Update: 06/17/2021
My FreezEasy Healthy Meal Plans
Many families are looking for a way to save time and money while eating healthy. My FreezEasy is the solution! I had seen freezer meals before but never thought it was something that would work for me. However, When I saw how easy these recipes were, I knew I had to try them. It only took me an hour to make six new meals for the freezer. And now we have food ready at any given moment, so there’s no need to hit up fast food joints on busy days or worry about cooking after a long day at work. So how do you save time and money planning out your meals using My FreezEasy?
MyFreezEasy saves you time and money by helping you plan out your meals with monthly customized meal plans and how-to videos. You choose which meals you like from a wide variety of plans. Each plan comes with instructions for preparing and cooking two of each meal, along with labels for your freezer bags with thawing and cooking instructions.
My husband and I both work full-time jobs. I’m now working 12-15 hours a day at the hospital. We both also work on the blog while trying to work out and eat healthier food. Unfortunately, there never seems to be enough time to get everything done. It can get stressful when we didn’t plan out our meals for the week. We usually wind up going to the grocery store several times a week or having to eat out because we are starving and can’t wait to cook a meal that night when there’s just no time.
My FreezEasy Premium Freezer Cooking Meal Plans
We signed up for the Premium freezer cooking meal plans, and Erin, the owner, sends eight new freezer meal plans each month in our inbox. The program shows how to put all the ingredients in freezer bags or disposable trays, put them in the freezer and pull them out when you need something to cook for lunch or dinner. Just pull them out of the freezer, put them on the stove, in the slow cooker, instant pot, or in the oven. The program also offers a drag and drop tool that allows you to pick meal plans. The drag and drop editor makes picking meals a breeze.
Welcome Page to MyFreezEasy
When I started looking at this website, I spent an hour and a half exploring what the program offered. After that initial time, it only took me 15 minutes to pick the meal plans, including clicking the download link for the simple recipes, shopping lists, and step-by-step meal assembly instructions. Then, I printed them off and put them in page protectors and a binder.
We were getting tired of things spoiling in our refrigerator. Our produce was rotting because we would forget what we bought. Things got pushed to the back of the fridge. With these plans, we were preparing everything we purchased at the store. We only had to make sure we used the meals in the freezer, which can stay in the freezer for up to a year.
This website has given me many excellent ideas and things I know will save us time and cash. I wanted to do a review so you can see what this website looks like on the inside. Erin is the Founder of $5 Dinners and is the creator of the My FreezEasy plan. The $5 dinners, I believe, are still live and another program Erin offers. She creates the meal plans and has been making them for her family for years. The My FreezEasy meal planning program has several tutorial videos throughout the website if you have any questions while using it. Erin also gives some helpful tips and tricks that I thought were extremely helpful.
My FreezEasy Website Tour
Ok, let’s start with the tour of the website. Once you sign up for the service, you will receive your login information. Once you log in to the website, you will be on the home screen. There are two ways to get to the meal plans. The first way is, on the left, click on this months’ meal plans. The second is by clicking the “Create” link at the top of the screen.
On the right is a video tutorial where Erin walks you through preparing one of the themed meal plans for the month. She picks one meal and walks you through how to prepare and assemble it. Erin starts with her ingredients in grocery bags and a few items on the counter in this walkthrough video. She moves on to peeling the carrots and cutting the chives. Erin doesn’t even have the bowls out on the counter yet. She shows you how to do everything and exactly how long it will take you to prepare the freezer meals. She doesn’t do any editing of the video to save time. It took her just under an hour to prepare ten meals. Erin offers some great tidbits and tricks that she has learned through the years while preparing her meals for the freezer.
Here is a Walkthrough Video Showing You Inside the My FreezEasy Member’s Area.
So, let’s get started by picking some meal plans. To access the monthly meal plans, click on the link on the left. There are eight different categories. They are traditional, gluten-free, slow cooker, clean eats, check, beef, pork chops, and 20 meals. If you know you will have a busy month, chose the 20-meal option. It just takes a lot longer to prepare, but then you have more meals. You also need to consider if you have enough room in your freezer.
