Too Busy to Cook? Freezer Meal Tips to get you through the week

There has been a running theme in my client sessions lately...everyone is feeling really strapped for time. Between school, extracurriculars, and sickness (maybe it's just me, but I think I have had the same lingering cold for 4 weeks now and my motivation to be in the kitchen is at an all-time low), people are busy. Even though we know home-cooked meals are important, they can be really hard to prioritize when you have a lot of other things on the go.

So I wanted to share with you one of my all-time favourite list of freezer meal recipes that require very little prep. I think I shared it with most, if not all of my clients last week. I haven't tried every recipe on the list, but the ones we have tried are a hit (the beef and broccoli recipe is one of our favourites).

Why I love these freezer meals:

While there are several things that you can make ahead of time and throw in the freezer for busy nights, the reasons we keep coming back to these recipes are:

• You don't have to cook before you freeze. You can put raw ingredients in a bag and you're good to go. This saves A LOT of time. We often buy enough ingredients to make 2-3 of the same recipe so we can have meals for a few weeks.
• It makes use of my Instant Pot, which means that meals are on the table quickly (fear not if you don't have an Instant Pot, the recipes list a few different cooking methods depending on what you have in your kitchen).
• I can prep meals for the week on days that I have more time/energy/motivation and then pull them out when I need them.

I love the convenience of having meals ready to pull out of the freezer when I need them, especially on nights where the kids have activities like swimming or gymnastics. It also really helps to cut down on decision fatigue, because you can pull a random meal out of the freezer and you know it will be good.

Busy Week Night Tips and Tricks

If those recipes don't seem appealing to you or you want other options in addition to those, here are some other tips to help you cook once and eat all week long:

• Make double batches of meals that you're already cooking and freeze whatever you don't plan on eating that week. Things like tomato-based pasta sauces, soups, and stews are easy to freeze. If every week you make a big batch of something, keep enough for leftovers the next day, and then freeze the rest, you can start building a stockpile of meals ready to go in your freezer.
• Whenever you make meat, make extra and then slice and freeze the leftovers. These can be repurposed into other meals or used on lunches as part of salads and sandwiches.
• Don't be afraid of convenience foods. There are going to be weeks where you are busy, any existing freezer meals have been eaten, and you don't have time to prepare more. This is where foods like fish sticks, chicken nuggets, frozen pizzas, rotisserie chicken etc. can help fill the gaps. Remember that you can always add foods to these to create a balanced meal. Combining convenience proteins with ready-to-eat vegetables (think veggies trays, frozen veggies, or bagged salads) and a source of carbohydrates (bread, rolls, rice, oven fries etc.) can help increase the nutrition and create a balanced meal that leaves you full and satisfied.

Do you have a favourite recipe for easy weekday meals or freezer tips? If so, I'd love to hear about it in the comments.

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