6 meals, 1 hour, $26

At least once a week I take the boys on a playdate, and we are gone from 9am to 2 or even sometimes 3 in the afternoon.  The last thing I want to do is think about spending an hour or so preparing for dinner.  

If only I had put something in the crock pot before leaving.  

But after getting three diapers changed, three breakfasts served, two cups of milk, nursing the baby, and getting snacks and cups into the diaper bag, it doesn't leave much time to do anything else, let alone getting everything prepared and in the crock pot.  These frozen crock pot meals are a life saver! You place them in the fridge the night before to thaw a bit, and then in the morning you empty out the contents into the crock pot, turn it on low, and in 6 hours you have a delicious meal.  

It takes me about an hour to prepare three different recipes, which yields six meals (two meals for each recipe.) It's great that I can make one big mess, in one afternoon, instead of six messes on six different days.   The three recipes are as follow (remember, they each make two bags.)

Here is how I make the meals:

Buy all the ingredients.  I went to Aldi, and was able to get everything pictured here (minus the salt, pepper, and seasonings I already had) for $26.64.  Please ignore the vinegar - I had it on my shopping list, but in the end realized that none of the recipes called for it.  

• Chicken. You'll need about 8-12 chicken breasts, depending on your family size. 
• Bag of red onions
• 2-3 green peppers
• 1-2 red/orange peppers
• 2.5 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups Teriyaki sauce
• 2 cans pineapple chunks
• 2 cans diced tomatoes
• 2 cans stewed tomatoes
• Bag of baby carrots
• Sausage - enough for your family
• salt, pepper
• bay leaves
• Italian seasoning 
• 2 bulbs of garlic

 
Next get six gallon sized freezer bags.  Write the name of each meal on the bags, along with the cooking instructions.



I prefer to do one recipe at a time. I've seen others who like to cut all the veggies at the same time. It's a personal preference.





Here I am making the Sausage & Peppers.  You'll divide the recipe between two bags. So one green pepper in each bag, one can of tomatoes in each bag, etc.  I have two small onions, but if you have a larger onion just divide it between the two bags.  The men in my family love peppers, so I added an orange pepper to my meal.

I used a different type of sausage for each bag (the other not pictured was a lean turkey sausage.)

  

Then once you have all the food in the bag, lay it flat (you will have to squish around the food to get it flat), push out the excess air and seal it closed.

You can also freeze the meals without the meat in the bag. This is perfect for when you don't have enough chicken breasts! :) 

Hope you enjoy!