Freezer Cooking Day - My final thoughts......

Well.....I put just over 15 meals in the freezer I think.  After my last post, I finished 2 Chicken Enchilada Casseroles and put in the freezer.

Here are my thoughts:

Positives:  

• I planned a months worth of meals
• I used the internet productively (lots of times I just sit here and READ....)
• I planned - always a good thing!
• I made 1 huge shopping trip and spent $248 at Winco + $70 at Savemart - for a total of $318.  Of course I had planned on making more meals but I still have all those ingredients and if the urge hits me, I'll still make those items.  If not, I will just use the raw ingredients on nights I don't have meals for....it's  a win-win if you ask me.
• Tonight was my first night using something from the freezer.  It was just taco meat for burritos, but dinner just seemed so much simpler....very nice.  
• I thought several times on cooking day how much it made sense to cook this way.  Chopping onions to use for several meals, using all 4 burners on the stove, only doing dishes once (I used the same bowls over and over, just doing a quick handwash in between), even the crockpot use was more efficient - I took one meat out, put another in - it never cooled down and had come up to temp again.
• MOST IMPORTANTLY - we'll be eating healthy, homemade food every night.  I'm sure there will be an occasional fast food stop, but in my book it's much better to do that on nights you want to, not because you failed to plan and you have to feed a hungry mob!

Negatives:

• I was really really really tired
• Did I mention how tired I was?
• We'll see at the end of the month, but I think we may need more variety.....  

What would I do differently?

• Dad would be home, ready and willing to keep the little ones busy...
• I think maybe i would choose a day the older kids are at school, less people needing stuff.
• Cook all the meat ahead of time, then just assemble, season etc on cooking day
• Pre-chop all the onion, fresh herbs, etc.  (I intended on doing this but then had a little one that had trouble sleeping the night before cooking day...)

 All in all, I think it went really well.  I do have to adjust out bill-paying a little because I spent more on food but I think we'll be ahead in the end.