What is the one mistake moms (or anyone for that matter) make when coming home from the grocery store?
I admit it! Before I learned about effective meal planning I made this mistake too! It's when you come home from the grocery store and immediately put all your meat into the freezer and put your groceries away as quickly as possible.

Why is this such a terrible thing?Because when 6 o'clock rolls around and you are needing to cook something for dinner...all you have is a lump of frozen meat in the freezer and maybe a vague idea of what to cook. You are tired, your family is hungry and guess what? Despite your good intentions, you decide to go out to eat. So you spend a lot more money and consume a lot more food than your wallet and waist line can handle.

Getting dinner on the table can be easier than you ever dreamed possible! With a little meal planning and some useful products, you can have a freezer stocked with meals that are so easy to cook your hubby or child can prepare them. Let me share how this has worked for me:

1) Go to store with a plan.
 Know what you want to cook for dinner. Need some easy ideas? I can email you a ton of them or subscribe to my e-newletter (email me at Familymeals@mac.com) for recipes and a shopping list (Trust me the recipes are EASY...not a lot of chopping, sauteing, mincing, or looking for wierd specialty ingredients). If all else fails, just buy whatever meat is on sale. Buy enough for 6-10 meals or less if your budget is tight and pay day isn't for awhile.

2) Make a little time to assemble meal kits for your freezer right when you come home from the grocery store (it took me an hour).
You can pay the high prices of Super Suppers or Dream Dinners if you want, but you really can assemble your own meals for way less!

3) Bag up your meats into Ziploc Freezer Bags. Bag up just what you need for a meal and add extra if you want to make bonus meals out of the leftovers or have some left for lunches.

4) If you have ground beef cook it all and keep it precooked in your freezer.

5) Add some simple ingredients to the freezer bags and you will have so many dinner choices ready to cook in your freezer!
In another guide, I will share with you all the meals I put into my freezer from this $55 grocery trip...you won't believe how much food I made!

BEFORE                                     AFTER

Need ideas and easy recipes to assemble your own meals? Sign up for my FREE e-newsletter at www.familymealstogether.com