More freezer meals ready to go in the slow cooker

Today's trip to Sam's Club meant that I came home with 5 pounds of ground turkey, and large packages of boneless chicken breasts and chicken thighs. Before packaging them to freeze, I found some more recipes for meals that I could freeze and then just dump into the slow cooker. Today's stash? Two bags of "beef" vegetable soup, two bags of garlic lime chicken, and one bag of chicken fajitas.  Here are the recipes:

From http://www.savingyoudinero.com/2012/09/17/part-3-1-hour-1-mess-5-crock-pot-meals/:

Garlic Lime Chicken
serves 6

• 1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
• ¼ cup fresh lime juice (about 2 limes)
• 1 cup water
• 1 Tablespoon chicken bouillon
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• ½  teaspoon dried thyme leaves
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine

Instructions

1. Add all the ingredients into your ziploc bag.

Write on the bag

1. Cook on low for 7-8 hours or high for 5-6 hours.

From http://www.savingyoudinero.com/2012/06/12/1-hour-1-mess-5-crock-pot-meals/:

Chicken Fajitas
( 5-6 servings)

• 2 peppers (your favorite)
• 1 onion
• 1 1/2 pound chicken breast
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• taco seasoning packet
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• 1/2 tsp. paprika
• 1 tsp. salt

You will also need tortillas, cheese, cream, etc.

Directions

1. Put all the ingredients in a large freezer bag. (Make sure you label the bag with instructions.)
2. When it’s time to cook it, dump it all in your slow cooker and cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 5-6 hours.
3. When it’s cooked, shred the meat and add it back to the pepper mixture and serve on warm tortillas and your favorite toppings.

From http://melissafallistestkitchen.blogspot.com/2011/09/freezer-cooking-slow-cooker-meals.html:

Savory Vegetable Beef Soup (2 Bags)

• Chop (1) Onion and Chop (2) Cloves of Garlic- Brown in Pan with the Ground Beef- once cool divide mixture between bags
• (2) whole carrots chopped per bag
• (2) celery stalks chopped per bag
• (3) Red Potatoes chopped per bag
• (1) can v8 split between bags
• (1) 28oz can diced tomatoes SPLIT between bags
• (1) cup frozen green beans in each bag
• (1/2)TBSP Worcestershire per bag
• (1/2) cup Beef Broth per bag
• (1) TBSP Parsley per bag
• (1) tsp Basil per bag
• 1/2 tsp Thyme per bag
• (1/2) tsp salt per bag
• (1/2) tsp pepper per bag
• (1) TBSP Sugar per bag

*Place in Crockpot with 1.5 cups of water and 15 oz Beef Broth. Cook on LOW 8 Hours.

For this last recipe, I skipped the red potatoes (because we do low-carb) and replaced the sugar with Splenda.  I also didn't have any V8, so I just used tomato sauce. I'm hoping that substitution doesn't alter the taste in a bad way.  I guess it would be better to say that my version is:

Savory Vegetable Beef Soup (2 Bags)

• Chop (1) Onion and Chop (2) Cloves of Garlic- Brown in Pan with the Ground Beef- once cool divide mixture between bags
• (2) whole carrots chopped per bag
• (1) celery stalks chopped per bag
• (1) small can of tomato sauce per bag
• (1) 28oz can diced tomatoes SPLIT between bags
• (1/2) pound green beans, trimmed and cut in half, in each bag
• (1/2)TBSP Worcestershire per bag
• (1/2) cup Beef Broth per bag
• (1) TBSP Parsley per bag
• (1) tsp Basil per bag
• 1/2 tsp Thyme per bag
• (1/2) tsp salt per bag
• (1/2) tsp pepper per bag
• (1) TBSP Splenda per bag

Frozen meals ready to go into a slow cooker

So, I've found some recipes on Pinterest that I'm trying. Today I hit the grocery store and then prepared a bunch (ok - five) bags of meals to go in the freezer. When I am ready, we'll just pull them out of the freezer, leave them in the fridge overnight, and then slow cook them while I'm at work the next day.  Chop the veggies and put them in a freezer bag, then add the meat and the sauce ingredients. Seal, pushing the air out, and freeze flat.  Here's what I prepped:

1 bag of Teriyaki Chicken:

1/2 bag baby carrots
1 red onion, cut into large chunks
1 20-oz can of pineapple, undrained
2 garlic cloves
2 chicken breasts
1/2 cup teriyaki sauce

The directions say to add 1/4 cup teriyaki sauce to the mixture on the day that you cook, then cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.

2 bags of Healthy BBQ Chicken:

2 green peppers, cut into slices and split between the two bags
1 red pepper, cut into slices and split between the two bags
1 zucchini chopped and split between the two bags
3 onions chopped and split between the two bags
4 garlic cloves chopped and split between the two bags (or about 1 Tbsp of minced from a jar in each bag)
4 chicken breasts split between the two bags
1/2 Tbsp quick cooking tapioca per bag
1 15-oz can of tomato sauce split between bags
1 Tbsp of splenda per bag
1 Tbsp worcestershire per bag
1 Tbsp mustard per bag
1/4 tsp salt per bag.

Cook on high 4 hours or low 8 hours.

