Leftovers and freezer meals

[Anonymous]

I am trying to do a monthly meal planner so that we avoid the what's for dinner, take-out, last minute scramble that has consumed us the past couple of months. I'd ideally like to make a double batch of items so that I can get at least one other meal and a future frezer meal out of most things we cook (thereby limiting our overall cooking time). But I'm starting to question how often I really would eat leftovers and freezer meals every week.

How many times do you eat leftovers a week?

[Anonymous]

Not everything freezes well, so we try to use up leftovers within the week. Try to keep track of recipes that are quick to make. I always have cheese and tortillas in the fridge if I need to make something very basic.

[Anonymous]

We usually do freezer meals once a week. I tend to stick with foods that freeze and reheat well, like chili, bolognese sauce, dal, meatloaf muffins, etc. Most of these are crockpot meals, so already an easy meal and then I double it and eat the leftovers when we're running short on time. I also keep the accompaniments for these dishes in the freezer--cornbread muffins, naan, TJ's mashed potatoes--and a couple bags of veg. Something like chicken chili with beans and corn can also be strained and used as a filler in quesadillas, so that gives more variety. Tortillas and cheese freeze well, so I usually keep those in the freezer as well.

[Anonymous]

We eat leftovers two or sometimes three times a week. I always make big batches of stews, chili, lasagna, soup, etc. on the weekend and freeze half right away. Then we can eat the fresh stuff on Sunday, have leftovers on Tues or Wed (so it's not like two nights in a row) and have the frozen stuff a few weeks from now. Really cuts down on your cooking time.

[Anonymous]

We eat leftovers about 1-2 times per week, meaning we heated up the leftover spaghetti and meat sauce.
We eat "repurposed food" 1-2 times per week, meaning on Sunday I roast a chicken, and Tues night we have chicken salad sandwiches.
I use the crockpot 3-4 times/month. I ALWAYS try to make enough to freeze a full dinner's worth (not usually a problem).
We eat freezer meals more often during the winter bc they tend to be less summery - soup, stew, lasagna, etc.