Some nights we had less than 1/2 an hour to make and eat dinner before needing to leave for a performance. Thankfully, my menu planning skills came in handy back in those crazy days. I would plan the weekly menus and prep as much as I could in advance. Then I would make sure that the meal was a quick one to prepare so we would not have to rush eating dinner too much.
Well these days life is much different. My hubby and daughters are all capable chefs and dinners are more leisurely. But, there are still many families that face the challenge of balancing a hectic schedule and are struggling to find a solution.
A busy mom, who wants to cook, recently said that it is often cheaper, easier, faster , and less stressful to just pick something up. She avoids recipes that have too many ingredients, have unusual spices, or takes more than 30 minutes to cook which makes an order of Spaghetti and Meatballs from Olive Garden even more attractive.
I asked if she had ever considered freezer meals. She said she had looked at freezer meal websites and was very disappointed. She said that buying lots of food at one time strains her budget and the preparation instructions was a full days work that doesn't fit into her life. The recipes were mainly for casseroles that required an hour of baking and her family probably wouldn't eat them anyway.
I asked her if she could have some simple freezer menus that didn't break her budget, only took and hour or so to prep before placing in the freezer, could be ready in as little as 15 minutes on a busy night, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY were foods her family would actually enjoy would she be interested in trying a few freezer meals. She said Yes! but I don't think that is possible. If it were possible then the freezer meal websites would have those types of recipes on them already.
Well, this sounded like an opportunity to share some more of my mother's secrets. Thus, My Mother's Secrets Freezer Menus were created!
In a matter of 15 minutes I came up with 74 easy to prepare meals that are delicious and family friendly. But that is just the beginning! The more I though about freezer meals the more the ideas flowed. Therefore the list of menu ideas is ever expanding.
I am also in the process of customizing the recipes to include commercially available seasoning packets for those who don't have a full range of spices in their kitchen at the moment. I hope you will try a few recipes and if you enjoy the flavor and convenience of my "homemade food fast" concept. If your spice cabinet is empty or filled with aged spices way past their prime in time I hope to inspire you to purchase one spice during each of your regular shopping trips to eventually have a complete selection of spices that can be used in place of the premixed flavor packets suggested in the recipes.
Here is a link to some of the Freezer Meal Menus I am working on. The recipes will follow as quickly as I can test out the recipes using prepackaged seasoning mixes. For those of you who have tried my pizza recipe, you might remember that I even custom blend herb d'provence for my spice grinder because I do not like the italian seasoning blends that are commercially available. So, very few of my recipes include a prepackaged blend so I need to retest my recipes before posting.
I appreciate your comments and feedback so much. So please post a comment or drop me an email if you want to influence the order of the recipes I post. Additionally, if you have a problem that keeps you from putting a tasty meal on the table for your family or you need some help with anything remember you can always ASK MOM!