Crockpot Freezer Meals

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

Ok, I mentioned this on the "What's for Dinner?" thread and was encouraged to start a new thread.

The other day, i was wasting time on Pinterest, as saw the idea of Crockpot freezer meals. The idea similar to Once a Month cooking, but MUCH easier.

You put all the ingredients for crockpot meal in a ziplock bag, all chopped and prepped, and freeze it. Then, when you want tthat meal, you just pull that bag out of the freezer, and dump the contents in the crockpot. Some people don't like to put frozen food in the crockpot, so they put the bag in the fridge the night before. Others, who are fine with putting frozen food in the crockpot, just run the "zipped" bag under the faucet to loosen the contents before dumping the contents in the crockpot that morning.

Here is a link to my Pinterest page, where you can click on links to the various blogs with recipes.http://pinterest.com/momofsixinsc/

The bloggers I have found just pick out a few meals, shop for them, and then prep those meals and eat them that week (or two weeks). They can prep 10 meals in a short of time and only have to do clean-up once.

I plan to do it differently. I have to shop the sales, so i can't decide that tomorrow i will buy beef roasts, chicken, and a pork roast. Instead, i will look at the sale flyers (most available now on-line!) and decide what protein to buy this week. (Since that is usually the biggest budget drainer). This week, Publix has boneless, skinless chicken breasts for $2.99/lb. That's a bit more than I like to spend, but prices are going up.

Anyway, i will buy a few trays of chicken breasts and prep a few chicken meals. Hopefully, next week someone will have some beef or pork roasts on sale and i will get to prep some of those meals. Then, we can have a variety of meals, just some older than others, but well preserved in the freezer.

Another tip i learned this week is i can prep things like sweet peppers and then freeze them until they are needed. So I prepped some peppers the other day and will just pull them out this evening when i make pizza.

Anyway, I hope these ideas help someone. If you want me to put the links here to the various blogs that have recipes, just let me know. We could also share reviews of the various recipes.

[momof3kids-Yvonne 594]

I would love it if you posted the links here. I haven't gotten started with Pinrest. Afraid it would be something else that I would get addicted to and right now I only have time for the fiends and poking.

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

I would love it if you posted the links here. I haven't gotten started with Pinrest. Afraid it would be something else that I would get addicted to and right now I only have time for the fiends and poking.

As you wish.

http://www.ringaroundtherosies.net/2012/04/more-freezer-cooking-meals-part-3.html

http://www.six-cents.com/2012/06/crockpot-freezer-cooking-101.html

http://melissafallistestkitchen.blogspot.com/2011/09/freezer-cooking-slow-cooker-meals.html

[polkadotsuitcase 12]

Sounds like an interesting idea! What's the concern with frozen food into a crockpot?

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

Sounds like an interesting idea! What's the concern with frozen food into a crockpot?

That it will spend time at an unsafe temp and cause foodborne illness. . However, i have done this many,many times and never had a problem with it.

[alexwyattmommy 181]

The ceramic may crack from the intense cold while it heats up. I think adding liquid helps to alleviate that concern.

[MLM5.. aka Judy 97]

I simply love your ideas Marty! I did a few freezer meals today, I did baked spaghettie and Ziti, the next few weeks are going to be busy so those little things make all the difference. I hadnt even thought about freezing the crockpot meals, genius!! Do you have a Sam's Club in your area? I have found that I save ALOT of money buying items in bulk there.

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

We do have a Sam's Club and a Costco. However, since we don't eat any foods with petroleum (crude oil) in them, we can't buy much from those places. BJ's Wholesale Club had more that we could buy, but they closed the one near us. :-(

[4mickey2 41]

got it and following you now, marty! thanks. i am going to look into these. might have to make some of these really soon.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

After Marty's post on the Dinner thread earlier, I checked out some of her links and did some shopping.

I now have three meals prepped...all in under an hour.

We are having Teriyaki Chicken tomorrow (bought the Publix breasts on sale).

We will also be trying Pulled Pork tacos and Beef Stroganoff this week.

Thank you Marty! Life has been SO BUSY lately that it is nice to know we have most of the week's dinners prepped already. :jumpforjoy

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

I love onceamonthmom.com. Her June traditional and grill menu were sooooooo good! She does some crockpot.

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

I've found that doubling or more one of her recipes and freezing the other half or so helps me build a stash of freezer meals.

