The first attempt at bulk buy and freezer-to-crock-pot meals was a huge hit in our house. I spent another day of recipe research and list writing before our next big grocery trip. This time, I got husband involved! He did most of the prep chopping, while I did the mixing. 6 of these recipes are new, 1 is a repeat from the first time around because it was such a hit. Most of the recipes were taken from Kraft's slow cooker website
These recipes serve 4-6 people. Generally I calculate a large portion around 1/4lb of meat.
Dinners:
Shopping list:
zip freezer bags (find a brand you can trust not to leak. I use freezer bags from Aldi)
Staples: (at least in our house)
brown sugar
soy sauce
onion soup mix (1env)
barley
curry powder
rice
dried parsley
worchestershire
white wine
Veg:
ginger root
4 onions
2 bags baby carrots
1 rib celery (I usually get hearts because they take less prep)
2 green peppers
1 red pepper
1lb red potatoes
1 jar minced garlic or 7 gloves fresh garlic minced
1/2 cup dried apricots
1/2 cup golden raisins
Cans, jars and condiments:
2 cup chicken broth
29 oz beef broth
10 3/4oz cream of chicken soup
14 1/2 oz diced tomato
2 can stewed tomato
1 jar salsa (mild, med, hot- your choice depending on how hot you like it)
2 med jars grape jelly
1 bottle Catalina dressing
32oz BBQ sauce
8oz chunked pineapple
velveeta or similar easy melt cheese (I use cheese dip found in chip aisle with salsa)
Meats:
12 lbs chicken breast
1 1/2lb stew beef
Freezer:
1 lg bag of meatballs
1 md bag frozen broccoli
South African BBQ Chicken
3 lb. boneless skinless chicken thighs
1-1/2 cups Barbecue Sauce
1 cup chicken broth
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup dried apricots, quartered
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 Tbsp. curry powder
3 cloves garlic, minced
6 cups hot cooked rice
Cook on low for 8 hours. Serve over rice (Crock pot rice: 2 cups water, 1 cup rice, 3 tbs butter, 1 tbs salt. Cook on high 2 hours)
Cheesy Chicken & Potato
1 large green pepper, chopped
1 lb. red potatoes (about 3), very thinly sliced
1 tsp. paprika
2lb chicken breast
1 can (10-3/4 oz.) condensed cream of chicken soup
1/4lb. (4 oz.) VELVEETA®, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley - (I subbed dried parsley)
When making freezer back add everything but the cheese. Cook 6 hours low. Add cheese and cook high for 5 minutes. Stir melted cheese in.
Sweet & Sour Chicken
1 onion, sliced
1 carrot, sliced
1 stalk celery, sliced
1-1/2 lb. boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup KRAFT Classic CATALINA Dressing
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tsp. grated gingerroot
1 can (8 oz.) pineapple chunks, drained
1 each green and red pepper, cut into strips
3 cups hot cooked long-grain white rice
Cook low for 6 hours. Serve over rice. For thicker liquid make a roux, add to crock and heat on high for 30 minutes until thickened.
Curry Chicken
2-3/4 lb.chicken breast
1 jar (16 oz.) Salsa
1 onion, chopped
2cTbsp. curry powder
Cook low 8 hours. Serve over rice with steamed vegetables. To take some heat out add sour cream when serving. (for us, this was mild enough that we didnt add sour cream. we also used mild salsa
Beef Barley Stew
2 cup carrot
1.5 lb cubed beef
1 envelope onion soup
29 oz beef broth
14.5 oz diced tomato w/ liquid
2 cup water
1 cup uncooked barley
Cook low 8-10 hours
Sweet & Tangy Meatballs
1 lg bag frozen meatballs
2 md jars grape jelly
20oz BBQ sauce
Cook low for 2-4 hours. Serve over egg noodles with vegetables
Savory Chicken
4-6 chicken breasts (boneless/skinless)
2 cans stewed tomatoes
4 tbs white wine
4 cloves minced garlic
1 lg onion
1 c chicken broth
2 tbs salt
*4c frozen broccoli (do not put into freezer bag with rest of ingredients)
Cook low for 8 hours. Add broccoli for last 30 minutes of cooking time
Dinners:
Savory Chicken
Sweet & Tangy Meatballs
South African BBQ Chicken
Sweet & Sour Chicken
Beef Barley Stew (this is a repeat of last go around, but we loved it so much we wanted more)
Cheesy Chicken and Potatoes
Curry Chicken
Sweet & Tangy Meatballs
South African BBQ Chicken
Sweet & Sour Chicken
Beef Barley Stew (this is a repeat of last go around, but we loved it so much we wanted more)
Cheesy Chicken and Potatoes
Curry Chicken
Shopping list:zip freezer bags (find a brand you can trust not to leak. I use freezer bags from Aldi)
Staples: (at least in our house)
brown sugar
soy sauce
onion soup mix (1env)
barley
curry powder
rice
dried parsley
worchestershire
white wine
Veg:
ginger root
4 onions
2 bags baby carrots
1 rib celery (I usually get hearts because they take less prep)
2 green peppers
1 red pepper
1lb red potatoes
1 jar minced garlic or 7 gloves fresh garlic minced
1/2 cup dried apricots
1/2 cup golden raisins
Cans, jars and condiments:
2 cup chicken broth
29 oz beef broth
10 3/4oz cream of chicken soup
14 1/2 oz diced tomato
2 can stewed tomato
1 jar salsa (mild, med, hot- your choice depending on how hot you like it)
2 med jars grape jelly
1 bottle Catalina dressing
32oz BBQ sauce
8oz chunked pineapple
velveeta or similar easy melt cheese (I use cheese dip found in chip aisle with salsa)
Meats:
12 lbs chicken breast
1 1/2lb stew beef
Freezer:
1 lg bag of meatballs
1 md bag frozen broccoli
South African BBQ Chicken
3 lb. boneless skinless chicken thighs
1-1/2 cups Barbecue Sauce
1 cup chicken broth
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup dried apricots, quartered
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 Tbsp. curry powder
3 cloves garlic, minced
6 cups hot cooked rice
Cook on low for 8 hours. Serve over rice (Crock pot rice: 2 cups water, 1 cup rice, 3 tbs butter, 1 tbs salt. Cook on high 2 hours)
Cheesy Chicken & Potato
1 large green pepper, chopped
1 lb. red potatoes (about 3), very thinly sliced
1 tsp. paprika
2lb chicken breast
1 can (10-3/4 oz.) condensed cream of chicken soup
1/4lb. (4 oz.) VELVEETA®, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley - (I subbed dried parsley)
When making freezer back add everything but the cheese. Cook 6 hours low. Add cheese and cook high for 5 minutes. Stir melted cheese in.
