monthly meal plan

I recently posted on facebook that I had spent the day making a total of 16 meals for the freezer.  I got a lot of comments on that, and many people wanted my recipes.  Most of them are Trim Healthy Mama and Brianna Thomas recipes, which are copyrighted so I shouldn't post them, but they are not hard to find on pinterest or on the websites of these ladies.  And really, if you are going to do monthly meals, at least in the beginning, you should use recipes that are already tried and true for your family.  It would be terrible to make a lot of meals, only to find your kids hate them!
What I will do is tell you what I did:

I spent four weeks in South Korea a couple of months ago, taking care of a son who had had complications from surgery.  On one of his bad days, when he spent most of his time sleeping, I decided to allow myself as much time as I wanted looking at blogs and websites on frugal and healthy living.  It wasn't something I want to do often, but I must say I really enjoyed that day, and I took a lot of notes.
One thing I found on monthly meal planning was to think of 20 meals that your family really enjoys eating, then write down all the ingredients you would need to make those, and there is your grocery list.  So, while I sat there that day, that's what I did.
Since I try to stay gluten and sugar free, those are the recipes I listed.  I had been using them for a while, so I know which ones the kids like and don't like.  I have a little meal planning notebook I bought at Michael's that helped a lot (and it's always more fun when you have something cute to use for these things).
Recently, a few blogs I follow talked about freezer meals.  I used to do that a lot, but hadn't in a while.  I decided to try again.
I went to the Walmart grocery site, and ordered a month's worth of groceries.  Then the next morning, very early before my kids are normally awake, I went to the store and picked them up (this is a great plus of your kiddos growing up, you can leave them asleep while you run errands.  I had told them the night before I was doing this.  They were FINE with that!  😁 )

Once home with my groceries, I spread it all out of the table, and got started.  I had picked about five meals that we will have once a week or less, depending on what's going on that week.   We have junk food night where I usually buy pizza or fast food hamburgers, and Sunday nights are more snacks.  Lunches are usually left overs.

I won't kid you, it was a LOT of work.  I fried, boiled, baked and mixed all day, from about 10 in the morning til 3 in the afternoon.  It wasn't unpleasant, just hard.  I also homeschooled while doing this, but again, my children are older and mostly work on their own.  I was just there to put the passwords in the computers and answer questions where needed, like "If I read this whole book (the Jungle Book) can we watch the movie?"   Answer: Yes.
I tried to wash dishes as I went.  One bonus of cooking this way is you can just rinse pots, pans and mixing bowls and use them over and over.

I used my own pans and also bought a very cheap pack of aluminum pans at Walmart, 10 for $5.  And yes, if we don't destroy them, I will wash them and reuse them.
I wrapped in cling wrap then in foil.  I sure don't want my meals ruined because they become freezer burned.

The key is, just keep at it.  Your back will hurt and you will get tired, but once you are done, you have a freezer full of good meals, you won't be tempted to run for take out, and you will likely eat healthier.
The only thing you have to do is remember to set your meal out to defrost in the fridge the night before!!