Friday, March 7, 2014

15 Crockpot Freezer Meals


I had this week off before I start my last and final rotation of PT school! Hallelujah! Anyways, knowing that Ray and I will be super busy the next two months, I decided to utilize my time off to make the ultimate meal prep!  I looked far and wide through the internet to find a bunch of crockpot freezer meals to prepare for the month. I found a lot and made the world's largest grocery list...
I know you can't read that, but you can just tell that it was a lot of stuff haha. Took me about an hour just to put it altogether. So next it was time to go to the store....
Wasn't even quite done getting everything when I took this. When I was checking out the girls at the register said they hoped I had some help to carry all this stuff in. So with the most serious face I think I've ever had, I calmly said I would be ok, I had 6 kids. Their mouths just dropped open! It was HILARIOUS!!! They actually believed I had 6 kids! Priceless ;) anyway, it did take Ray and I 3 trips to get it all in and up the stairs. Next, time to begin the meal prep.
First I had to organize all the canned goods. All the veggies were still in the fridge, minus the 14 onions I bought haha.

This was bag organization for the first few meals. Before I started anything, I wrote on gallon freezer bags what was going to be in each of the bags. Then I tried to knock out the recipes that had a lot of canned stuff in it to get them out of the way. I placed the bags into mixing bowls to help keep them upright as I dumped all the canned goods in. Then I chopped up the veggies, cooked up hamburger and placed in frozen chicken breasts as each recipe called for.

That night, I ended up making 15 different freezer bag meals. I still plan on making a few more but the store didnt have quite everything I needed for a few of the meals so I have to go back and get the other ingredients to finish up. I also bought stuff to make 3 different types of lasagna. Which I will be making up and freezing in individual containers.

The following are the recipes I made, I will be posting them again individually as we make them up and eat them, if we liked them. The one's we like, we will keep the bag so I can make it again. The one's we dont care for we will just throw away the bag and we wont make them again. The following recipes came from a variety of places and I made little variations to some of them as well :)

1. Taco Chili

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb. cooked ground beef
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 1 can corn, drained
  • 1 can black beans, drained
  • 1 can navy beans, drained
  • 8 oz tomato sauce
  • 1 can Rotel
  • 28 oz. diced tomatoes
  • 4 oz can diced green chiles
  • 1 package taco seasoning 
Directions: Place all ingredients in freezer bag and freeze until ready. Thaw slightly, place in crockpot and cook on low for 4-6 hours. Serve with shredded cheese, chopped green onions and fritos

2. Chicken Fajitas (style 1)

Ingredients:

  • 3 Chicken Breasts, sliced into fajita strips
  • 1-2 Tbsp Fajita Seasoning, from a packet
  • 1 medium onion, sliced
  • 1 medium pepper, sliced
  • 1 Can Rotel tomatoes & green chiles
Directions: Add all the ingredients into freezer bag and freeze until ready. When ready, thaw and dump into crockput, cook 4-5 hours on low. 

3. Chicken Fajitas (style 2) 

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb. Chicken Breast, sliced into fajita strips
  • 1 medium onion, sliced
  • 1 medium green pepper, sliced
  • 2 cups of salsa
  • 1 can of green chiles
  • 1 package of fajita seasoning 
  • 2 T. olive oil
Directions: Place all items in freezer bag and freeze.
When ready to cook place all ingredients in crockpot and cook for 5-6 hours on low or 3-4 hours on high.  Serve with warm tortillas and top with salsa, guacamole, shredded lettuce, sour cream and shredded cheese

4. Spaghetti Sauce (update, good but would be even better with sausage added and maybe no carrots)

Ingredients:

  • 1 large can of your favorite sauce
  • 1 can diced Italian style tomatoes
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil (optional)
  • 1 bell pepper, chopped
  • 1/2 onion, chopped
  • 2 carrots, shredded
  • 1 lb browned ground beef
  • salt/pepper to taste
Directions: Place in freezer bag and freeze. Then when ready, cook in crockpot on low 3-4 hours. Serve over fresh, hot pasta.  

5. Copy Cat Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli


 Ingredients:

  • 1 pound lean ground beef, browned and drained
  • 1/2 large red onion, chopped
  • 1 cup carrots, chopped
  • 2 celery stalks, sliced
  • 2 cans (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes (and juice)
  • 1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 jar (26-ounce) pasta sauce
  • 2 tsp oregano
  • 1 T Tabasco sauce
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 4 cups beef broth (I wrote this on the bag to add at the time of cooking)
  • 1/2 cup dry pasta, to add at end of cooking time 
Directions: Brown the meat first and let it cool a bit before adding it to the bag. Add all the other ingredients except for the beef broth and the pasta. Freeze. When ready to cook, thaw a bit and place in crockpot along with the beef broth. Cook on low 8 hours, or high 4 hours. During the last hour or so, add the pasta. 


