The Crock Pot
photo by: Leesha Seibold |
Being a VERY busy mom to an infant, I also attend school and work. Some days it takes all of me to not go to the nearest fast food restaurant on my drives home. While pregnant, I received a bright red crock pot. Not thinking I would EVER use it, I proved myself wrong once my son came into this world in April of 2014. Husband worked overtime. Chores stacked up. And our fridge was pitiful. A change HAD to be made. I broke out the red crock pot and my obsession with using it began.
Imagine this... you have a big pot, you throw a whole bunch of ingredients in it, turn it on, and forget about it for 8 hours. Poof! Dinner is served.
What You Will Need
Freezing crock pot meals is simple. You throw together ALL the ingredients you would need for that meal in a bag, label it, and put it in the freezer. You will have to put a couple hours aside one day if you want to do this in bulk. Here is a list of a few things to buy from the grocery store next time that come in handy to have for preparing these freezer meals-to-crock pot:
- Gallon sized freezer bags that zip close
- Sticky notes
- Sharpie
You will need your everyday groceries along with these helpful items. I like to check out these sites for ideas on meals:
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How To Store Meals in Freezer
After grocery shopping, I like to place all the items needed for the crock pot meals on my kitchen table.
Next, I whip out my sticky notes and write down what ingredients go into each bag. Once completed, I usually make 7 at a time for each day of the week, I stick each note onto a freezer bag and fill the bags with the ingredients called for. Example: 4 frozen chicken breasts, can of cream of chicken soup, 2 cups of salsa, and a pack of taco seasoning.
Finally, I use my sharpie and mark each bag with the day of the week I plan to use it by as well as include any extra information like cooking times. Example: 4 hours on high OR 8 hours on low.
Good Luck!
I hope that this was helpful! It has saved me SO much time and I have to say I rather enjoy not having to clean all the pots and pans every night after cooking a meal. If you're one busy momma like myself, I'm sure you will enjoy your new found love for your crock pot.
Questions?
If you have any questions on "how to" when it comes to your crock pot, email me!
Did this post help you? Maybe even inspire you to use your crock pot? I would LOVE to know! Also, if you have any tips you'd like to share or add let me know!
Thank you!
These are great tips. I use my crockpot all the time; it definitely is the busy cook's best friend. I love the idea of pre-prepping and freezing the meals in bags, though.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! It's almost unbelievable how convenient crock pot cooking is. I'll never go back. I appreciate your input!
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