Make 20 Meals in 2 Hours Slow Cooker Freezer Meals. They will be ready to pop into the crock pot! No more worries about what’s for dinner!
Ever since Katie did the original 40 Meals in 4 hours I have been determined to try slow cooker/freezer meals for my family. I have to be honest – it took some planning for me (I’m usually a fly by the seat of my pants dinner scheduler!). But, once I sat down and made my lists – this was so easy and it has been so helpful! Between soccer practice, work, kids homework – these meals have been a life saver! I highly recommend them. Hope you like them as much as I do!
I chose to do 20 meals in 2 hours versus the 40 in 4. The 20 meals was the perfect amount for my family to have dinner for about a month (between left overs and the occasional pizza night!).
I found it easiest to make 2 of each meal. 10 different meals = 20 meals. When I had to mix ingredients together I did it in one bowl. If it was something that really needed to be measured and equal I used a measuring cup to fill the bags. I also specifically chose meals that didn’t require cutting meat 🙂 I bought meat already cut.
The second thing I did was start my stock pile of meats early. I refuse to buy any meat that is not on sale. So I had some of the meat already in bags in my freezer – all I had to do was add the rest of the ingredients right into the bag, label and pop it bag into the freezer. Easy!
I pre-chopped a 3 pound bag of onions and a bunch of garlic. Those were really the only veggies that I was freezing (besides carrots but I did those on demand). This saved me some time as I could just go to the chopped and throw into the bag. Other than that I made them 1 meal (well really 2) at a time!
Make sure to follow us on Pinterest as we are always adding great meals to be frozen for dinner!
- Lemon and Garlic Chicken x 2
- Chicken & Gravy x 2
- Fiesta Chicken Soup x2
- Pepper Steak x 2
- Cubed Steak & Carrots x2
- Balsamic Steak x 2 (did NOT freeze the pasta part of this recipe!)
- Chicken & Dumplings x 2
- Marinated London Broil x 2
- Honey Romano Pork Chops x 2
- Green Chili Pork Tacos x 2
I always have microwave steamed veggies or rice on hand to make these meals truly easy! Dinner can be that easy!
Here’s a link to the shopping list that I have come up with!
I’m in Arlington, TX. How/where do folks around here find meat on sale other than shopping at Wal-Mart and price-matching?
Brandy – I’m not sure about TX I live in NJ. My grocery store regularly runs specials on meats. I keep my eye on them and stock up when I think the price is right!
In north Texas you watch for meat specials at Aldi, Albertson’s and Kroger. If you live in a small town where there is a Lowe’s Market, you always watch for sales on meat at Lowe’s where chicken legs and thighs go on sale several times a year for $0.29 lb.
Of course, you must buy a 10 pound bag, but that’s only $2.90! Bring it home, cook it, debone and de-skin it; freeze the meat.
The most economical way to buy meat is to find a great butcher shop and buy it in bulk. We’ve been buying a 1/4 beef (or sometimes a 1/2 to split with another family) every couple years. This past spring we paid $2.45 per pound…that includes a little of everything: roasts, steaks, short ribs, stew meat and lots of hamburger. You can do the same with pork or lamb.
Celeste – what a great idea!
Yes THE ONLY way to buy meat is to buy organic on sale OR buy a 1/4 or 1/2 of a cow – pig.. That way U KNOW what is in ur meat… Never feed lot grocery store meat!
Figure out when your store re-stocks/marks down meat. I buy almost all our meat on ‘manger’s special’ when it is within 3 days of the sell by date. As long as you cook it or freeze it right away, it’s no problem. I do open it and make sure it’s fresh right away just to make sure it’s still o.k.
We live in Irving and I usually shop at fiesta or other hispanic grocery stores for meat. Sometimes tom thumb and kroger has them on sale too (pork this week was $1/lb, chicken tenders $1.99/#, chicken quarters are 50c/# at walmart, beef can go as low as $1.99/#)
Just stock up on your favorite cuts when the price is good 🙂
Browse their weekly ads online if you don’t get the flyers in the mail
Brandy- i’m in Euless! i’ve started buying meat from Zaycon. you should check it out. they have a sale in Arlington, and a chicken sale coming up. you have to buy in bulk but the price can’t be beat and it’s a great quality (chicken is 1.84/lb i think?). 40lbs is too much for us but i went in with a friend and we’re each getting 20. hope that helps!
I wish I lived in a Zaycon friendly area! Mine is like 2 hours away! BOO 🙁
I signed up for Zaycon, but I can get my chicken cheaper at Sam’s Club ($1.77/lb) and lately the Albertson’s on Harwood and Main in Euless has had huge breasts for even cheaper than that.