6. Beef and Broccoli

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound boneless beef top round steak — trimmed of fat, cut into cubes
  • 8oz sliced mushrooms
  • 1 large onion, cut into thin wedges
  • 2 cups fat free beef broth
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 2 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 1lb broccoli, cut into florets
  • 1 tbsp cornstarch
  • 2 tbsp water
  • 1 cup uncooked brown rice, prepared according to package directions.
Directions:
Place all ingredients up to the broccoli into the freezer bag. Freeze. When ready to prepare, thaw and place into crockpot. Cook on low 6-8 hours. During the last 30 mins, add the broccoli and mix up  the cornstarch in the water and stir into the crockpot. Let it cook for the last 30 mins.  Serve over rice. 

7. Ham with Pineapple

Ingredients:
  • 2.5 lbs ham, cut into cubes (I used ham steaks)
  • 2 cans pineapple chunks with juice
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • Rice to serve over.
Directions: Add all ingredients to bag and freeze. Then cook on low 6-8 hours. Serve over rice.

8. Sausage and Tomato Cream Sauce (update...didn't turn out too well)

Ingredients:
  • 2 tsp. olive oil
  • 1 lb mild Italian Sausage
  • 1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 (28oz.) can of diced tomatoes
  • 1 1/2 cups  half and half
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1-2 tsp. dried basil
  • Parmesan cheese (optional for serving)
  • 1 package of bow tie pasta, cooked according to package directions, for serving.
Directions: Heat oil in skillet and cook up the sausage. Let sausage cool some before adding to bag. Add the rest of the ingredients to the bag except the cheese and pasta. When ready, thaw and cook in crockpot on low 3-4 hours. When done cooking, add the cooked pasta and allow to heat through. 

9. Salsa Chicken

Ingredients:
  • 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • 1 cup salsa
  • 1 package taco seasoning
  • 1 can cream of mushroom soup (condensed)
  • 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt (for after it's cooked)
Directions: All all ingredients (except yogurt) to freezer bag and freeze. When ready, cook on low 6-8 hours. Remove from heat and stir in greek yogurt. Serve with rice. 

10. Chicken Spinach Soup

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 c. onion, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 large frozen chicken breast
  • 2 c. chicken broth
  • 1 c. water
  • 1/4 tsp. pepper
  • 1 tsp. dried basil
  • 1 can stewed tomatoes
  • 1 can Great White Northern Beans
  • 5 oz. frozen spinach
Directions: add all ingredients to bag and freeze. When ready, thaw and cook on low for 8 hours.

11. Orange Chicken(update, didn't care for this one that much)

Ingredients:
  • 2 cups carrots, chopped
  • 2 cups bell peppers, diced
  • 1 lb chicken breasts, cubed
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 8 oz orange juice concentrate
Directions: place in bag and freeze. To cook, thaw and cook low 4-6 hours. Serve over rice.

12. Black Bean Taco Soup

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb lean ground beef (or ground turkey works too!)
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 1 package mild taco seasoning mix
  • 1 (16 oz) bag frozen corn
  • 1 (16 oz) can black beans drained and rinsed 
  •  2 (14 oz) cans stewed tomatoes
  • 1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
  • 1 (4 oz) can diced green chilis
Directions: Brown meat, drain and let cool some before adding to bag. Add the rest of the ingredients and freeze. Then thaw and cook on low 2-3.5 hours. Serve with tortilla chips, cheese, sour cream and guac. 


13. Chicken Cacciatore(update, ours turned out watery, maybe cook the chicken prior to placing in bag)

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb chicken breasts
  • 1 (26 oz) jar spaghetti sauce
  • 1 zucchini, chopped
  • 1 green pepper, chopped
  • 1 sweet onion, chopped
Directions:  place all ingredients into bag and freeze. To cook, crockpot low 6-8 hours. Serve over spaghetti.


14. Black Bean and Corn Salsa Chicken

Ingredients:
  • 2 (14 oz) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 2 (14 oz) cans corn, drained
  • 1 (1 oz) package taco seasoning
  • 1 lb chicken breasts
  • 1 cup salsa
  • 3/4 cup water
Directions: Place all ingredients in bag and freeze. When ready, thaw and cook on low 7-8 hours. When finished cooking, shred chicken and serve over rice or in tortillas. 


15. Creamy Salsa Chicken

Ingredients:
  • 1 lb chicken breasts
  • 1 (16 oz) jar chunky salsa
  • 1 (10.75 oz) cream of chicken soup
Directions: Mix all together in bag and freeze. When ready, thaw and cook on low 6-7 hours. When finished cooking, shred chicken and serve over rice or in tortillas.  





Well, there you have it! 15 freezer meals! Took about 2-3 hours to prepare it all. Will post pictures when we cook them all up! Cant wait to try every single one of them! :D








No comments:

Post a Comment