Crockpot Beef and Broccoli

We made a change to this one of my 15 crockpot meals and is stated below. Overall though, it was pretty good over rice.

Beef and Broccoli

Ingredients:

• 1 pound boneless beef top round steak — trimmed of fat, cut into cubes
• 8oz sliced mushrooms(we think it would be a lot better without the 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.

Crockpot Copy Cat Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli

Ok, we'll be honest, we dont exactly remember this one of the 15 crockpot meals. But I vaguely remember it because we couldnt add the beef broth because our crockpot is too small. So if Ive remembered correctly, this came out like a hearty stew which was very yummy :)

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.

Crockpot Spaghetti Sauce

This one of my 15 crockpot meals was pretty good but we decided on a few changes that would make it better for next time (stated below).

 Spaghetti Sauce 

 

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 (In original recipe, would be better without them, makes the sauce crunchy)
• 1 lb browned ground beef (we think this would be better substituted with sausage for an extra spice)
• 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.

Crockpot Black Bean and Corn Salsa Chicken

OMG! Out of all the 15 crockpot meals I made, this one has GOT to be my favorite. It was hard to stop eating it. It kinda tastes a little like chipotle burritos minus the sour cream and lettuce which certainly could be added on the top when served. We cooked up a packaged of zatarans dirty rice and mixed it in at the end and it was absolutely delicious! Here's the recipe again:

  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.

Crockpot Taco Chili

Update on my 15 crockpot meals, the taco chili was pretty amazing if I do say so myself. Here's the recipe again

 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

Mango Bran Muffins

I made these last week and thought I had posted the recipe but apparently forgot to. And since I thought I had posted it, I already deleted the pictures I took of the muffins but they were pretty! haha They tasted yummy too! They arent really sweet which I like but I do suggest after putting them in an airtight container or bag you place them in the fridge as 6 days later, the 3 muffins I still had left were starting to get moldy. Either way, they may not last that long.

Mango Bran Muffins

Ingredients:

Wet Ingredients:

• 1 mango, chopped
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1/4 cup liquid egg whites
• 1/4 cup agave nectar
• 3/4 cup almond milk, unsweetened

Dry Ingredients:

• 2 scoops whey protein powder (I used Cellucor Cinnamon Swirl)
• 1 1/2 cups wheat bran
• 1/2 cup oat flour
• 3 1/2 tsp baking powder (yes, really that much)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Combine Wet Ingredients EXCEPT coconut oil in a bowl and mix.
3. In another bowl combine and mix all dry ingredients with a whisk or fork. Add Dry Ingredients to the bowl with Wet Ingredients and mix enough to combine.
4. Add coconut oil and give it another gentle stir.
5. Spray regular 12 muffin tins with cooking spray. Pour mixture into muffin pan, filling each cup full. 
6. Bake for 20 minutes.

Zucchini Fritters

Zucchini! I love zucchini! You can make sweet stuff, breakfast stuff, add it to soups, eat it plain, its just yummy. We had 2 leftover zucchini from meal prep and they were starting to get a little soft so it was time to use them up. I was tempted to make these brownies I found that use zucchini, but decided to go a little healthier lol. These fritters were so yummy, and they were equally as yummy warmed up the following day. They are uber easy to make and pretty much fool proof. We made some turkey cheeseburger mac stuff for dinner and I had a tiny helping of that and like 4 of these fritters. I was STUFFED! it was so worth it though :) Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 2-3 medium zucchini
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp pepper
• ¼ tsp paprika
• ⅓ cup finely chopped onion
• 1 egg
• ½ cup wheat flour
• ½ tsp baking powder

Directions

• Shred zucchini by hand or in a food processor
• Place zucchini in a clean thin dish towel (layered cheese cloth may work as well), squeeze out as much water as possible and then place zucchini into a bowl
• Mix in the rest of the ingredients
• Heat a griddle on 350 and spray with cooking spray. Place big spoonfuls onto the hot griddle and flatten out as much as possible so the fritters cook through.
• Cook approx 3 mins and then flip. They should be golden brown on each side.
• You can eat them plain like I did, or with dip, sour cream, cheese, whatever you want :)