What my husband said about me last night:  “When it comes to meal planning and cooking, you’re an expert.”

And he was serious.

I don’t know about you, but I absolutely glow when my husband brags on me.

Here’s the thing.  Even though learning to wash the dishes daily was equivalent to learning a new language for me, I’ve always been pretty comfortable and creative in the kitchen.

Hearing a speaker talk about freezer cooking years ago had a big impact on me.  I didn’t really go for her recipes, but I did start doubling certain things and freezing more.

It started with figuring out that I saved a ton of time on my daily dinner prep by trimming the fat and yucky stuff off of ALL of the chicken breasts I purchased (on sale, of course) at once, and packaging those trimmed breasts in meal-sized portions.  This way, I didn’t have to thaw, then trim, then cook the meat for each meal.  Cutting out the trimming step also meant that I cut out the obsessive-disinfecting-of-the-kitchen-sink step since the chicken went straight from the bag to the pan.

How I trim and package a LOT of chicken all at once.  (There’s a video, too!)

Soon, I figured out that since cooking the meat for a meal was the most time-consuming step, cooking extra meat to freeze for a future meal also saved lots of time.

As additional mini-people joined our family and life got crazier, I decided to take that method even farther and began pre-cooking large amounts of beef and chicken.

I also like to cook beans and rice to freeze.  By having pre-cooked ingredients in the freezer, I can literally throw together a home-cooked meal in around fifteen minutes.

Meals made with pre-cooked ground beef:

Mexican Casserole (not frozen as a casserole)

Taco Soup

Tacos

Pizza Pockets

Quesadillas

Beef Stroganoff

Spaghetti

Skillet Lasagna

Meals made with pre-cooked chicken:

Chicken Fried Rice

Faux Alfredo

Creamy Chicken and Spinach Enchiladas

Fajitas

Tortilla Soup

Chicken and Black Bean Burritos

Other things that are easy to cook ahead and freeze:

Meatballs

Hamburger patties

Once I realized how much time I could save in the kitchen by cooking ahead, I started viewing recipes differently.

There are some things that are so perfect for freezing that I now automatically double the recipe every time I make them.  I freeze the second portion for a quick meal later.  With my roast/brisket, knowing that I will get three (fabulous) meals out of one cooking session (and mess!) is the motivation I need to tackle this more complicated and time-consuming recipe.

Roast/Brisket

Spaghetti Sauce

Tortilla Soup

Fajitas

The main thing I love about freezer cooking is that it eliminates excuses. Anything I can do to eliminate excuses is a good thing around here.  When I decided that my family wasn’t getting enough protein for breakfast . . . I didn’t start setting my alarm clock for earlier because I knew that would just end in guilt.  Y’know, when I ignored it.

I took the (non-early-morning) time to make things like sausage biscuits or breakfast pockets that could be microwaved with my eyes closed.  Literally.

I also love to have the kids make large amounts of blueberry pancakes or pumpkin pancakes or pumpkin muffins to freeze for breakfasts.  It’s family bonding time.  Not child labor at all.

Other freezer links:

How to Freeze Ground Beef

How to Freeze Pumpkin

The World’s Best Fried Okra Recipe (no humility needed, and it’s perfect for freezing)

Smoothie Kits

As promised, here’s another sneeze page.  This one includes links to all of my free printable housekeeping checklists.  I’m also excited to introduce an easy-to-download e-book that includes ALL of these checklists and their accompanying posts together in one place!  Be sure to read the end of the post, because if you want to purchase the e-book!

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As someone whose biggest housekeeping struggle is . . . focus . . . I’ve developed checklists that help me stay on track.  When I have a list, the chances are much higher that I’ll remember where I was when I got distracted.

And I’m always getting distracted.

Because of this blog, I started creating my checklists on the computer.  Having them ready to go in printable form helps because I’m not constantly re-inventing the wheel.

And let me just say that it is waaaayyyy more fun inventing wheels than it is cleaning toilets.

I don’t look at lists every time I clean, but on those days when I feel overwhelmed and don’t know where to start, they help.

