40 Meals/4 Hours Crockpot Slow Cooker Freezer Cooking- The Motherload of Crock Pot Cooking

I have been posting the heck out of crock pot recipes and I found the mother load! The credit goes to: MOST AMAZING PERSON EVER for sharing this with us! And now I am sharing it with you. I will be doing this. Soon. It is a must! I am so tired by the time I get home and school is about to start which means I will be getting home later and later and this...is...a...must!


And now without further ado! The best Crock Pot Article Ever!

40 Meals/4 Hours Crockpot Slow Cooker Freezer Cooking

5 november, 2012 by katie 430 comments

Freezer cooking! Have you heard about this? You spend one day preparing meals for the month to keep in your freezer so you don’t have to think about it later. The meals can either be fully cooked and just need to be warmed or they can be raw but prepped and ready to go when you need them. It saves time, money, and your sanity! I am in school full time, working part time, and still have to maintain my full time mom and wife duties as well. There are some days that I don’t even get home with the kids until 6:30 and bedtime is around 7ish. That does not leave much time to cook dinner (and for some strange reason, my kids want to eat every.single.night!). That’s where the freezer cooking comes into play. All I have to do is pull a bag out of the freezer the night before and place it in the fridge to defrost. The next morning I dump it into the slow cooker and turn it on. That’s it! Dinner (at least the main dish) will be done and ready to serve the minute we walk in the door. (Use the slow cooker liners for super easy clean up too!) How amazing is that?! I loved the idea of it so I started collecting recipes I thought might work for the freezer and that my family would eat. I finally compiled a list of 19 different meals and planned to double each one. Want to make all these recipes for your family? Go HERE for the master shopping list! (I use a 5 qt slow cooker for all of these recipes)

I created a freezer cooking pin board for the recipes on Pinterest if you’re a visual person and for easy repinning :). Go here and check it out! I will also be adding to the board so be sure to follow us!  Check out our Freezer Meals Part 2 – 20 meals in 2 hours also!

My sweet helper. She was home from school sick. She sure looks sick, doesn’t she? :)

Applesauce BBQ Chicken
Buffalo Chicken
Pesto Chicken (only do the chicken part of this recipe)
Maple Dijon Chicken Thighs
Cilantro Lime Chicken

Green Chile Pork Stew

Easy Pulled Pork
Mongolian Beef
Chicken Tacos
Ranch Chicken Tacos (I just added ranch dressing to this recipe)
Island Chicken
Chicken Cacciatore
Chunky Beef Stew
Beef/Chicken Fajitas
Balsamic Glazed Drumsticks
Orange Chicken
Honey Carlic Chicken
Beef Tips
Teriyaki Chicken

**some of the recipes above don’t have specific crockpot instructions – I cooked them all on low for 6-8 hours**

I happened to hit a great sale at Kroger on meat ($1.68/lb for boneless skinless breasts and thighs!!) so my total for all of the ingredients was $225. I also ended up tripling two of the recipes so my grand total of meals for the freezer was 40. Divided out, that’s $5.63 per meal(main dish)! Feeding a family of 5 with 4 of the 5 eating like adults, I am very happy with that number! I didn’t add a ton of vegetables to these meals because I am not a huge fan of super cooked veggies (it’s a mushy texture thing), so we will add fresh cooked veg to serve on the side for most of these meals! The steam bags of frozen vegetables are the best thing since sliced bread :).

I decided to take the process step by step. First I labeled all of the freezer bags. After that was done, I prepped and chopped all of the vegetables I would need.

Then, I put all of the meat into each freezer bag. Raw meat skeeves me out so I was super happy to get all of the raw meat touching out of the way at once. I was able to wash my hands a million time and bleach the counters after I finished this step ha… 

Lastly, I added any remaining ingredients to each bag. I had a notebook set up on the counter with each meal and the additional ingredients so I feel that this step went pretty fast. I do admit I am not the best measurer, I tend to eyeball a lot. SO far for the meals we’ve tried- eyeballing works just fine! 