I’m particular about where I get my meats and I really love Sam’s.. but oddly I don’t like Walmarts.
I’m also in Euless!
RONI>>> Do U realize that Sam’s & WalMart R 1 in the same…? They get their meat from the same source>>> Sam’s is Bulk food… WalMart is just buy 1 package>>>
Yes but she is right, there is a huge difference in quality! Sam’s club has a much higher quality and better selection of all cuts. The pricing is much cheaper at Sam’s. Pays to be a member I guess.
Is there a HEB or Krogers? ALDI? I have not been that way in some years but those would be great spots if they have them and Texas has lots of meat markets
Have you tried Kroger or Tom Thumb? With the card they give you, its normally cheaper and better quality meat.
We raise our own beef, pork, chicken, goat, etc…. Probably cost more in the long run, cause you have to buy feed, hay, etc.. and carry them for awhile. But, I KNOW what is in them. And home grown taste so much better! Check around, go to a local locker plant, (proccessing plant) where they butcher the steers, pigs, etc. and you can usually buy local grown from them. And their prices are usually very reasonable for home-grown meat.
tricia i agree with the raise your own. right now i have chickens, turkeys and rabbits and working my way up to goats (hopefully will be getting my first this next spring) beef and pork. nothing tastes better than growing your own
We buy a quarter of cow every year, it lasts about 11 months for family of 4. I am sure you could do that down in Texas! We also make sure it is no antibiotic and no hormone cow. Good luck- we end up paying about 2.8 a ob and that includes roasts, steaks, hamburger etc!
Look for a meat packaging plant that is open to the public. I buy 50 lbs. beef, 50 lbs. pork and 50 lbs. of
chicken for $150. In the beef package is hamburger, cube steak, stew beef, etc. The pork package has pork chops, sausage, pork roast, etc. The chicken has either dark or white meat or both )legs and breasts) etc. I buy this 3 times a year and divide up into individual meal bags, date, enter contents, and freeze. Also, I buy green peppers, onions in bulk. Cut up (I dice mine) put in freezer bags. Also do this with tomatoes (blanche first to get peeling off) then freeze cut up or whole. Great in meatloaf or spaghetti. Enjoy.
great idea!
Great idea girl!
Mentioning the butcher below, there is a good one in east Ft. Worth off of 820 at Lancaster called Country Meat Market (www.countrymeatsmarket.com). We live in Arlington as well and have shopped there several times. They usually have very good prices.
Kroger has a ‘managers special’ section for meats. I believe Randall’s does as well. From houston, Tx
I too live in Texas. I buy a lot of meat at meat market. Lots of times they will run meat so much for so many pounds. I think it is better quality meat too.We also hunt so that helps us with our meat needs. Just check one out.
I am wondering your total cost of this?
oh gosh – I would have to work it out! I didn’t really track my whole cost (since like I said I had some of the meat already frozen, I already had a lot of the ingredients).
I’ll try to find some receipts and let you know!
ps – if we have any readers that make these meals and track their costs better than what I would – please post! 🙂
Hi! A friend and I just bought all the groceries to make the 20 meals (we are going to make them together and go home with 10 meals each) and we spent $150 total. We both had hardly any of the ingredients (most of the only things we had were spices). She was in charge of buying the meats and spent a couple weeks looking for the best deals at about 3 different stores… The meats alone cost $80, but when you consider how much she had to buy, that’s a great price. All of the other stuff I bought (with no regard to sales/coupons, but sticking to the cheapest store brands and price per ounce) (and actually my wonderful husband took our two kids – 2.5 & 4.5 yrs – to WalMart this afternoon so I could work – he rocks) for $70 from WalMart. I know prices can vary regionally – we live in Louisiana for reference. Anyway – thought your readers might find this as a useful baseline. I can’t wait to put them together and try them out!
$150 is incredibly cheap. I spent $135 just on the meat, and that is with a sale on chicken for $1.99/lb! My total came to $230. I had many of the staples already, but maybe Wisconsin is just a lot more expensive than Louisiana.
Try NJ! lol 😉
I did save money doing this – I really did – because every day I had a dinner. There was no take out – no questions 🙂
Wisconsin is not expensive if you watch sales. I live in Waukesha County…near Milwaukee area. I can find boneless skinless chicken breasts for $1.66/lb quite often and sometimes $1.33/lb. at piggly wiggly for the 3 lb. bags. Ground beef right now I pay up to $2/lb. Pork chops, roasts etc $2/lb and for cubed beef or beef stew meat type stuff I don’t find real cheap sales on but I would do $4/lb. on that…but we hardly ever buy that. I have Pick n Save, Piggly Wiggly, Woodman’s, Sentry, Aldi, and Walmart to choose from for grocery shopping and we are getting a Meijers soon. Sentry is a bit farther from me so I don’t tend to shop there…but could if I was in the area. Most of my meat is from sale prices at Pick n Save or Piggly Wiggly or mark down bin at Woodmans for the best deals. Sentry tends to have low pork product prices around here.
