Before I had kids, cooking was relaxing. I used to love coming home from work and spending hours on a delicious meal. It is a way for me to wind down from a hectic day. These days, dinner time at my house is hectic. Cooking isn’t near as relaxing with a screaming baby and a toddler hanging on your legs. I hate convenience foods and it isn’t feasible for us to eat out every night of the week (although I wouldn’t mind a live in chef).
I have several friends who use those meal preparation franchises that seem to be popping up everywhere but with three little boys who eat like food is going out of style, I just can’t justify the extra cost. I know that I can cook so much cheaper than the meals that they offer and I really don’t have the time to get a babysitter and spend several hours at a store location making meals.
I have tried just about everything to simplify meal time. I tried making my own freezer meals, and while they were good, I think I needed to do a bit more experimenting. You can only eat spaghetti and chili so many times before you need a change. I tried cooking twice the amount of food that I needed at each meal with the intention of freezing enough for a second meal. It didn’t work. My kids just ate twice as much food. I have several single sized servings in my freezer as a result of that experiment.
A few months ago I started using Saving Dinner’s Menu Mailer, a weekly menu and grocery list that comes by email every week. I love trying new recipes but I rarely have the time to sit down to find them and plan my menu and grocery list. Menu Mailer has been a huge time saver for me. I get to try new recipes without spending hours scouring through cookbooks. I have always encouraged my kids to try new foods so they have been pretty excited about the variety of foods that we have been eating.
Even with all the time Menu Mailer has been saving me, there are some weeks when I just can’t make it to the grocery store, or life is too hectic to do anything more than pop something in the oven. Saving Dinner has come up with an answer for busy days with their freezer meal menus. They have taken the guesswork out of making freezer meals by providing freezer tested recipes and detailed preparation instructions.
Ten for the Freezer Volume 2 is the latest freezer menu and it includes 5 chicken recipes and 5 salmon recipes. I have used chicken in freezer meals before but I have to admit, as much as I love salmon, I have never tried using it in a freezer meal before. My kids surprised me and absolutely loved the Roasted Greek Isle Salmon, salmon fillets with a toping of basil, garlic, kalamata olives, capers, sundried tomatoes, and lemon zest. We felt like we were being treated to a night of expensive take out but all I had to do to prepare it was throw it in the oven. It sure beats ordering a pizza for both your health and your wallet.
Ten for the Freezer includes a grocery shopping list and detailed preparation instructions. In a few hours you will have 10 freezer meals that you know will come out of the freezer tasting delicious and the best part of all is that you only have to clean up once. The only downside to Saving Dinner’s Ten for the Freezer menu is that you no longer have an excuse to eat fattening take out.
Related posts:
About Rachel
15 Days Left 
8 Days Left 
2 Days Left 
