When Chicken Nuggets and Frozen Pizza Aren’t Enough

After 10 years of living in the Chicago suburbs, our family moved back to Dubuque, Iowa, the town in which I grew up. It was a dream come true for me to be close to my extended family. I was so excited for our boys, ages 7 and 10 to spend time with their grandparents and great grandparents.

We moved into the basement of my parent’s home for a few months until our house was ready. After a short time, this living situation was beginning to wear on me. One night while we were in our bedroom I needed to vent to my husband. I said, “I am so sick of these four course meals every night! Dinner is a 2 hour production and I can’t do anything right! I can not wait until we have our own home!” My husband had his head in the newspaper and he gently laid it down and stared at me. He didn’t say a word. I looked at him and shouted “ Don’t you agree with me?” He slowly and steadily said, “yeah, I can’t wait to go back to chicken nuggets and frozen pizza.” Wham. It hit me like a ton of bricks. I was searching my mind for a comeback but I had nothing. That was what I served most nights for dinner. He was right.

After the move and we were settled in our home I tried to plan dinners for our family. On Sunday afternoons, I would search our cabinets and freezer. I would go through my recipes searching for ones using ingredients we had on hand. Then I would write a grocery list, double checking the cupboards to cross off any ingredients that we did not need. Then, I would make a trip to at least 2 if not 3 grocery stores to try to save money. It was exhausting! It took up my entire Sunday afternoon and by the time I got home I was too tired to cook, so we’d usually order a pizza. Then on Monday when I got home from work it was too late to start dinner so we’d have chicken nuggets (this was my version of variety). The cycle went on and on and we still were not having nutritious meals and it was a huge source of stress for my already busy life. My husband’s comment from when we were living with my parents, was still ringing in the back of my mind.

I gathered some friends, and we had our first meal assembly session. We made 12 meals and I have been hooked ever since. I can not describe what a blessing this has been for our family. I can’t decide if I love freezer meals because it saves money and trips to the grocery store, or because meal prep is so easy that our babysitter or my husband can prepare the meals.

As a working Mom sometimes I do not arrive home from work until 6:30. On those nights I will either throw a meal in the slow cooker before I leave for work or leave directions for the babysitter to put the casserole or meatloaf in the oven at 5:00. Then when my husband arrives home at 6:00, dinner is hot, ready and the house smells delicious.

The kids love trying new meals and now they will say, “Mom, this is a keeper” or “you can write family favorite next to this one.” Now, years later, my husband would tell you that I am a good cook.

One common comment I have heard from the women participating is that meal assembly day is fun! Ladies love to get together for any reason. We just want to talk. Instead of another party where you are asking women to purchase something they probably don’t need, have a freezer meal party. Every woman would benefit from having some meals on hand and it will transform preparing dinner for their family.

How to get started:
Find a few women who are looking to reduce stress, prepare delicious meals and save money. Have everyone meet and bring some favorite recipes, slow cooker meals and casseroles work well. Pick out a menu, 10 meals is a good place to start. Choose where you will assemble the meals. One person will need to create a grocery list and menu (which will include the instructions for serving day for each recipe). Remember to add freezer bags to the grocery list, I recommend double bagging each meal. Also make a note of any recipes that call for cooked meat. Each person will need to bring their meat, already cooked, to the assembly session for their meals.

Here are some tips to make your freezer meal assembly session go smoothly:

• If you are using raw ground beef for recipes such as sloppy joes or meatloaf, be sure to use 90% lean.
• Depending on what time of the day you’ll be meeting, and how many meals you are assembling, you may want to add a couple of frozen pizzas to the grocery list. Then half way through, you can break for lunch.
• Get childcare. It is too difficult to be watching/tending to children during this process.
• The host home should have multiple sets of measuring cups & spoons, sharp knives, strainer, a few cutting boards, electric can opener, cooking spray and a sharpie marker. Have recycle bins and/or garbage cans ready to accommodate multiple cans and boxes.
• You will want to bring an apron and a cooler. Wear comfortable shoes.
• It is best to prepare your meals in order of the type of meat. This will help avoid cross contamination. For example, every meal that requires cooked ground beef, you’ll complete first, meals that contain raw ground beef second, etc. You will want to disinfect the counter top each time you switch to a different type of meat.
• Write the name of the meal and date on the freezer bag with a permanent marker.
• Lay your freezer bags flat to store to make best use of your freezer space.
• You will want to thaw out your meals in the fridge two days before using them.

The other day my husband and I were strolling through our local warehouse club when he spotted frozen pizzas. He literally said to me “let’s get some pizzas, it has been a long time since we’ve had frozen pizza!” I laughed and reminded him of the comment he made a few years earlier (some things are hard to forget).

I encourage you to try freezer meal assembly. It is fun and has drastically improved my life and the lives of the women that assemble meals with me. I pray that freezer meal assembly will be as much of a blessing to your family as it has been for ours!