*This post is based on a LIVE meet up done on Instagram, if you missed it, you can view it in the Outsmart Dinner Facebook Group HERE*

Let’s do a quick thought exercise…which feels easier to use for dinner tonight? Just imagine you open your freezer to pull out some meat for tonight’s dinner.  Are you more likely to choose the prepped taco meat or a frozen 3lb chub of ground beef? I’m gonna go out on a limb and guess that you chose the prepped taco meat, and you would be RIGHT!! One of the biggest mistakes people make while trying to stock their freezer is coming home and sticking their fresh meat straight into the freezer.  WHY?  Because while it’s easier on the front end of grocery shopping, it’s infinitely harder when you go to actually use it!  Now you have to thaw the meat (which, let’s be honest, is where most dinner plans go awry), but you also have to season, shape, and cook it. (Which feels like a lot of work at the end of the day, am I right?!)  It’s actually much easier to come home from grocery shopping and assign it a job, then you’ll know just how to use it (which gives it a better shot of not collecting freezer burn in the back of your freezer) but it also helps you feel like dinner is EASY…which is the ultimate goal we’re all going for here.

THE EASY WAY TO PLAN WHAT TO MAKE 

Think about what you’ll be eating in the next 3-6 months.  If it’s Fall maybe you want to do meatloaf, stuffed ground beef patties, Italian meatballs or other heavier, oven-type meals. If it’s the summer maybe you want to do taco meat, lettuce wrap meat, hamburger patties, or just plain cooked ground beef.  

You’ll also want to take into consideration what is efficient to make.  Obviously, it’s pretty easy to make plain ground beef, taco meat, and lettuce wrap beef because chances are you can cook the beef in one pot and section it off from there to add in any necessary seasonings.  You have one pot to clean, but three different meals already prepped. 

HOW TO MAKE SURE IT ACTUALLY GETS USED…

Always, always make sure the food is cool before freezing, this will help prevent freezer burn.

Also, label what food it is on the outside of your bag (along with any other instructions for it).  After all, nobody likes to play “What Food Is It?!”.

Add it to your freezer inventory.  I like to keep an editable freezer inventory sheet on my freezer, that way I can keep track of what goes in and out of my freezer.  (You can check out the one I use, it’s part of the starter pack bundle.)

LOOKING FOR SOME GOOD RECIPES?

I have a bunch of easy, super-delicious recipes in the Outsmart Dinner Meal Planner!  It’s full of tips for batch prepping, freezing, repurposing leftovers, and lots more!  But, if you want a good recipe to get you going, I’ve included one of my favorite recipes from my childhood!  I love to make these meatballs while I’m batch prepping to make this recipe SOOOOO easy to make.