Thankfully this year has been totally different. I see no difference in my workload or stress level. There are two things that I attribute to this change, my kids becoming more proficient at completing their chores and crock-pot freezer cooking.
I have a friend who messaged me the other day, asking for some simple meal ideas that will help keep her household running efficiently as she recovers from a surgery.
There are times in all of our lives that are more intense, when stress and busyness threaten to steal our sanity and contentment. I'm hoping that this post will be of benefit to you and your family during those times and possibly even on an ongoing basis.
Here I'll share a basic, step-by-step instructional on how we prepare 24 freezer meals in one day. I'll also share links to some of our favorite recipes. I look for healthy, balanced meals that require little or no effort on the day of cooking.
We don't eat these every night. Other nights we have leftovers, sandwiches, something quick like frozen fish, eat out, or cook a favorite meal like burgers, tacos, pizza, or meatloaf.
We save our crock pot meals for on-the-go evenings, so 24 meals usually last us about three months.
So here we go...
Day 1
Step One... Choose your meals. Print out your recipes.
Remember, the more recipes you make two or more of, the fewer you will need to print out. I make two of most; there are a couple that I make four of, as is shown in the image below.
There are many places you can visit on the web to find these recipes. A couple of my favorites are...
Loving My Nest
Mostly Homemade Mom
I have a crock pot cooking Pinterest board if you need more.
-Make a list of the meals you're planning to cook; write the number of each particular meal that you're planning to prepare beside it. Mine is always two or four. Again, my goal is a total of 24 meals.
Note...we have a large family and don't mind leftovers. If that's not you, you may want to divide some of the recipes in half, and make two meals from one recipe. Do what works best for your situation.
Step Two... Make a list of ingredients needed.
-I categorize a sheet of paper with headings for different types of items...meats, veggies, canned foods, frozen, and other.
-Then I go through each recipe, writing down which items are needed under its appropriate category on my list.
Step Three... Shop.
Remember to buy some gallon-size ziplock bags as this is what you will be storing your meals in.
Step Four... When my husband gets home with the groceries, I sort and order the canned foods on the counter. (We now have a can opener that cuts the whole top off the cans. Before that, I cleaned them before putting them in order.)
Day 2
Step Five... Label your ziplock bags with the recipe name, cook time and temperature, and any ingredients you will need to add the day of. Always add broth the day of cooking to save freezer space.
Step Six... Workstation 1- (Fresh Vegetables) Cut up those veggies.
I usually use my food processor for the onions.
Choose the vegetable you want to start with. Cut up the required amount and put it in the appropriate bag(s). Then complete the process with the others.
Note...Chopping the entire quantity of each vegetable individually and placing it in the appropriate bags before moving on to the next simplifies the process.
Step Seven... Workstation 2- (Canned Foods) Open your canned foods, drain the liquid from them, (rinse if you want) and pour them into each bag according to recipe instructions.
I choose a recipe, set aside every can that is needed for that particular one, open them all, and pour them in.
Then I place the empty cans in the sink for rinsing. (One of your kids might be well suited for this job.)
Repeat the process for each recipe until all canned foods have been added to the bags.
Step Eight... Workstation 3- (Spices) Add spices to each bag as per recipe instructions.
Before you begin this part, you may want to start cooking any ground beef or sausage if you have any recipes that call for those. They should be cooked before bagging.
Note...it is simpler if you choose recipes that don't require cooking beforehand. It's all about what you like.
Step Nine... Workstation 4- (Meats) Add meats in the quantities that each recipe calls for.
Step Ten... Make sure each bag is sealed and then put them into the freezer. We find that laying a piece of cardboard on a shelf in our regular freezer is helpful. If you don't, the bags can freeze into the spaces, making them difficult to remove. We stack a partial layer of bags on top of those, positioning them so that they won't freeze together.
The deep freezer works well too, again placing them so that they don't freeze together.
Note...If you are doing this by yourself with kids underfoot, I encourage you to take two days to bag your ingredients and get them in the freezer.
I just had to do it this way for the first time. On the first day, I did the fresh vegetables. I saved everything else for the second day and it worked well for me.
Wala! You're done...and exhausted...but it's worth it.
The evening before I cook a meal, I take it out to thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
For those who have a long commute and will need to leave it cooking for longer than a recipe states, you might find that it works better to take it out the morning of cooking. Just play with it and find out what works best for you. Thankfully, most of these are pretty hard to mess up.
If you need me to clarify anything, PLEASE ask.
Happy Crock Pot Cooking!
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