It’s 5 p.m. The kids are hungry, your brain is fried, and the fridge is giving you that look—the one that says, “Good luck, lady.”

It’s not just me, right??

We’ve all been there. Life amounted to more than we expected that day, and here we are with no food and no plan.

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The Simple Solution That Makes a Big Difference

Enter a busy wife’s (or truly anyone’s—married or not) best method of survival: the One for Now, Two for Later idea.

What does that mean? Simply this: when you’re already cooking, make a bit more—serve one meal now, and stash away two extras in the freezer for later. It’s an easy way to build up a reserve of homemade meals without spending a whole day prepping.

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Why This Beats the Freezer Meal Marathon

Now, sure—you can scroll the internet and see an unlimited number of people posting about their 100 freezer meals they prepped in one day. And you think,
“Wow! What accomplished people! What an amazing feat!”

And then you think…
“If only I could do this. Then I wouldn’t be forced to feed my people fast food or weird things from the crevices of my pantry when I’m ill-prepared.”

You plan and hope and maybe pray to have the time and energy for this marathon of freezer meal prepping, and it never comes. You feel discouraged because you want to do this impressive and truly helpful thing, but the commitment is just more than you can handle.

That’s exactly why I started looking for a solution that didn’t require a 10-hour prep day. Trust me, I get it. Having meals prepped in your freezer that can just be thrown in the oven, slow cooker, or Instant Pot is life-changing.

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What “One for Now, Two for Later” Looks Like in Real Life

But some of us (looking in the mirror here) just don’t want to spend a precious day—or really can’t, when we have a houseful of children and a small kitchen—on a huge freezer prep day.

So here is my simple idea, of course adopted from thoughtful moms before me: cook one now and two for later.

As in:

• Cook a huge pot of soup, eat the soup for one meal, and freeze two more portions.
• Don’t bake one loaf of bread—bake three.
• Meatloaf night? Make three meatloaves total.
• Why not three dozen cookies while you’re at it?

Do you get the idea? It’s not something you do for every meal, of course. Freezer space and finances do constrict this plan. But I like to do this once, maybe twice a week.

And before you know it, your freezer is full—and so is your happy heart—because you achieved what you once thought was impossible!

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A Few of My Favorite Freezer-Friendly Staples

Here is just a short list of things that I find to be very helpful for this method of prepping:

• soup
• baked, sliced bread
• muffins
• meatloaf (uncooked)
• meatballs (uncooked)
• granola
• spaghetti sauce
• breakfast sausage
• pizza crusts (prebaked)

The list could go on forever, but I find these to be very helpful and repeated often.

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Let’s Encourage One Another

If you try this method, I’d love to hear what works for you! What are your favorite freezer-friendly meals? Leave a comment below and let’s share ideas.

Blessings,
Payton