Monthly Meal Plans & How to Videos
Once you decide which meals you want, click on the “Download Meal Plan.” It pulls up a pdf format that gives you a table of contents, recipes, shopping lists, and how to assemble meals. The simple recipes tell you how many servings, how long it takes to prepare it, and how long it takes to cook it. The recipes are for one meal, but the assembly is for two meals. So, when you are looking at the shopping list, they are for two meals. In the prep directions, it tells you what to put in each freezer bag. Erin even offers on how to freeze and thaw your meals and dairy-free and gluten-free modifications.
How to Download the Freezer Cooking Meal Plans & Labels
Complete Shopping Lists by Recipes
The shopping list by recipe will tell you precisely what you need for each recipe. It also lets you know which sides and garnishments go best with each meal. Most people have rice or potatoes in the house. We get a large bag of rice from our local wholesale store, so we always have rice ready to be cooked.
The prep day list by category can help you pick things you already have out of your refrigerator, pantry, etc. The “meal assembly” reminds you to label the bags/foil and which ingredients to put onto the counter. Then she tells you what you need to precook and what you need to pre-prepare or chop. For example, in the nacho recipe, “you want to make sure you brown the ground beef and let it cool because you don’t want to put hot meat in the bag and then freeze right away.” Here is an example of the different tidbits she gives you. Erin does an excellent job of explaining what you’ll need to prep. Then she shows you what to put in each bag by the recipe.
The labels are predesigned with instructions on thawing, cooking, and examples of what to put together with each recipe. So, you don’t have to pull something out of the freezer and then go back to the recipe to find out how to cook it. There is also a date field. There are two labels for each recipe. Erin tells you that the Avery #6874 labels fit the pdf to print each label correctly. Another option is to get a sheet that is one label and cut them. You can also print on regular paper, cut up, and tape to bags, whichever is the best for you and your family.
Assembly by Recipe
Ok, back to the website!
The second way is to click the “Create” link. There are 20 different categories. Pick a category. For example, pick the slow cooker link. Next, click and drag recipes to the box on the right. You can change serving size if you know you are having a party or having several kids over. If you don’t want all your meals to be slow cooker, click “Back to search categories,” then click on another category. For example, click one-dish meals, get recipes, and drag over enough to total five.
The concept of the website is to get two weeks of meals. Most people don’t have longer than 1 hour to prepare. Once you have your recipes in the box, click review and print. Click print my meal plan, and it will download it as a pdf. Click print labels, and it creates a pdf. You can also email it to the email on the account. My FreezEasy also comes with a mobile app available for Android and iOS phones and tablets so that you can see it on your phone.
Now you can open the pdf’s and see the pdf for the dinner plan you created. Recipes, shopping lists, and assembly instructions are all included, just like the monthly meal plans.
Inside the member’s area, we could pick from several lifestyle choices in planning our meals. For example, we could select from the following categories:
MyFreezEasy Freezer Meal Categories:
- Traditional Plan – 10 meals: mix of different types of meals
- Dump Meals Plan – 10 meals: meals you can toss into a casserole, stockpot, slow cooker, and wait.
- Slow Cooker Plan – 10 meals: all freezer to slow cooker style
- Instant Pot Plan – 10 meals: all meals you can cook in your Instant Pot
- 20 Meals Plan – 20 meals: mix of different types of meals
- Gluten-Free Plan – 10 meals: all gluten-free
- Paleo/Whole30 Plan – 10 meals; all meals are paleo/whole30
- Keto Plan – 10 Meals; all meals are keto
- Clean Eats – 10 Meals; all meals are generally healthy
- All Chicken Plan – 10 Meals: using chicken breasts/chicken thighs, so you can get the chicken on sale and stock your freezer
- The All Ground Beef Plan – 10 Meals: using ground beef so you can get the ground beef on sale and stock your freezer
- All Pork Chops Plan – 10 Meals: using pork chops or pork tenderloin so you can get the pork on sale and stock your freezer
We couldn’t believe the choices the MyFreezEasy plan offered. We could now select simple, healthy, whole-food meals and never get tired of eating the same things. There are so many choices in the My FreezEasy meal planner. Check out some of these delicious meals!
