal-Mart for my canned goods. I like to get the bigger cans of stuff so it takes less time opening them all up. 

When I planned this menu I took into consideration how much space this would require. I froze the meals flat on my freezer shelf as I prepped them. It took about 3 freezer shelves to store them but I probably could have squeezed it onto 2 shelves if I had needed too. When you are packaging your meals, make sure you are getting all the air out of them by sealing them halfway and pressing down until it’s completely flat. Always make sure you label your bags so you don’t have “Mystery Meals.” Another thing I have learned from experience.

Always make sure to let your food cool before you wrap or bag it up. Trust me, I know from experience, if you put the food in hot it will burn a hole in your bag and leak all over your freezer. That’s no fun!

I am all for saving money on generic items but I do buy the name brand Freezer Ziploc bags. I have found they keep the food protected for a longer period of time. This food is an investment of my time and money and I want to protect it. It’s worth the extra money!

This time I assigned each kiddo to help with a meal and it helped cut down the chaos. I felt much more peaceful doing it this way.  And if Mom is peaceful, it much better for everyone! It took us about 3 hours and 45 minutes to complete the 31 meals. I don’t know about you but if I did this on a daily basis it would be an hour a day with clean-up. I am saving myself a ton of time by doing it all at once.

CrewTip: The Concept Behind My Crazy

I keep track of the inventory in my freezer by using a checklist on my phone. When I use the meal, I check it off so I don’t lose track and think I have more than I really do.

Download my free menu plan and instructions! I have included plans for feeding 4-6 people and 8-10 people.

Watch our YouTube video to see how we did it! It has tips and step by step instructions!