On December 28, 2019 by Kelly

Freezer cooking doesn’t have to take all day. Mini Meal Plans can streamline your cooking day and make meal planning simple!

We obviously all love freezer cooking around here, but we have all had seasons of life where we simply can’t carve an entire day out of the calendar to do a big cooking day. New babies, travel, busy work schedule, schooling, prolonged illness – these all can prohibit the big once a month cooking day. Those who are new to freezer cooking are often overwhelmed by starting with a full day of cooking. But you don’t have to cook from dawn until dark to experience the benefits of freezer cooking and free up time for the most important things in life. Mini Meal Plans can make meal planning simple!

What is a Freezer Cooking Mini Meal Plan?

It is really just a shorter version of our monthly meal plans created to maximize your convenience.

Each mini meal plan contains 5-6 recipes, and each is doubled, resulting in 10-12 meals for your family! Depending on how often you serve freezer meals, this will last for about two weeks or even up to four. Just like our full meal plans, each Mini comes with a grocery list, recipe cards, step-by-step cooking day instructions, and labels. And just like with our full meal plans, you can choose a meal plan type that fits your lifestyle.

So if it is a mini meal plan, is it really going to fill my freezer? You won’t have as much food as you would from a monthly meal plan, but you WIIL have enough food to gain back your time and sanity. Having 10 easy meals in the freezer is certainly a big improvement over hitting the drive thru!

Who should cook a Mini Meal Plan?

Freezer Cooking Newbies

We recommend that everyone start with a Mini Meal Plan. When you are just figuring out the process of freezer cooking, it can be a little overwhelming to shop and cook 15 recipes and double them all for 30 meals in just a day or two. But the Mini Meal Plan is the perfect amount to help you see the benefits while still being able to manage the learning curve. But there are other reasons why you might choose the Mini Meal Plan over a full meal plan.

Limited Kitchen or Freezer Space

An enormous farm kitchen and a huge chest freezer are not required for freezer cooking, thankfully! If you have a small apartment kitchen, haven’t invested in a big freezer, or are otherwise limited when it comes to space – the Mini Meal Plan is for you!

Limited Time to Freeze Cook

There are times when you are extra busy. These are the times when freezer cooking is the most helpful, but you just can’t seem to get more than a few hours at a time to work on something. That is ok! Some of our Mini Meal Plans are designed to be completed in an afternoon. Mini Meal Plans are also easier to split up into two smaller sessions if you need to do that.

Here is another trick when you are short on time. Pick a Mini Meal Plan and buy all of the ingredients. Cook one of the meals each night. Since the recipes are all doubled, you can eat one that night and put the second in the freezer for another time! Do this for 5 days, and you have 5 meals in the freezer! And you meal planned for a whole week on top of that!

Limited Budget

Sometimes the up front cost of freezer cooking isn’t doable for those on a tight budget. But the Mini Meal Plan is much more manageable! Stick with a vegetarian meal plan or choose your own recipes based on ingredients that you already have on hand or items that you know are on deep discount at your local stores.

Additionally, you will notice that all of our meal plans are seasonal. This means that we choose produce that is likely to be discounted or cheaper at your local store and we take into account sale cycles that are associated with seasonal holidays. And on the whole, meal planning saves you money because there is less waste and less eat out!

Sharing Meals or Freezing it Forward

Do you like to bring meals to those who need them? New moms, those who are ill, elderly, or shut in. Or maybe you just have a friend or neighbor who is struggling financially or emotionally. We have several Mini Meal Plans that we have created just for this purpose! They are called “Multicourse Mini Meal Plans” if you are searching for them later.

Special Occasions or Special Love of an Appliance

Holidays get super busy! But when you freeze your meals, appetizers, special meals, desserts, etc. ahead of time, you can actually spend time with the people you love! What about date night? Backyard cookouts? Potluck meals? Back to school? New diets or New Year’s resolutions? We love to create special Mini Meal Plans to help at specific times when you need them!

Maybe you are a slow cooking queen? Or you have mastered all things Instant Pot? We love these time saving tools too! And we have meal plans devoted especially to them. There are so many ways to use Mini Meal Plans! Read on in the next section for a sampling of our favorite Mini Meal Plans.

More Mini Meal Plan Resources

Focus on a specific meal of the day:

• Winter Breakfast Mini Meal Plan Vol. 1
• Spring Brunch Mini Meal Plan Vol. 1
• Summer Lunch Mini Meal Plan Vol. 3 (Kids lunches for back to school!)
• Summer Salad Topper Mini Meal Plan Vol. 1 (Grown-up lunches.)
• Summer Snack Mini Meal Plan Vol. 1
• Summer Sides Mini Meal Plan Vol. 2
• Fall Multicourse Mini Meal Plan Vol. 1 (Great to bring to someone in need. Includes main dishes, sides, and desserts.)

Focus on seasonal produce, sales, and special occasions:

• Spring Ground Beef Mini Meal Plan Vol. 1
• Spring Grilling Mini Meal Plan Vol. 2
• Fall Apple Mini Meal Plan Vol. 1
• Fall Pumpkin Mini Meal Plan Vol. 1
• Spring Date Night Mini Meal Plan Vol. 2

Use your favorite kitchen appliance:

• Winter Paleo Instant Pot Mini Meal Plan Vol. 1 (Whole30 Compliant)
• Spring Instant Pot Mini Meal Plan Vol. 1
• MORE Instant Pot Mini Meal Plans!
• Winter Slow Cooker Mini Meal Plan Vol. 3
• Fall Slow Cooker Mini Meal Plan Vol. 1
• MORE Slow Cooker Mini Meal Plans!

For our easiest and quickest meal plans, look for Dump and Go!

• Fall Dump and Go Mini Meal Plan  Vol. 1
• Summer Dump and Go Mini Meal Plan Vol. 1
• Winter Diet Dump and Go Mini Meal Plan Vol. 1
• Spring Dump and Go Mini Meal Plan Vol. 1
• MORE Dump and Go Mini Meal Plans!

Create your Own Mini Meal Plan

We’ve given you lots of idea for tailoring Mini Meal Plans to your needs, but you can also pick and choose from over 5,500 recipes in our MenuBuilder database! Choose the exact number of recipes you want and the exact type you need. Or fill your freezer with family favorites!

How do I get Mini Meal Plans from Once a Month Meals?

Simple! Get your own Once a Month Meals Membership today! With Membership you will have access to all of our full and Mini meal plans along with all of the accompanying documents, customized for the number of servings you need. This post is really just a glance.

We have over 150 Mini Meal Plans available! PLUS access to MenuBuilder, which allows you to mix and match and create fully customized freezer cooking meal plans – Mini meal plans or full!

Learn more about how our meal plans work and customizing them HERE!

If you aren’t quite ready to join as a member, but would like to try freezer cooking, please sign up for a FREE Mini Meal Plan by scrolling to the bottom of this page.