Food Stuffs

So I've been getting requests for "how I do it" related to the freezing ahead prep I do for a good amount of our meals.

I typically cook/prep every 2-3 months depending on how busy we are. I use the pre-prepped meals for days I work, and cook from "scratch" (almost scratch) on days I don't work. When I say pre-prepped, I mean I prep most meals up to the point of cooking, then freeze them. This makes it so our meals still taste "fresh"  but still saves a lot of time when it comes to actually preparing the meals. The directions are easy enough that the first person home cooks dinner (as long as they have some basic prep experience, e.g. grilling, turning on and placing in oven, etc)

How I do it:
Planning
-When the inventory runs low, I look ahead at my schedule for a good day or two off when I'll have time to devote to planning, shopping, and prepping food.
-We invested in an extra upright freezer. I did this a couple rounds in our regular freezer which was okay, but definitely a space crunch. This has been amazing and expanded what I can prep ahead.
-I typically search the ads that week (or throughout the time) looking for good deals on meats. What we have that round depends a lot on what's been on sale (luckily sometimes that means steak is even on sale!).
-I pick our 5-6 recipes to prep each time, enough that we have a decent amount of variety with the "from scratch" meals rounding out the weekly meal plans. I try to include at least one meatless and one pasta recipe each time to cut down on overall cost.

Shopping
-To make the list, I will write out all the ingredients for each recipe (probably would save time if I didn't start over each month), cross out what I already have, then what's leftover is the shopping list.
-Typically this is a shopping trip dedicated solely to the prep ahead meals.
-I make the rounds for shopping carrying a cooler in the car for cold things so I can pick up everything in one trip.

Prepping
- I typically start by chopping all my veges/herbs/etc/cleaning up the meats. A separate cutting board for produce and one for each type of meat (typically I have 2-3, but I tend to clean one meat at a time and wash that board in between).
-The meats I cut into individual serving sizes (and aim for the correct portions of 3-4 ounces each).
-Whatever meals require cooking I start on first. I've had up to all four burners going at one time on a really ambitious day.
-While things are cooking, that's when I prep marinades, sauces, etc.

Storing
-Everything gets stored in "one family" serving sizes. For us it's two person servings.
-Those things that require baking typically go in foil "throw out" pans that can be covered and labeled. I thaw everything in those pans, then they go straight into the oven. You can wash them or toss them depending on your budget/how much clean up you want. They make little ones for the smaller families to not waste space in the freezer.
-Marinated meats, veges, rice (yes rice!) and soups (once cooled) go in quart size freezer bags so they can be frozen flat to save space.
-Directions to finish cooking and what the meal is are written on the package so you don't have to go searching for recipes.

Finishing the cooking
- I take out the meal for the next day the night before so it has time to thaw/marinate. The meats will self marinate as they thaw.
-Cook away and enjoy minimal clean-up!
-We generally eat a main course of some meat (generally grilled) and 1-2 veggies. I'm not a huge "extra sides" person, but whatever you do is up to you.

Other tips 
- For rice, I undercook it slightly, package it in one-cup packages, cool it, then freeze it flat. When reheating add a little extra water to help it finish cooking completely. Great for the days when you want stir fry/something with rice but don't have the 25-50 minutes to spend cooking it, and don't want to waste money and nutrition on "minute rice".
-Rotate recipes or you'll get bored and less interested.
-Frozen veggies are a last choice since the textures just not quite right. Each week I will spend the day I go shopping (because otherwise I'll get lazy and not eat them) cutting up/cleaning all veggies I'll use for the week (including cutting up veggies for snacks/lunches) and storing them in individual tupperware containers.

And last but not least...favorite recipes with stars by *extra* favorite recipes
- Hardly have found a recipe I didn't like from this lady's site: http://joelens.blogspot.com/2007/01/freezer-friendlymake-ahead.html
Favorites from this are the asian salmon, baked penne*, beef dip, honey and spiced glazed chops, lemon oregano chicken**, mustard pork*
-Also check out this link for more of the "logistics": http://joelens.blogspot.com/2010/05/freezer-meals-preparations.html
-Marinated chicken http://allrecipes.com/recipe/marinade-for-chicken/detail.aspx
-Honey Mustard Chicken** http://allrecipes.com/recipe/honey-mustard-grilled-chicken/detail.aspx
-Fajita marinade (grill meat, then slice for fajitas, meanwhile saute/grill veggies) http://allrecipes.com/recipe/fajita-marinade-i/detail.aspx
-Thai Beef Stirfry** - http://www.self.com/fooddiet/recipes/2011/04/thai-beef-stir-fry (one small steak sliced feeds two people)
-Brown Sugar Salmon - http://allrecipes.com/recipe/grilled-salmon-i/detail.aspx
-BBQ chicken/pork chops - place your favorite bbq sauce in a bag with the meat of choice.