All of my printable checklists are available for free and can be printed through Google Docs. You can access them by going to their accompanying post and finding the link to the printable version at the bottom of the post.  If that’s too time-consuming for you, see the end of this post/page to learn how you can download a collection of all of my checklists and their accompanying posts in e-book form.

Remember that these checklists are best used as inspiration to create routines and lists that work for you in your unique home!

My Printable Checklists:

My Daily Checklist

Weekly House Cleaning Tasks

How to Clean a Messy House and Get it Ready for Guests

Daily Checklist for Kids/Chore Chart

Bathroom Cleaning Checklist (It says it’s for the kids, but anyone can use it!  It is DEtailed!)

Kitchen Cleaning Checklist (I’ve just added the printable version!)

Daily Kitchen Checklist for Kids

Daily Bathroom Checklist

Summer Version of the Daily Checklist for Kids

Basic Room Cleaning Checklist

Last-Minute Hospitality Checklist (available when you like A Slob Comes Clean on Facebook by clicking on “Only for Likers” under my profile pic)

All of these Printable Housekeeping Checklists are available together in an easy-to-download e-book:

All of the above checklists are now available in an easy-to-download e-book!  The e-book contains the full posts, each followed by the accompanying printable list.  It’s a total of 46 pages and is in PDF format.

There are no surprises!  You can know exactly what you’re getting by clicking on the links above.  This e-book is simply for your convenience.  Once you download the e-book, you’ll have quick and easy access to the posts and lists, regardless of internet access.

The cost of this e-book is 4.00, and payment is made through Paypal.  Just click on the “Add to Cart” button below:

Why I have a daily checklist:

The original tagline for A Slob Comes Clean was: Figuring Out Why I Am This Way, and What I Can Do to Change.

Truly, my messy house was a mystery to me.  For an intelligent, successful-in-every-other-area-of-life person, the frustration I felt over the fact that my house could go from party-ready to total-disaster in a week flat was overwhelming.

Even more overwhelming was my inability to notice what was happening during that week.  It truly felt like I woke up to a messy house, and I couldn’t figure out how it got that way.

It was a mystery.

The good news is . . . I’ve solved the mystery.

The bad news is that unlike Encyclopedia Brown who gets to bask in the glory of his successful detective work and write “The End” . . . my story never ends.

Even though I’ve figured it out, I still have five people living in my house who expect to wear clean clothes and use plates, forks AND glasses every single day.

Therefore, my Daily Checklist is my best friend.  But the kind of best friend who gets on your nerves sometimes.

I think the reason my checklist is successful for me is that I didn’t use someone else’s list.  I looked around my house, identified the consistent problems, and tackled them one at a time.  In fact, I didn’t even realize I was developing a daily checklist at first.  I just started doing the dishes.  Then, I added one new thing to focus on each week.

And that’s what it’s all about.  Focus.  Making myself see the things that consistently escape my Slob Vision.

Having a Daily Checklist doesn’t mean that my house is perfect all the time. I still struggle way more than normal people during busy periods of life.  But the fact that the mystery has been solved means that I no longer feel helpless and bewildered. I know that I just need to pick up that sheet of paper and carry it through the house as I do the tasks and check them off.

Some Daily Checklist links:

(Just click on the pink to get to the corresponding post.)

Here is the overall concept behind my Daily Checklist. The post includes a printable version.

I’ve learned that the number one key in keeping my home out of disaster-status is running my dishwasher every single night.

Along those lines, emptying the dishwasher is as important as (if not more than) running it.

Normal people may not need to sweep their kitchen every single day, but I do.  And it’s not really about the sweeping.

A Daily Pick-Up is my least favorite task on the Daily Checklist.  And yet . . . it’s the one that makes the biggest difference.  Go figure.

I have to put “Close the Cabinet Doors” on my daily checklist. Yes.  Mmmm-hmmm.  It’s all about making conscious decisions about the things I do (or don’t do) automatically.

Even though only a select few have ever seen my master bedroom . . . I’ve realized that making my own bed is key.

See all posts labeled Daily Checklist.