Freezer Crock Pot Meals - Part I

After trying this out for the first time, I'm labeling this post "Part I", as I hope to try this with many new recipes throughout this winter! I was amazed by how fast it took to prep these meals, and how easy it will be when they're ready to be cooked! 

My sister-in-law, Sharon and brother-in-law, Chris are expecting their first baby in a couple of weeks - she's ready to pop! With Chris sick (and with a bum leg) this past week - I wanted to throw a few of these together so that they had some easy meals without the prep, to fix when they needed them!

On the menu:

- Buffalo Chicken

- Chicken Tortilla Soup

- Chicken & Broccoli Casserole

- Red Pepper Chicken

- BBQ Pulled Chicken

I also added in a few frozen containers of a huge batch of Stuffed Pepper Soup that I whipped up late last night as well! Click the link for the ingredient list and instructions to make the soup too :) [the picture below included the ingredients I needed for the soup, as well - so don't be thrown off when the count in the picture doesn't match the list below!]

Ingredient List / Grocery List:

- Chicken Breasts (20)

- 1 bottle of Franks Red Hot Sauce

- 1 Ranch seasoning packet

- 16 oz. can of refried beans

- 16 oz. can of black beans

- 15 oz. can of Rotel (or other diced tomatoes)

- 1.5 cups of Chicken Broth

- 1 Pkg of frozen corn

- 1 Pkg of frozen broccoli 

- 1/2 cup of Salsa

- 2 onions

- 1 can of Cream of Chicken Soup

- 1 cup of Rice

- 1 cup of Celery

- 1 bell pepper

- 4 garlic cloves

- 1 (15 oz) bottle of BBQ Sauce

- Olive Oil

- Crushed Red Peper Flakes

- Black Pepper

- Salt

To start, I found that it was easiest to prep all of the add-ins. I first washed and trimmed all of the chicken breasts and let them dry. While they were drying, I started chopping the onions, celery, pepper, and garlic cloves so that I could easily grab them to throw them in the bags when ready. Also - go ahead and cook your rice to have ready as well. 

(You'll want to follow the directions on the box/bag of rice to prep that).

For each meal, I also made note cards (shown below) with the ingredient list, date and instructions for cooking, to tape on the ziplock bags. (I used clear packing tape and it stayed perfectly in the freezer).

Also note - that after freezing each of these meals, 

you need thaw them before throwing them in the crock pot to cook!

Buffalo Chicken 

In a ziplock bag, throw in:

- 4 chicken breasts

- 1 bottle of Franks Hot Sauce

- 1 packet of Ranch Seasoning

Cooking instructions: Cook on low for 3 hours.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

In a mixing bowl, blend the following:

- 3 chicken breasts (I cut them in cubes)

- 16 oz can of refried beans

- 15 oz can of black beans

- 15 oz can of Rotel

- 1 cup of chicken broth

- 1 cup frozen corn

- 1/2 cup salsa

Once you've blended all ingredients, you can throw it in your ziplock bag and seal.

You can add crushed tortilla chips to your cooked bowl of soup, along with shredded cheese.

Cooking instructions: Cook on Low for 8 hours.

Chicken Broccoli Casserole

In a mixing bowl, blend the following:

- 3 chicken breasts (I cut them in cubes)

- 1 onion, chopped

- 1 can, Cream of Chicken Soup

- 1 pkg of frozen broccoli

- 1 cup of rice

- 1/2 cup of chicken broth

- 1 cup of celery, chopped

When you've blended all ingredients, empty into a ziplock bag and seal.

For the day you prep this meal, you'll also want to add a 6 oz. container of plain greek yogurt and 1 cup of milk to the crock pot to make the dish more creamy.

Cooking instructions: Cook on Low for 6 hours.

Red Pepper Chicken

In a mixing bowl, blend the following: 

- 1 bell pepper, chopped

- 1/4 cup of olive oil

- 4 garlic cloves, chopped

- 1 onion, chopped

- 1 tsp crushed red pepper

- 1/2 tsp black pepper

- 1/4 tsp salt

Add the above mixture to a ziplock bag with 4 chicken breasts. 

Cooking instructions - Cook on low for 3 hours.

BBQ Pulled Chicken 

In a ziplock bag, throw in:

- 4 chicken breasts

- 1 bottle of BBQ sauce

Cooking instructions: Cook on Low for 3.5 hours. 

Use two forks to shred the chicken when finished, to serve on sandwiches or salads.

That's it! You're ready to freeze everything :) For easy freezing, try to freeze each of the bags flat so that you can easily stack or stand them in your freezer once they're completely frozen. (We have to maximize the freezer space we have!) :)

I can't wait to try more dishes like this - I already have quite a few written down to try! :) Let me know if you try any of these and how you liked them. I love hearing and receiving all of your notes and feedback after you've made dishes that I've shared! :)

Three Years!!

Three years already! 