[ImDownWithDisney 342]

Since my new job allows me to be at home by 2:30 in the afternoon I have started handling most of the dinner work. I think that I will try some of these ideas. Saving money and not cooking every day sounds like a win win.

Great thread!

[wdwpoohbear...Jennifer 40]

Marty, thanks for putting this on here! I am definitely going to use some of these recipes...especially during the school year when time is tight. :yourock:

[PureTcrazy...rita 380]

Thanks Marty! I've already got some picked out!

[GOBA Mom Lynn 18]

These are all great ideas!

I found a cookbook that has another way to cook that you might be interested in.

It's called "Glorious One-pot Meals" by Elizabeth Yarnell. The method I've used is different than anything I'd seen before.

Use your Dutch oven in your kitchen oven. Put frozen meat and veggies in the D-oven along with some sauce and bake for only about 45 min. @450 degrees.

It really works. (Probably don't want to do it now, with temperatures of 90 degrees + outside LOL.)

Marty mentioning the frozen ingredients reminded me of these recipes.

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

Thanks for starting this thread, Marty! I'm a big fan of cooking ahead as by the time I get home from work the last thing I want to do is spend ages prepping/cooking a meal.

I'll definitely be making some lists!

[Retired & Tired (Judy) 90]

I love the idea of frozen crock pot meals. In fact when heading to the fort having some ready would take up much less room in the freezer than all the meat would take. Ken always buys the large packages of 90% ground beef and makes it into patties and some browned meat to use in Spaghetti Sauce, etc. That way we have it ready to cook in a matter of minutes. We also chop up green and red peppers and freeze them. Since our daughter has a garden it really helps us have vegetables in the freezer. We now have corn, tomatoes (for sauce, etc.), okra, peas, and a few other things. I love vegetables.

[PureTcrazy...rita 380]

We are going to make 10 of the Freezer crock pot dinners today. Mushroom Pot Roast, Terriyaki Chicken, Island Pork, Veggie Chicken Chili and Hawaiian BBQ Pork. Tomorrow we will patty out hamburgers and individual meat loafs to freeze individually on a pan and then bag up. We will also make a huge pot of spaghetti sauce for supper and then bag up 4 bags of that and make a lasagna for the crock pot! This is going to be exciting!

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

Sounds terrific, Rita. Be sure to let us know how the process goes and what your favorite recipes end up being.

[alexwyattmommy 181]

I want to hear all about it too please.

[PureTcrazy...rita 380]

I will surely let y'all know! Chris just called from the store, the recipes list the number of chicken breasts not the number of pounds. He was going to get the individually flash frozen ones, I was like "heck no, that's too expensive!" We think we figured it out and I hope we're right, he's getting 9 pounds of chicken breasts.

There are usually only two of us, but we figure we will get supper and lunch the next day out of each meal! So really we're gonna get 20 meals out of these 5 recipes!

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

I mad the Savory Vegetable Beef Soup form this page for dinner yestaerday: http://melissafallistestkitchen.blogspot.com/2011/09/freezer-cooking-slow-cooker-meals.html

I did not freeze it first because I wanted to try it right away, plus my freezer is FULL! I prepped a sausage skillet meal, plus Hawaiian Chicken Sandwiches and Salsa Chicken. We are scheduled to have the Salsa Chicken tomorrow. I have yet to decide if i will just cook one bag in teh crockpot and add lots of sides for my crew, or cook both bags.

Oh, the soup was good. The three children I asked rated it a 7 out of 10, which is good enough for me. We always have soup on Saturday and this one will get added to the rotation. (Which brings me to a grand total of 5 soups I make on a regular basis. LOL)

Can't wait to hear how others enjoy the meals!

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

I will surely let y'all know! Chris just called from the store, the recipes list the number of chicken breasts not the number of pounds. He was going to get the individually flash frozen ones, I was like "heck no, that's too expensive!" We think we figured it out and I hope we're right, he's getting 9 pounds of chicken breasts.

There are usually only two of us, but we figure we will get supper and lunch the next day out of each meal! So really we're gonna get 20 meals out of these 5 recipes!

Rita, I can relate about the chicken breasts. I was standing in Bi-Lo the other day counting out chicken breasts so i could get the 24 I needed. The other shoppers looked at me like I was crazy! LOL

[PureTcrazy...rita 380]

We are done! Pics will follow later.