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December is an expensive month, especially leading up to Christmas, so for the rest of December, I’m planning to do a mini freezer challenge. Today I took inventory of what we have in our freezer and I’m going to show you how I plan to use these items over the course of the rest of the month! I hope this example of freezer meal planning will inspire you to do the same before buying any new groceries.
An Example of Freezer Meal Planning
We have two freezers—one connected to our fridge, and another chest freezer out in the garage. I love our chest freezer for storing things when I get a really good deal, but sometimes things get lost in the depths of the freezer. Looking through it frequently and making a list of what’s in there makes sure nothing goes unused.
Here are the steps I took not only to inventory what we have, but also to make a plan for meals to use up all the stuff.
Step 1: Inventory your food items.
The first thing to do is to make a list. I use the voice memos app on my phone tor record me naming what’s in the freezer, and then I sit at my laptop and type it all out into a long list. However, for the purposes of today’s post, I chose to write it on a sheet of paper. If you’re doing this along with me, make sure to note how much you have — you might write frozen french fries, but it would be helpful to know if you have half a bag or a whole bag.
Step 2: Categorize the items.
Take the list you made and make categories based on what you have. I made 4: protein, fruits/vegetables, ingredients, and other/miscellaneous.
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Step 3: List ideas you have for meals and snacks.
Scan the food items you have and make a quick list of whatever comes to you off the top of your head. Here’s my list:
Step 4: Assign ingredients to those meals.
I got another sheet of paper and took my ideas and made note of what ingredients I’d use for each meal.
Cross off the things you’ve assigned as you go, so you know what else you have to work with. You might find you come up with more meal ideas as you go! You can see that I added some snack ideas (energy bites) and paired some things together to make some easy lunches.
Once I was done with this step, I didn’t have a whole lot left!
Step 5: Make a list of all meals.
I made a section for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks, and put the meals in the appropriate spots.
Some days for lunch we just have leftovers or make sandwiches, but these are all meals that at least one of my kids can prep for everyone on their own.
If you’re doing this digitally, add a note about where to find a recipe, if you need one! Here are the recipes I plan to use:
- Broccoli fettuccine alfredo
- Breakfast hot pockets
- Cottage cheese quiche
- Energy bites
- Berry compote
- Smash burgers
From spending just about 30 minutes doing this, I was able to come up with 5 breakfasts, 3 lunches, 4 dinners, and 3 snack ideas (and some of the meals will stretch for multiple days). While it may not be enough for a whole week, it could definitely cut my grocery spending for the week by at least half, if not more. I’d say this was well worth my time! I hope this example of freezer meal planning helps you. If you have a different approach, I’d love to hear it!
