Has anyone done this? I overheard someone talking about it and have looked it up on the internet. In some ways it sounds really appealing to have something I made just waiting to be popped in the oven. My nanny could probably even do it before I got home.
On the other hand, I'm just not sure. It seems like a lot of money, time, and effort if it doesn't work out.

I do make some things in large quantities and freeze them in single portions. Then I microwave the portions as needed. I make things that I already know I like, so it works out. The hard time is finding a big chunk of time to make the food in the first place. You also have to have a big freezer, and a vacuum sealer will make the frozen food last longer.

Sahmd - what sorts of things do well in the freezer like this? My husband and I just got a crock pot cookbook, and we've loved trying that out. We especially like what we've lovingly called "dump and go" recipes where you don't have to brown the meat. However, I'd be most interested in learning about this once-a-month or large quantity cooking strategy too.

I have done once-a-week cooking and it only lasted about 4 weeks... I can be a pretty picker eater though. And the majority of the difficulty was the meal planning prep because you have to go through your fridge/cabinets to figure out what's going to go bad, then make sure to include all of that in your recipes. It becomes hard to deviate from and stay cost-friendly, which isn't any fun when you've made 10 servings of a meal that you don't want to eat because it didn't come out very well. What we do now is pretty much only make meals that will provide good leftovers so that we only have to cook every 2-3 meals. We LOVE our slow cooker and use it at least 1x to 2x a week. So easy. Our favorites include beef stew, slow cooked pork (then we put BBQ sauce on it or make them into soft tacos), turkey chili... if you like cream of "---" (mushroom, broccoli, etc.) soups, you can check out campbell's website for some suggestions.

I've tried various permutations of freezer cooking over the years (e.g., spend a Saturday cooking for a month, make a double recipe every time I cook and freeze half), but never really made it work well for us.

My major problem has been that my frozen food just doesn't taste that good. Part of the issue, I suspect, is that I never invested in a vacuum sealer. So my (admittedly absurdly persnickety) husband was never very happy eating my freezer dinners. And we don't have (space for) a chest freezer, so there was that issue too. I also just don't think it saves *that* much time. There are plenty of dinners in my rotation that take ~30 minutes to prepare. Dinner on a daily basis simply isn't so onerous (in my opinion) that it's worth it to blow an entire precious day off stashing dinner in the freezer. That was my experience anyway.

Having said that, there are things that freeze quite well, like pasta sauce and some soups. Conversely, chunks of cooked meat do not freeze well in my experience, although, as I said, I don't have a vacuum sealer.

The dinner assembly services are tempting in theory (like Dream Dinners, Super Suppers), but I've never quite been able to talk myself into the price. Take-out is cheaper and that's basically been my solution since starting residency. We have a rotation of four or five places we can walk to on sunny evenings. Totally pleasurable, no wasted days off, no dishes. Heaven.

I have frozen soups, oatmeal, pizza slices, and burritos, although lots of other things can be frozen. Just look in the freezer section of the grocery store to get an idea. You will probably find that some of the things you make already would be suitable for freezing. The Crockpot stews sound like a good place to start.

When my husband was in med school and for many years thereafter, I was teaching college or law school, so busy with kids and crazy. A neighbor saw this on TV and we did this successfully and happily for YEARS. Its a tiny coop. Start with 2 or 3 friends, random is ok. Similar size family. My night to cook I make a really nice meal, only I make 3 times the amount. I deliver two meals at an agreed time, say 6pm, and if I am not on time, I am obligated to buy their meal and have it sent or something. No room for error here. Now, two nights a week I have a homemade meal delivered to my house. Ladies, this is AWESOME if you will just try it. Once I was in with a really bad cook and we didn't even care, the kids and spouses loved it because we ate things I hadn't thought to cook, and it gave me that wonderful extra time. No extra work to make larger portions, you returned the dishes next time you delivered. I have done this with neighbors nearby and across town delivery. It is perfect for busy families. You can be careful, if you like. The first time, we sat down with lists of 10 or 12 items we liked to make our own family, traded them around, so anyone could freely cross off something their family would NOT eat. Then we scheduled one month. You do chicken first week, pork the next, pasta, the third, so you don't get the chicken, chicken, chicken effect. This first group turned out to be unnecessary, we just started cooking whatever we felt like. My second group, after med school, now across the country for residency, was easier, no discussions for picky eaters, just lets try for two weeks, if we like it we will keep going. I think I did this for about 10 years with three different groups of women. It was WONDERFUL because the exhaustion of the day, plus deciding what to make every night was just too much. Those two "free nights" were so wonderful. I remember just relaxing with my kids. Our grocery costs were lower too. Plus, on your night to cook, since you know its for others, you tend to do a little better, maybe add a french bread, or an extra side dish, or dessert, and you enjoy cooking again because you know its going to be reciprocated in spades. The other thing we did a lot when kids were small, funds were scarce was use lots of churches who do pancake breakfast, Friday fish fries, or pot luck dinners. Turns out people LOVE to feed young families, are tired of seeing themselves over and over again, and you will be welcomed at any church you go to with open arms. Homemade food, nice ladies serving you eagerly and so very inexpensive. Great way to feed kids when travelling, just look for the little signs, or ask someone. Hope these tips help some brilliant woman among you!