Sample Freezer Cooking Dinner Plans:
- Skillet Chicken Cacciatore
- Cashew & Curry Chicken Wraps
- Slow Cooker Chicken & Mushroom Stroganoff
- Russian Shredded Beef Sandwiches
- Chipotle Chili
- Layered Taco Bake
- Slow Cooker Cubano Sandwiches
- Skillet Jamaican Pork Chops
- Sunshine Salmon
- Crunchy Dijon Cod
- Skillet Jamaican Pork Chops
- Sunshine Salmon
- Layered Enchiladas
- Asian Wings
- Ropa Vieja
- Honey Garlic Chicken
- Cubano Sandwiches
Shopping the Aisles Cut Down Our Grocery Bill
I combined the shopping list, which tells you all the ingredients and the amounts needed to prepare those meals, saving me at least $100 on my shopping trip. When I went shopping, I picked only the ingredients required to prepare the meals. We usually aren’t organized, so we shop the aisles to see if something good pops out at us. We found that this is where most of our waste came in. Our produce would spoil because we would forget what we bought.
We also enjoyed using the shopping by sections of the grocery store outlined in the program. I picked up all the different meats for all the meals while in the meat department. We then followed the same process for each section of the store until we had all the ingredients. This shopping trip saved me approximately an hour. We usually go to our SAMS club and then the grocery store. I only needed to go to the grocery store, which took me about 45 minutes from when I left our home to when I returned.
Erin suggests in her easy-to-follow step-by-step videos to plan your shopping for one day and then package your freezer meals the next. We were behind on meals for the week, so I decided to prep our weekly meals when I got home from the store.
I got all the ingredients separated as I watched her instructional assembly video as she walks you through putting the meals together and placing them in the freezer bags. After picking five meal plans, I made ten meals in just under one hour, which she states on her website. Wow! I wasn’t sure I could do it that quickly, but sure enough, I did it! Next, I printed out the printable labels for the meal bags, placed them on them, making it simple to see what you want to eat for that day.
My FreezEasy Saves Time:
- We saved 2 hours by only making one trip to one store for the week
- Saved 1 hour by only shopping for the ingredients needed for the week
- Saved 3 hours prepping multiple meals we would have had to make for the week
My FreezEasy Saves Money:
- We saved $100 from purchasing just the items needed to make the dinners for the week.
- Saved $10 in gas by only shopping one time instead of multiple times for the week.
- Saved $25 for the week by not throwing away food that is usually spoiled by forgetting it in the refrigerator or veggie drawer.
- Future savings. Approximately $100-$200 per month by purchasing the ingredients we need in bulk, watching for specials, and selling items for our meals.
So, I did my first total meal preparation today. I cleared everything off my counter before I started. Then I followed the list for the prep day and put everything I need on the counter. We decided to cook one of the dinners because we were hungry. It was my first time preparing these meals, and it took a little longer than if I was simply putting all the ingredients together into the freezer bags.
Next, I used the assembly instructions at the end of the pdf to figure out what I needed to chop and cook in advance. I did change the recipe order because I needed to cook one of the meals for our dinner. I went back to the first recipe and continued to the end.
My FreezEasy is Nicely Laid Out and Easy to Follow Meal Plans
The freezer cooking meal plans were easy to follow. When I got interrupted a couple of times, I had no trouble picking up where I left off. I used Erin’s tips for the slow cooker meals. I put the bag inside a bowl that will fit inside your slow cooker, so you don’t have to thaw everything entirely for it to work. Then I used a box so that the soup recipe bags would stand upright. I was afraid that with the pressure of all the liquid and the temperature, that the seal might break.
It was surprising at how compact the stovetop meals were and how little space they took up in our freezer. Most of the meals laid flat and could stack on top of each other. I placed them into a box which made it easy to pull out and look through. We had lots of dinners that only took up half the freezer. That means we can make more meals next time and spend less money on groceries. We also bought things when they were on sale, which saved us a lot.
Selecting a Healthy Meal is So Easy
For the next week, we picked what kind of food we wanted. Then we put it in a slow cooker or oven for the amount of time that Erin suggested. After cooking a week’s worth of meals, I can tell you they were delicious. My somewhat picky husband approved of each of the meals we had selected for the week. The meals were all juicy and tender. You could taste the flavors of the foods, spices, and other ingredients the meal plan suggested.
