My neighbor approached me last week with the awesome idea of putting together some freezer meals.. I was stoked so I accepted. We sat down, traded a few recipes and came up with a shopping list and a plan. Well, when you have kids, life happens...her lil' guy got the pukies, then she did. So needless to say, we couldnt do them together. Although, I did manage to put them together by myself.
I was kind of a "virgin" at freezer meals. I have never done mass food preparation before, but this was so easy! I only dirtied a handful of dirty dishes, most of which hardly counted as dishes (measuring spoons, mixing spoon, bowl, cutting board and knife). You mix everything in the bag (except for one recipe), seal it up, and thats it!
I did all my grocery shopping last week, and brought home EVERYTHING for the recipes, plus re-stocked my pantry cause it was looking pretty pathetic, and purchased things for lunches, snacks and breakfast (expected to last roughly two weeks). I spent about $280 on all of that. Which I have to say is much better than I have done in the past. $280 every two weeks for a family of 6 is pretty darn good.
Menu planning makes such a huge difference in how much money you spend on your groceries. I have learned though lots of trial and error (mostly error), and have come to the realization that regardless of the amount of work that goes into planning a menu, sticking to it, and shopping, it worth it because of the amount of money that you will save by doing it. Flying by the seat of your pants is costly....
Wow, did I get off topic or what? Here I am rambling about all this (still important info) and you guys want the recipes for these meals. Now, there will be a link for the site on which I got these off of, but keep in mind I didnt make all those, I picked 6 from that list, and added 3 more from my neighbors list. I will tell you below specifically which ones I made, then give you the recipes for the other 3.Well here ya go!
Slow Cooker BBQ Cranberry Chicken
Slow Cooker Beef and Mushrooms ( I did not use mushrooms cause I am the only one who likes them. Also I used beef broth cause the kids drank all the apple juice before I could make these. I added a little extra liquid than it called for because I did not use the canned mushrooms)
Slow Cooker Sweet and Tangy Meatballs
Slow Cooker Sweet Teriyaki Chicken
Slow Cooker Creamy Ranch Pork Chops and Potatoes
Now here are the 3 recipes I got from my neighbor:
Terriyaki Pork Chops
4 pork chops (We like bone-in)
Salt & pepper to taste
2 cloves of minced garlic, I used my garlic press
2 T brown sugar
1/4 C soy sauce
1/3 C chicken broth
Add all ingredients to a 1 gallon sized zipper bag. Seal and freeze. Defrost in fridge for 24 hours before cooking. Add contents in bag to crock pot and cook on high for 4-5 hours, or on low for 6-7 hours.
Orange Chicken
3-4 chicken breast
1/2 T salt
6oz frozen orange juice, thawed
3 T brown sugar
1 T balsamic vinegar
3 T ketchup
Add all ingredients to a 1 gallon sized zipper bag. Seal and freeze. Defrost in fridge for 24 hours before cooking. Add contents in bag to crock pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours.
Garlic Honey Chicken
3-4 chicken breast
3 cloves of minced garlic, I used my garlic press
1/3 C soy sauce
2/3 C ketchup
1/4 C honey
Add all ingredients to a 1 gallon sized zipper bag. Seal and freeze. Defrost in fridge for 24 hours before cooking. Add contents in bag to crock pot and cook on high for 3-4 hours, or on low for 5-6 hours.
There you have it! I hope that you enjoy making these, cause I know I did! I felt very accomplished after I was done, and was looking at my stack of completed meals on my counter. It felt good.
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