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Start Freezer Cooking in Five Easy Steps

On by Tricia

If you just landed here at Once a Month Meals and you want to start freezer cooking, we have five easy steps for you!

There is no need to be overwhelmed because we are here to walk you through the process!

The links here provide a comprehensive list of all the great posts we have highlighted in our Get Started series. You could spend HOURS alone reading through all of these resources, but you can start freezer cooking quickly by following the basic steps. You will also want to check out our video on the Home page as well as look over the How it Works page for a quick visual of the process.

If you decide freezer cooking is for you, then check out the additional resources at the end of this post and dive in!

Start Freezer Cooking in Five Easy Steps with Once A Month Meals

1. Join our Membership to Make it Easy!

With a membership to Once A Month Meals, you get everything you need to make freezer cooking easy.

    1. A Grocery Shopping List organized by category for faster and easier shopping.
    2. Prep Instructions to help you prepare all of your ingredients ahead of time.
    3. Step by Step Cooking Day Instructions for fast and efficient freezer cooking.
    4. Individual Recipe Cards with detailed cooking and freezing instructions.
    5. Printable Labels for your freezer bags with thawing and reheating instructions.
    6. A Thaw Sheet for a full list of your meal plan’s defrosting or reheating instructions.

Do you eat Paleo and your spouse is a Vegetarian? No problem! You can create a meal plan that is half Paleo/half Vegetarian. Find a giant sale on boneless chicken? Swap out all of the beef recipes on this month’s meal plan for chicken. You are also able to save meal plans for future access.

Learn more by watching the video on the Home page and reading more details on the How it Works page.

2. Pick the type of Meal Plan that BEST suits you!

Before you start freezer cooking, you have to first decide what exactly you are going to cook!

about MEal plan TYPES

 

3. Print Your Documents 

The following documents are provided for each meal plan- even your custom meal plans!

  1. A Grocery Shopping List organized by category for faster and easier shopping.
  2. Prep Instructions to help you prepare all of your ingredients ahead of time.
  3. Step by Step Cooking Day Instructions
    for fast and efficient freezer cooking.
  4. Individual Recipe Cards
    with detailed cooking and freezing instructions.
  5. Printable Labels for your freezer bags with thawing and reheating instructions.
  6. A Thaw Sheet for a full list of your meal plan’s defrosting or reheating instructions.

Enter the number of people you are cooking for in the space for “Servings” and all of the documents will update to show the proper amounts. No math (you’re welcome). The system also doubles each recipe automatically so that you can make the best use of your time in the kitchen.

Be sure to print out all of the documents and read through them before you start freezer cooking. These will walk you through your big cooking day step by step. (Need a big picture overview? Read here!)

4. Start Shopping (Or send it to Instacart!)

Get thee to a grocery store! Your organized grocery list will help you stay on task and make sure you are ready to go. Check out the following posts for more information on efficient shopping.

5. Get Cooking!

This is it! Put on some comfortable shoes, start with a clean kitchen and freezer, and work your way through our step by step instructions for stocking the freezer. If you have more questions about the cooking process, you are likely to find the answer in one of these get started posts. But we also encourage you to visit our Community and engage with other freezer cooks. Or chat with our customer engagement staff LIVE using the orange button in the bottom right-hand corner of your screen.

 

More Resources for Getting Started with Freezer Cooking!

General Get Started Posts

Food Preparation and Storage

Additional Questions Before You Start Freezer Cooking

What is the time commitment?

Each type of meal plan and each monthly meal plan varies in the time it takes to complete. In addition, your efficiency and quickness in preparation, cooking, and clean-up are also variable. However, we usually estimate the following as average times needed.

*These estimates are based on cooking 12-15 recipes (doubled) for 4 servings( +/-) each.

What is the cost?

The cost is also variable. Factors for each meal plan include the region of the country, access to sale goods, availability of local produce, and use of coupons. It also varies by the size of a family. For a family of 4 for most of our meal plans, you can expect to pay somewhere between $150-$300 for all the ingredients for all of the meals. It usually averages between $2.50-$6.00 an entree for 4 servings. See our Support Articles for a breakdown of the different meal plans and tips on saving money.

What does a real live freezer cooking day look like?

Don’t think that because you have a small kitchen or a normal freezer that you can’t do this. Freezer cooks have kitchens, families, and lifestyles of all shapes and sizes. Take a look around the kitchens of some of our staff members (past and present) in these posts, but you can also connect with your fellow members in our I Am OAMM series which spotlights cooks just like you!

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