My husband only had one complaint when we made the soup. He said he felt hungry after an hour. So, if you have any hungry guys, be sure to select the heartier meal plans. He recovered the next evening when he put the soup with the lemon chicken we had earlier in the week, which satisfied his big appetite.
I thought the night was a complete success. We all loved the first recipe I cooked, so that was an excellent start. I am so glad we became a member.
Related: Other courses Erin offers:
- Whiz Kid – Click here to check it out
- Whiz Kid Shop – Click here to check it out
- Intentional Bites Planner – Click here to check it out
- MyFreezEasy – Click here to check it out
- MyFreezEasy Shop – Click here to check it out
- Stork the Freezer – Click here to check it out
- Freezer Meals Cookbook – Click here to check it out
- Grocery Budget Makeover – Click here to check it out
- My Efficient Kitchen – Click here to check it out
- Electric Pressure Cooking 101 – Click here to check it out
More information on how to safely store your foods with these freezer bag tips.
Related posts on how to save money:
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FAQ’s
What is your favorite freezer meal to cook for a large batch?
– Pot Roast
– Chicken Fajitas
– Chicken Noodle Soup
These three meals are delicious and never last around our house.
Which bulk food stores do you prefer shopping at in terms of cost efficiency/quality products for freezer cooking?
My favorite store for buying in bulk is Costco. I usually get my meat, vegetables, and fruits there. We love eating organic foods and Costco seems to offer the widest variety of organic foods. The prices are a lot cheaper than at other stores and it offers the highest quality of foods.
We also have other bulk store memberships, but their produce doesn’t last more than a couple of days and starts to spoil. We also love the organic rotisserie chicken Costco offers. The Chickens are larger and taste great.
What is the best way to go about organizing your freezer meals in the freezer?
-My freezEasy provides labels that you can place on each bag so you can mark the date it was made, the type of meal, and cooking instructions, making it easy to locate quickly. If you don’t use my FreezEasy, you can create your own labels.
-To organize your freezer recipes, make sure to lay the bags flat so you can stack multiple bags on top of each other. You might consider using a small box and stack the meals inside until frozen. This helps to keep meals from sliding around in the freezer.
-If we create multiple meals at separate times, we’ll put them on a separate self and eat from the oldest made meals first, keeping all the meals fresh.
How has freezer cooking changed your life?
-It has saved us a lot of money by not needing to pick up fast food after a long day
-It has cut down on preparing and cooking meals. We love to use our Instant Pot. You dump your meal in, set the timer, and can even be cooking while you’re doing other things. I love fitting in a workout while our meal is cooking. Once I’m done, dinner is served.
-We can have a delicious, organic meal instead of eating low-quality foods at some restaurants and those meals are cheaper and healthier.
-Cleanup is a snap since we are mostly using the Instant Pot for cooking and a couple of bowls or dishes.
How do you incorporate freezer cooking into your busy family schedule?
I use freezer cooking mostly on the weekends to prep a couple of meals. On a Sunday, I’ll make a soup or some other dish in bulk and freeze it. This saves time when I’m too tired after work on a weeknight to cook something. Just pop a freezer meal in the Instant Pot and you’ll have a high-quality, great-tasting meal ready to eat in a few minutes.
Can people use this as a way to make healthier choices or is this just another processed meal option?
Yes, you can definitely eat healthier meals depending on the quality of food you decide to purchase. We purchase mostly organic, grass feed and finished meats, organic fruits, and veggies making our meals a much healthier option. Prepping and freezing the meals allows them to lock in their freshness until we decide to eat them.
You can check out our Resources page for other products we have found useful and can save money.
My FreezEasy Summary
Sometimes, the best way to save time and money is by cooking your own meals at home. But for many of us, it’s just not feasible to cook dinner every night. That’s why I decided to try out My FreezEasy Program. It was easy! The recipes are easy and quick. You don’t need to do much before freezing them, so they are ready when you need them. Now we have six freezer meals that take less than an hour of our weeknight prep time but will last all month–saving us both time AND cash thanks to the MyFreezEasy recipes!!
If you have never tried Freezer Cooking before, I’m sure you are about to fall in love with it! I know I sure did! You can check out these fantastic recipes and join by visiting the My FreezEasy Plan Here.
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