After 4 hours from start to finish (clean kitchen!) I had 40 meals prepped and ready to go in my freezer. I felt so accomplished! We have eaten many of the meals since then and so far they have all been big hits! I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to come home at 6:30 (with the house smelling delicious, by the way), pop a steamer bag of veggies in the microwave and have dinner on the table in less than 10 minutes. This whole experience has made evenings so much less stressful. I will definitely be making this a regular thing in our house. If you guys have any recipe suggestions for me to try next time, leave me a comment- I am always looking for new ideas.

To view the entire 40 Meals/4 Hours Recipe Collection with photos, clickHERE!

**EDIT** First I want to thank all of our readers- I am thrilled that there are so many people excited about this post. I have been asked many many times for a master shopping list for these recipes and a wonderful reader took the time to make the list for me! Go HERE for a shopping list for all 40 recipes! Many thanks to Anna for compiling this list for me!

Check out our 20 Meals/2 Hours Crockpot Freezer Cooking Collection also!  All new recipes!

Italian Shrimp Fettuccine

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced
4 green onions, sliced
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
2 (14 1/2 ounce) cans diced tomatoes, undrained
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 cup white wine
8 ounces fettuccine
1/2 lb raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Directions
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat until hot.
Add the mushrooms, green onions, and garlic.
Saute for 1-2 min or until green onions start to soften.
Stir in the tomatoes, parsley and wine.
Bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes to allow the flavors to blend.
Meanwhile, cook the fettuccine in a large pot of boiling salted water according to package directions and drain.
Add the shrimp and lemon juice to tomato mixture.
Cook for 1-2 minutes or until the shrimp turn pink.
Serve over the cooked fettuccine.
***To make this healthier serve over spaghetti squash or whole wheat Pasta

Chicken Breast Stuffed with Pepper Jack Cheese and Spinach

Perfect for low carb, pair this with a salad and your have a great low carb meal!

Ingredients

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 oz pepper jack cheese, shredded (you can use up to 6 oz)
1 c frozen spinach, thawed and drained (you can also use fresh cooked spinach)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp breadcrumbs (I use Italian style)
Sea salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Lots of toothpicks

Directions

Preheat oven to 180 (350 degreesf ).

Flatten the chicken to 1/4-inch thickness.

In a medium bowl, combine the pepper jack cheese, spinach, salt and pepper.

Combine the Cajun seasoning and breadcrumbs together in a small bowl.

Spoon about 1/4 c of the spinach mixture onto each chicken breast. Roll each chicken breast tightly and fasten the seams with several toothpicks. This part requires a tiny bit of skill and I typically use about 8 toothpicks in each roll to ensure none of the filling seeps out. Be sure to count how many total toothpicks were used!

Brush each chicken breast with the olive oil. Sprinkle the Cajun seasoning mixture evenly over all. Sprinkle any remaining spinach and cheese on top of chicken (optional).

Place the chicken seam-side up onto a tin foil-lined baking sheet (for easy cleanup). Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.

Remove the toothpicks before serving. Count to make sure you have removed every last toothpick. Serve whole or slice into medallians

Breadless Philly Cheese Steak

Breadless Philly Cheese Steak

Ingredients

• 2 medium green peppers
• 1/2 lb. steak
• 1/2 yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1 TBL butter
• dash of hot sauce
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 slices provolone cheese, halved

Directions

1. Cut the tops off of the green peppers, but no the bottoms. Slice the peppers in half, lengthwise. Wash and pull out all the seeds. Pat them dry and set aside.
2. Very, very thinly slice the steak against the grain, as thin as you can get it.
3. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the steak and salt and pepper and stir every few minutes, letting the steak get brown. When it's almost cooked all the way, add the onion and mushrooms. Cook until the onions are soft and transparent.
4. Spoon 1/4 of the filling onto one green pepper half. Top with two half slices of provolone and then put on another 1/4 of the filling. Top with the other green pepper half. Repeat with the other pepper.

Nutritional Facts

Servings

2

468.5 calories

30.5 g fat

9 g carbohydrates

39.5 g protein

984 mg sodium

2.5 g dietary fiber