What a crazy ride it has been since everything started in April 2010. When we finally received our Transplant Date of 12/19/2011 - it's been a whirl wind ever since! Here are a few of my favorite pictures from our stay at Hopkins! We had the most amazing staff and doctors (not to mention all of the amazing family and friends that came to visit us while we were there - I definitely don't think that they were expecting us to have so many visitors!), not to mention 3 guests sleeping over each night (shout out to Mom, Maddy and Eric!) :)

Thumbs up before surgery - 6 am

The lucky kidney (and my surgeon's initials)!

On my way to see Dad for the first time - 24 hours after surgery

Day 1 :) Finally back together!

Day 2 :)

 

Getting our required walks in at night!

Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner was served like this in the Donor Suite!

Three years without dialysis, three years without sickness, three years full of family and friends, anniversaries, birthdays, grandchildren, marriages, graduations, events... so much! I'm beyond thankful for this day exactly three years ago (it will always be one of my favorites) and I can't imagine being without all of the moments and memories that we've had since then! 

Happy Three Dad, I love you more than you'll ever know!

Dad & I last weekend:

National Kidney Foundation

Dr. Dorry Segev (my surgeon!)

Favado App - Comparing Prices & Saving Money for Free!

You know that I'm always up for saving money, saving time, great sales and planning ahead!

I always compare the weekly store circulars when planning our weekly meals and grocery shopping lists, while also planning which coupons I can use too. I came across this app earlier this week and I'm so excited to try it out this week to prep for my weekend grocery shopping trip! I wanted to give everyone a preview because if you're like me and compare weekly circulars, and research which coupons are available to use - this App will save you so much time and more, as they've done all the work for you! :)

To start off, download the free app "Favado".

Once you've downloaded the app, you have a ton of things to do - set your favorite stores, favorite items, etc. You can browse the sales, make your shopping list, store coupons, etc. You can also sign up for email alerts when certain products are on sale. Here's what the main menu looks like.

When in the sales menu, you can browse a ton of different options to narrow down your product search. At the top, you can see the top 4 grocery stores that I selected - Giant, Harris Teeter, Safeway and Wegmans. I also have a few other favorites selected, but this will narrow it down for my groceries. Also - you can see that it will list the Top 10 products at the moment, Your favorited items, or you can select to view all of the sales that are posted.

If I was looking for Campbell's Cooking Creams (like the Cream of Mushroom soup that I use for my roasts in the crock pot) you can see it listed below for 80 cents. The red paperclip means that there are coupons available for this item.

Once you click on the item, the app will show you the sale price, and will list any possible coupons that you could use at the time for this product. Right now, there's a printable coupon (with the link for you to access and print that coupon). The price at the bottom (60 cents) shows you what you'd be paying if you used any and all possible coupons. How awesome is that? If the coupon isn't printable, it will indicate where the coupon is or in which circular to find it.

And that's it! Easy as that and the app is completely free. I like that you can set your favorite stores and items so that you don't have to waste time browsing through the different categories. Although - when you have time, it's definitely helpful to see what else is out there and on sale! :)

Happy shopping! 

Crock Pot BBQ Pulled Chicken

Simple and so easy!

Ingredients:

- 4 chicken breasts, thawed 

- 1 bottle of BBQ Sauce

Place your 4 chicken breasts on the bottom of your crock pot and top with your bottle of BBQ sauce. We used Sweet Baby Ray's Hickory & Brown Sugar BBQ sauce that we had in the pantry, and it was amazing! Set your crockpot on Low for 3.5 hours. 

Once your BBQ Chicken is ready, you'll want to turn off your crock pot and start shredding your chicken with two forks. When you're done - this is what it should look like!

You can make sandwiches, sliders, or use the chicken to top your salads - there's so much to use it with. This is what we had on Sunday for dinner - it was easy to throw in the crockpot while tackling things on our "To Do" list! :)

DIY Chalkboard Gift Tags / Ornaments

Another DIY Chalkboard Craft! 

(Because who doesn't love chalkboard crafts?!)

While browsing through Michaels for little items for a crafty present that I was mailing, I came across these cute little guys in the wooden crafts section. With Christmas right around the corner, I immediately thought that I could spray them with chalkboard paint to use them for something crafty. 

I already had the chalkboard paint, so all I would need were the actual pieces to paint. They were originally 29 cents each and I ended up getting 5 of them for 87 cents total with a 40% off total purchase coupon. A fun craft for less than a buck!

Materials:

- Chalkboard paint

- Chalk or Chalk Markers

- Old piece of Cardboard

- Raffia / Twine / Ribbon

To start, you'll want to lay the wooden pieces on an old piece of cardboard.

Next, you can spray a thin layer of chalkboard paint. Let them sit and dry for about 20 minutes. Once one side is finished, you can flip them over to spray the back. I ended up doing 2 layers of paint on each side for a nice, thick coat.

Once they're dry, you're ready to start decorating! 

Here's one that I made and added raffia to:

(The back says "Love, Eric, Brooke & Tucker" and "2014")

You can use them for a gift tag:

And then that person can use it as an ornament :)

They're super cute and I love that you can re-use them for another purpose 

vs. simply throwing away once you open a present.