Crockpot for the Working Mom - 10 meals in 2 1/2 hours
As a working mom with a husband who travels A LOT, I need easy weekday meals that make it easy to feed Turtle something healthy. I have explored many blogs and Pinterest pins and finally found two (Freezer Cooking and The Test Kitchen of Melissa Fallis) that helped me prepare 10 meals in 2 1/2 hours for my freezer. Below is the grocery list and recipes. I hope this helps you get inspired to tackle this not so overwhelming project.
Grocery List:
Fresh Produce:
3 Green Peppers
1 Red Pepper
1 Zucchini
1 Red Onion
1 Bag of Yellow onions (need 8 - 10)
1 Bag of Red Potatoes (You need 12)
1 Large Bag of Carrots or 2 medium bags of baby carrots
1 Bunch of celery
1 Head of garlic
Meat:
3.5 - 4 pounds of Chicken Breast (I bought 3 bags of frozen, skinless chicken breasts)
3 - 4 pounds of beef stew meat
1 - 1.5 pounds of ground beef
Other Groceries:
2 20 oz cans of Chunked Pineapple
1 15 oz can of tomato sauce
2 6 oz cans of tomato paste
1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes
1 can of V8 (I bought a 6 pack cuz I like to drink it)
1 small box of Tapioca (look in the pudding aisle below the pudding - it's in a tall box)
2 boxes of beef broth
2 boxes of chicken broth (more than you need, but who doesn't need this on their pantry shelf)
1 bag frozen cut green beans
1 - 2 bags of frozen chopped broccoli (I always have this in this freezer - it isn't added until you cook the Savory Chicken - so you can wait to purchase this depending on timing of that meal)
Teriyaki Sauce (in the Asian/Mexican food aisle)
Worcestershire (in the condiments aisle)
Frank's Red Hot/Sriracha Sauce (to spice up the meals once on the table)
Parsley (I buy the bottles in the produce section and keep it in the fridge)
Basil
Thyme
Salt
Pepper
Sugar
Brown Sugar
Mustard
Paprika
Bay Leaves
1 box of gallon freezer bags
Savory Chicken:
4 - 6 chicken breasts
2 cans of stewed tomatoes
4 T white wine
1 large onion - diced
4 garlic cloves - diced
1 C Chicken Broth
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 Bay Leaves
4 C broccoli (added while cooking)
Get 2 freezer bags, and label them with a Sharpie "Savory Chicken Cook on low 6 - 7 hours. Add broccoli last 30 minutes, remove bay leaf before serving." Divide the above ingredients into 2 freezer bags, let air out, seal, mix, lay flat in your freezer. This is rather bland, but we spiced it up with liberal doses of sriracha sauce and it tasked quite good. We served it over rice.
Teriyaki Chicken
1 bag of baby carrots
Cut red onion into large chucks (I diced mine because I like my onion in small pieces)
2 20 oz cans of pineapple chunks
4 garlic cloves - diced
4 chicken breasts
1/2 C Teriyaki in EACH bag
Get 2 freezer bags and label them with a Sharpie "Teriyaki Chicken. Add 1/4 C teriyaki sauce to mixture. Cook on High 4 hours or Low for 8 hours. Serve over rice." Divide the above ingredients into 2 freezer bags, let air out, seal, mix, lay flat in your freezer. We haven't made this one yet, but I'm certain it will be delicious. With that much pineapple, how can you go wrong? You might consider adding a jar of Hawaiian BBQ sauce to each bag.
Savory Vegetable Beef Soup
1 Onion - diced
2 Garlic cloves - diced
1 - 1.5 pounds of ground beef
1/2 bag of baby carrots (1/4 in each bag)
4 celery stalks - diced (2 per bag)
6 red potatoes - chopped (3 per bag)
1 can V8 Juice (split between bags)
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes (split between bags)
1 C frozen green beans per bag
1/2 T Worcestershire per bag
1/2 C beef broth per bag
1 T parsley per bag
1 t basil per bag
1/2 t Thyme per bag
1/2 t salt per bag
1/2 t pepper per bag
1 T sugar per bag
Get 2 freezer bags and label them with a Sharpie "Savory Vegetable Beef Soup, add 1.5 C water, 15 oz beef broth. Cook on Low 8 hours." Divide the ingredients between the two bags, let air out, seal, mix, and lay flat in freezer. This is delicious - we served it with a crusty bread.
Healthy BBQ Chicken
2 Green Peppers cut into slices (I diced them) - split between bags
1 Red pepper cut into slices (I diced them) - split between bags
1 Zucchini chopped (split between bags)
3 Onions diced (split between bags)
6 Red potatoes chopped and split between bags
4 Garlic cloves diced and split between bags
4 chicken breasts split between bags
1/2 T Quick Cooking Tapioca per bag
1 15 oz can of Tomato Sauce split between bags
1 T brown sugar per bag
1 T worcestershire per bag
1 T mustard per bag
1/4 t salt per bag
Get 2 freezer bags and label them with a Sharpie "Healthy BBQ Chicken. Cook on High for 4 hours or Low for 8 hours. Serve over rice, egg noodles or mashed potatoes." Divide between two bags, let air out, seal, mix and lay flat in freezer.
Goulash/Beef Stew
1 Green Pepper chopped split between bags
2 Chopped Onions split between bags
The remaining carrots split between bags
4 diced garlic cloves split between bags
3 pounds of beef stew meat split between bags
2 6 oz cans of tomato paste (one per bag)
2 t paprika per bag
1/4 t black pepper per bag
Get 2 freezer bags and label them with a Sharpie "Goulash/Beef Stew. Cook on High for 4 hours or Low for 8 hours. Add a 1/2 C sour cream about 10 minutes before serving. Serve over egg noodles or mashed potatoes" Divide between two bags, let air out, seal, mix, and lay flat in freezer. I haven't tasted this one yet, but I'm anticipating it will need some spicing up.
You are all set. Enjoy your meals and let me know what variations you add to these recipes.
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