 |
| (sorry its upside down!) We ran out of chicken. I put all the ingredients together anyway. Ready to just add chicken |
Sweet & Sour Chicken
1 onion, sliced
1 carrot, sliced
1 stalk celery, sliced
1-1/2 lb. boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup KRAFT Classic CATALINA Dressing
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tsp. grated gingerroot
1 can (8 oz.) pineapple chunks, drained
1 each green and red pepper, cut into strips
3 cups hot cooked long-grain white rice
Cook low for 6 hours. Serve over rice. For thicker liquid make a roux, add to crock and heat on high for 30 minutes until thickened.
Curry Chicken
2-3/4 lb.chicken breast
1 jar (16 oz.) Salsa
1 onion, chopped
2cTbsp. curry powder
Cook low 8 hours. Serve over rice with steamed vegetables. To take some heat out add sour cream when serving. (for us, this was mild enough that we didnt add sour cream. we also used mild salsa
Beef Barley Stew
2 cup carrot
1.5 lb cubed beef
1 envelope onion soup
29 oz beef broth
14.5 oz diced tomato w/ liquid
2 cup water
1 cup uncooked barley
Cook low 8-10 hours
Sweet & Tangy Meatballs
1 lg bag frozen meatballs
2 md jars grape jelly
20oz BBQ sauce
Cook low for 2-4 hours. Serve over egg noodles with vegetables
Savory Chicken
4-6 chicken breasts (boneless/skinless)
2 cans stewed tomatoes
4 tbs white wine
4 cloves minced garlic
1 lg onion
1 c chicken broth
2 tbs salt
*4c frozen broccoli (do not put into freezer bag with rest of ingredients)
Cook low for 8 hours. Add broccoli for last 30 minutes of cooking time
I'd love to hear if you enjoyed each of these recipes after freezing and using. Thanks! They all sound great but I like to have after cooking reviews before committing! :)
ReplyDeleteThey all held up very well. I have since made the beef barley and the South African ban for other people to rave reviews. The meatballs held up well but probably won't do them again because it wasn't a complete meal which, for me, kind of defeated the purpose. I might make them again for a potluck.
ReplyDeleteI can't find the recipe for the Savory Chicken. I might have missed it, not sure!
ReplyDeleteSavory Chicken
Delete4-6 chicken breasts (boneless/skinless)
2 cans stewed tomatoes
4 tbs white wine
4 cloves minced garlic
1 lg onion
1 c chicken broth
2 tbs salt
*4c frozen broccoli (do not put into freezer bag with rest of ingredients)
Cook low for 8 hours. Add broccoli for last 30 minutes of cooking time
can you make the savory chicken without the wine? will it taste the same? I want to try this recipe but would rather not have to go to the liquor store for it.
DeleteYou can cook the savory chicken without wine, but it will taste different. However, you can use cooking wine found in the grocery store isle near the salad dressings.
DeleteTHe Savory chicken is under the meatballs receipe....it looks like it kinda got mixed under there. Not underlined...but there :-)
ReplyDeleteIs it possible to cook all or some of these recipes and then freeze them. Next pull from freezer and just warm in oven or microwave? Thank you for your time.
ReplyDeleteI have not tried to cook then freeze. Most of the recipes are things that will hold up to reheating with exception of the beef barley. Barley itself doesn't seem to hold up well to multiple heating.
ReplyDeleteComing back to see if there was a photo for a recipe, and read the comments. Just want to say that I'm a single lady and I reheated my beef barley stew for a good 5-6 servings. The barley tends to absorb moisture and so each reheating I added 1/4 to 1/2 c water and a little Worcestershire sauce, but it turned out just fine for a good few days of eating.
DeleteThanks for pointing out the issue with formatting. It's been corrected.
ReplyDeletethese serve how many people?
ReplyDeleteUnless stated otherwise, recipes on my blog serve 4 to 6.
ReplyDeleteSorry if this is a dumb question but do you chop ingredients and freeze together and then cook in crockpot straight from frozen? Or do you cook the meals and then freeze them after cooking?
ReplyDeleteThank you!
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi Amy
ReplyDeleteCut up everything and place it all the a ziplock uncooked then freeze it (unless the recipe says otherwise). Then you can pop it out of the ziplock and throw into the crockpot to cook it.