2 bags of Beef Stew:

1 green pepper chopped and split between the two bags
2 onions chopped and split between the two bags
2 carrots chopped and split between the two bags
2 chopped garlic cloves per bag
3 pounds of beef stew meat split between the bags
1 6-oz can tomato paste per bag
2 tsp paprika per bag
1/4 tsp black pepper per bag

Cook on high 4 hours or low for 8 hours.  If you want to make this into goulash, add 1/2 cup sour cream to the slow cooker about 10 minutes prior to serving.

I'll let you know how they turn out - or you tell me!

Slow-Cooker Swiss Steak

This is a great slow-cooker meal, which made last Monday really easy. Finish this with a salad and some noodles (we use tofu noodles, which have almost no carbs), and you have a quick weeknight dinner. I will warn you - this is one of those slow-cooker meals that requires a little prep work - it is not a dump the ingredients in the pan kind of meal. I counter this by doing the chopping the night before, but I still get the meat ready the morning of, and it takes me 15-20 minutes.

From Diabetes and Heart  Healthy Cookbook:

Slow-Cooker Swiss Steak


2 Tbsp wheat (or all-purpose) flour
1 tsp dried basil, crumbled
1 tsp dried oregano, crumbled
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1.5 lbs boneless top round steak, all visible fat discarded
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
3 medium garlic cloves, thinly sliced (I use already minced)
1 medium green bell pepper, cut into 3/4 inch pieces
1.5 cups fat-free, low-sodium spaghetti sauce (this is the small jar)
8 oz dried no-yolk egg noodles or tofu noodles
1 tsp balsamic vinegar (I usually omit this)
2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
shredded parmesan cheese for topping

1. In a small bowl, stir together the flour, dried basil, oregano, salt and pepper

2. Cut the beef into 6 pieces. Sprinkle half the flour mixture over one side of the beef. Using a meat tenderizer, pound the flour into the meat. Turn over. Repeat with the remaining flour mixture, pounding until all of it is absorbed into the meat.

3. Put the onion in the slow cooker. Put the meat on the onion. Sprinkle with the garlic, then with the bell pepper. Spoon the spaghetti sauce over all. Cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours, or until the meat is fork-tender.

4.  About 15 minutes before serving time, prepare the noodles.

5.  To serve, spoon the noodles onto plates, top with meat. Stir the vinegar into the sauce (if using). Spoon the sauce over all. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and fresh basil.

YUM!

Slow cooker meal, again

Tonight is another slow-cooker night. I wasn't sure that I'd be home today to cook, and so set up dinner this morning.  It turns out that I've been here most of the day and could have easily cooked, but it does smell *so* good in here!

Sloppy Joes with a Kick


1 - 1.5 lbs lean ground turkey
1 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic
1 8-oz can tomato sauce
1/2 cup ketchup (I actually use a little less because there is so much sugar in ketchup)
1/2 cup water
2 Tbsp Splenda
1 Tbsp mustard
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
8 whole wheat hamburger buns, split (and toasted, if desired)
1/2 cup shredded reduced-fat cheddar (if desired)

1. In a large skillet, cook ground turkey, onion, and garlic until meat is brown and onion is tender. Drain off fat if necessary. (I use just a little bit of olive oil here, since we use ground turkey breast and it is very lean, and doesn't give off much fat.)

2. Meanwhile, in 3.5-4 quart slow cooker, combine other ingredients except buns and cheese.  Stir in meat mixture.

3. Cover and cook on low heat for 6-8 hours or on high heat for 3-4 hours.  Spoon about 1/2 cup meat mixture onto each bun bottom. If desire, sprinkle with cheese and serve with sweet pepper strips. Replace bun tops.

If you want, you can add some hot sauce or jalapeno to this.

Also, if you are going to let this cook much more than 6-8 hours, be prepared to add a little extra water - it does tend to dry out.

Tonight we'll finish this with a salad from a bag and/or cole slaw and call it a meal.  The kids love this, so I don't make it spicy, but Robert likes to add hot sauce when it is served.

 And, of course, you can also do this with ground beef, but we use turkey to save on fat and calories.

Slow cooker Asian pork

I *love* using the slow cooker - I got it as a gift years ago and go through spurts of using it a lot. We are in the middle of one of those spurts now. I love putting everything in the slow cooker one weekend day (so that we know that we can eat well when we get home from whatever errands we are running, or I know that I don't have to ignore the kids for very long to get a yummy dinner on the table).  This week, we have a myriad of appointments since the semester is finally over. So we are using the slow-cooker twice. The first was Monday - Asian pork sandwiches.

From Better Homes and Gardens Quick and Easy Meals for Diabetes:

Asian pork sandwiches


1 2.5-3 pound pork shoulder roast
1 cup apple juice
2 Tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 Tbsp hoisin sauce
1/5 tsp five-spice powder
1 whole wheat hamburger roll per person
broccoli slaw (with coleslaw dressing, if desired)

1.  Trim fat from meat. If necessary, cut roast to fit into a 3.5-4 quart slow cooker. Place meat in cooker. In a small bowl, combine apple juice, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, and five-spice powder. Pour over roast.

2. Cover; cook on low-heat setting for 10-12 hours or on high heat 5.5-6 hours.

3. Remove meat from cooker, reserving juices. Remove meat from bone; discard bone. Using forks, shred meat.  Place 1/2 cup meat on each bun bottom. Top with 1/4 cup shredded broccoli (dressed if desired); add bun tops.

We paired this with a green salad, and had a great meal.  Since the meat is pretty lean, we allowed ourselves some extra meat without the bun if we were still hungry.