My Day Off

I did it. I gave into the Pinterest pressure of spending near an entire day grocery shopping, chopping, slicing, trimming, and bagging in order to have my freezer full of crockpot meals.  Ok, so maybe my version was a slightly smaller scale than the ones on Pinterest.  It really only took me about an hour to "assemble" everything. I used mostly chicken recipes, as we try to avoid red meat. I ended up with 8 meals.   (Side note: Not everything in the top picture went towards the crockpot meals. Muffin mix? Not so much.)

Teriyaki Chicken
1 bag of baby carrots, each chopped into 3 pieces
1/2 red onion in large chunks
1 can pineapple
1 garlic glove, minced
4 chicken breasts
1/2 bottle teriyaki sauce
sesame seeds
2 cups broccoli

Seperate this recipe into TWO seperate freezer bags.  Before you put everything in the bag write your recipe name and instructions on the bag.  Thaw overnight.  Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.  Serve over white rice.

Chicken, Mushroom, and Broccoli Alfredo (9/27 edit: This was good. It was amazing in the crockpot, but only "good" over noodles. It seemed just a tiny bit bland. I would add some seasoning.  Maybe some garlic salt/onion powder.  Or real garlic, salt, and pepper.  Just something to add a bit more flavor!)
4 chicken breasts
2 cups frozen broccoli
1 jar Alfredo sauce
1 green pepper, chopped
1 small can sliced mushrooms, drained

This all goes in ONE bag. Thaw overnight.  Cook in law 4-6 hours.  Serve with linguine.

Zesty Italian Chicken (9/11 edit: This is boyfriend approved. We both loved it. Plan to add celery and mushrooms next time!)
3-4 chicken breasts
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 pkg cream cheese, cubed
1 pkg Zesty Italian dressing mix
1 stalk celery, sliced

This goes into ONE bag.  Thaw overnight.  Cook on low 4-5 hours.  Serve over noodles or rice.

Mexican Chicken
4 chicken breasts
1 cup salsa
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 c sour cream (added the day you cook it)

This goes into ONE bag, but I doubled it and made 2 bags. That overnight. Cook on low 6-8 hours. Add sour cream at the end and serve over rice.

Black Bean Taco Soup (10/12 edit:  This was amazing. Boyfriend approved. Will definitely make again.)
1 lb ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 can corn (drained)
1 can black beans (drained)
1 can stewed tomatoes (mostly drained)
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
1 (4 oz) can green chilis

Brown meat and onion, drain.  Let it cool for a minute then split into TWO freezer bags.  Split the rest of the ingredients between the 2 bags.  Thaw 24 hours.  Cook on high 1-2 hours or low 2-3 1/2 hours.  Serve with tortilla chip, cheese, sour cream, and guacamole.

Try to lay the bags flat to freeze and be sure to get the extra air out of the bags before you seal them!
These all seemed pretty basic, so hopefully they will all get David's stamp of approval.  I might do some research before my next batch and try to find some other recipes to add.  Let me know if you have any suggestions!

3-Envelope.....Anything

The best thing about crockpot meals is that they require little to no work when you get home. Fortunately, this can mean the work has to be done first thing in the morning and I am NOT a morning person.  The idea of getting up early to prepare food that I'm not going to get to eat for 10 hours is not one that sets well with me.  With a 3-Envelope meal, you can get this meal started without even setting your alarm clock back.  If you can remember the name of the recipe, you can probably remember the recipe.  You'll need: The meat of your choice, 1 cup water and 3 envelopes of seasoning, usually a ranch packet, an italian seasoning packet, and a gravy packet the corresponds with the type of meat you are using.

Example:

Three Envelope Roast

1 Roast

1 Cup Water

1 Envelope Italian Seasoning

1 Envelope Ranch Seasoning

1 Envelope Beef Gravy Mix

Done!  The great thing about this is you don't have to stick to the recipe. At all. (Not that I ever do anyway.)  You can use chicken instead of a roast.  You can use an Onion Soup Mix instead of the Ranch.  I've tried it all of these ways and loved them all.  There are two warnings that come with this recipe: If you're trying to keep your sodium down, this is probably not the recipe for you AND.... make extra.

Sante Fe Chicken (Crock Pot!)

Unfortunately, I have another photo-less post. Fortunately, it tastes amazing.  Of course I found it on Pinterest.  I haven't been able to track down the original source, but it certainly isn't me! This is a VERY easy one to get started in the crock pot before work.  It goes like this:

3 chicken breasts (I just buy one package at the grocery store)

1 can corn, drained

1 can black beans, drained

1 jar salsa.

Set to "LOW" and that's it!  Well, that's all you do to get started.  When you get home from work (or when you're almost ready to eat), throw in a block of cream cheese.  I use neufchatel which is that stuff that's packaged just like cream cheese and is located right next to the cream cheese and tastes like cream cheese but because it has 1/3 the amount of fat, it has a different name. I cut this into a few strips.  Crank the crock pot to high. Wait half an hour, then stir.  You're done!

This can be served by itself, but the chicken falls apart, so we've eaten it on tortillas or with tortilla chips.  I usually make Zatarain's Spanish Rice with it.  It's a favorite!