Freezer to crockpot meals- round one.
So I've been seeing crockpot meals, and freezer meals on pinterest since I first joined the site last summer. I have never seen the appeal of freezer meals. I don't know about everyone else, but I like food straight out of the oven, not frozen and reheated. But I love me some crockpot meals.
You can make just about anything in that magic little plugged in wonder when you get right down to it. It's awesome. But where I struggle is finding the time to get everything ready for it in the morning to throw it in there and get cooking. By the point of my day that I have time to set baby without a screaming fit, and the kids are at school- it's too late for a meal to cook and be ready in time for dinner.
Well then I started seeing the pins for the ziploc bags full of raw uncooked dinner stuffs that you throw in the freezer, then the day you want to make it- toss it in the magic pot. Sold.
So, earlier this week, I went shopping and just grabbed a pile of meats, veggies, fruits, and seasonings.
I came home and configured what I was going to make. I had bought chicken breasts, chicken thighs, beef stew meat, a whole chicken, steaks, porkchops, and ground beef.
In the next hour and a half after getting home, I chopped veggies and fruit- sorted it into marked ziploc bags and here is what I pulled off:
Beef stews- for each bag I included four chopped potatoes, three chopped carrots, two packages of beef stew meat, beef gravy, beef broth, garlic powder, and paprika.
Chicken stews- in these I put three chopped potatoes, three chopped carrots, chicken gravy, chicken broth, tomato paste, tuscan chicken seasonings, garlic powder, and boneless skinless chicken thighs.
Terriyaki Chicken with veggies- boneless skinless chicken breasts, terriyaki marinade, three chopped potatoes, and chopped pineapple.
Garlic herb whole chicken- I took the lazy route on this one, it's a whole chicken with herb marinade and diced garlic. I love doing a whole chicken in the crockpot- they turn out so tender and juicy.
And my personal favorite- apple pecan pork chops with yams. Here I peeled and chopped two whole yams per bag, sliced three apples, chopped half a cup of pecans, two tablespoons of brown sugar, sprinkled some cinnamon, and added in four pork chops. After I did it- I thought of adding some applesauce into this one for next time.
I also browned three packages of ground beef and separated it into portions for quick meals- tacos, spaghetti, etc.
This morning, I pulled out my (brand new!) crock pot and yanked a bag of the porkchops for tonight's dinner.
First of all, it's one big frozen hunk of frozen solid food. Run it under hot water for about thirty seconds, it'll slide right out of the bag.
Then it's a frozen solid hunk in the crock pot.
I put it on low for about 10 hours- it was perfect at dinner time. Then left it warming until hubby got home from class another two hours after that- still perfect (excuse the cell phone picture quality!)
Can't wait to try another round of recipes!
You can make just about anything in that magic little plugged in wonder when you get right down to it. It's awesome. But where I struggle is finding the time to get everything ready for it in the morning to throw it in there and get cooking. By the point of my day that I have time to set baby without a screaming fit, and the kids are at school- it's too late for a meal to cook and be ready in time for dinner.
Well then I started seeing the pins for the ziploc bags full of raw uncooked dinner stuffs that you throw in the freezer, then the day you want to make it- toss it in the magic pot. Sold.
So, earlier this week, I went shopping and just grabbed a pile of meats, veggies, fruits, and seasonings.
I came home and configured what I was going to make. I had bought chicken breasts, chicken thighs, beef stew meat, a whole chicken, steaks, porkchops, and ground beef.
In the next hour and a half after getting home, I chopped veggies and fruit- sorted it into marked ziploc bags and here is what I pulled off:
Beef stews- for each bag I included four chopped potatoes, three chopped carrots, two packages of beef stew meat, beef gravy, beef broth, garlic powder, and paprika.
Chicken stews- in these I put three chopped potatoes, three chopped carrots, chicken gravy, chicken broth, tomato paste, tuscan chicken seasonings, garlic powder, and boneless skinless chicken thighs.
Terriyaki Chicken with veggies- boneless skinless chicken breasts, terriyaki marinade, three chopped potatoes, and chopped pineapple.Garlic herb whole chicken- I took the lazy route on this one, it's a whole chicken with herb marinade and diced garlic. I love doing a whole chicken in the crockpot- they turn out so tender and juicy.
And my personal favorite- apple pecan pork chops with yams. Here I peeled and chopped two whole yams per bag, sliced three apples, chopped half a cup of pecans, two tablespoons of brown sugar, sprinkled some cinnamon, and added in four pork chops. After I did it- I thought of adding some applesauce into this one for next time.
I also browned three packages of ground beef and separated it into portions for quick meals- tacos, spaghetti, etc.This morning, I pulled out my (brand new!) crock pot and yanked a bag of the porkchops for tonight's dinner.
First of all, it's one big frozen hunk of frozen solid food. Run it under hot water for about thirty seconds, it'll slide right out of the bag.
Then it's a frozen solid hunk in the crock pot.
I put it on low for about 10 hours- it was perfect at dinner time. Then left it warming until hubby got home from class another two hours after that- still perfect (excuse the cell phone picture quality!)
Can't wait to try another round of recipes!
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