I grew up in MI and go there often…I miss the food prices there! lol 🙂
I do not cook, but would like to attempt a few receipes. Do I put the rice and/or noodles in the freezer bags? I am confused as the receipe lists all ingredients then stays to put all ingredients in freezer bag.
No rice or noodles – they do not hold up well in the freezer.
I do have frozen steam in the microwave rice in my freezer (like store bought) and a supply of noodles ready to cook at my house. I also have steam in microwave frozen veggies. That makes these meals complete easily!
I’ve been told to slightly undercook rice and noodles before freezing. That way, they aren’t mushy when you cook them the day of your dish. I haven’t tried it myself yet though.
I do 30-45 meals. I spend around $250 and we are in dfw Texas area. I have noodles in several of my recipes. I always undertook my noodles by 1/4 of the normal cook time. It is important to make sure to have plenty of liquid when you put everything in the crock pot. I do mac and cheese even and it is incredible.
if a recipe calls for noodles or rice do not make that part – put the meat and other ingredients that accompany the meat in the freezer bag. Anything that is for the noodles should not be included 😉
Rice is easy to freeze but you have to use regular white rice and not the precook stuff like MinuteRice. I bought Ziploc bowls with the screw on tops and put the cooked rice by servings and freeze. remove from freezer and microwaveto your warmth preference. I usually use my defrost option for 2 minutes and rice comes out hot and fluffy. I really wouldnt freeze the pasta though
The easiest thing I can say about rice is to buy a rice cooker. This way, you can fix the rice and forget it, just like the cooker meal!! It comes out perfectly every time too, which is a really nice plus!! Just set it to go between 45 minutes and 1 hr before you would like to eat, then check on it while you are making your veggies in the microwave 😉 Even as someone who enjoys cooking and has done quite a bit of it, my stovetop rice always comes out burnt and I don’t enjoy Minute Rice. A rice cooker allows you to buy rice for pennies per meal!!
And pasta is really very simple to make before a meal. Just keep checking it and you should be fine!! Again, start boiling the water about 45 mins out just to make sure everything finishes at the same time.
Happy cooking!! 🙂
Thank you for not having another rice broccolli and chicken recipe! My kids hate that… My mistake, made a month of meals without testing the meals with the crew…. Hubby and I ate a lot of the food, kids had a lot of hot dogs… spaguetti.
=o)
K
Sadly – I love rice and broccoli 😀 but yeah, I like the variety of the dishes we chose this time!
and ps – my kids are uber fussy as well! boo
Does anyone know of a similar idea for a vegetarian diet?
Leigh – Veg dishes might be a bit hard in the crock pot? I’m not sure. My family does not eat lentils but that is the direction I would go (if they did) for a meatless dish! Good Luck!
For vegetarian in the crockpot…I think you just have to find the right recipes for crock pot. There are lots of soups you can put in there and stuff. My sis is vegetarian…I will have to do some research on this. I know my sis made a pretty good spicy soup and it was beans and something…can’t remember now…but I somewhat liked it.
Leigh *and other veggies*
It’s not totally crock pot freezer meals 🙂 but we have recently started a Vegetarian Pinterest Board – we hope to keep adding to it!!! Stop over and check it out! http://www.pinterest.com/whoneedsacape/vegetarian-dishes/
Vegetarian alternatives please! 🙂
Otherwise, this looks like a great idea, especially to prepare for the holidays.
Vicki – there are some great veggie dishes out there! We will have to add some to our list!!!!!
Heather & All
A lot of good soups out there that are vegetarian. Will have to ask my sis for some…but you could always do that and make grilled cheese with it or something if you wanted more. I will also ask sis about other than soup vegetarian recipes if she has any. I know she has a vegetarian enchilada recipe that seems like it would freeze well…maybe I will try making it once and freeze it and share the results with you 🙂 Or I could email you the recipe to try yourself. The enchiladas are very good. Not crockpot sorry but you could still pre-prepare them, freeze and bake?
YES we agree – there are TONS of great veggie meals out there – we just currently don’t have a ton on our site 😉 We’re working on it!!!! (and yes we’d love your info ;))
This gives me some inspiration. Thank you. 🙂 To save even more time, you can buy onions already chopped in the freezer section!!! Yahoo! 🙂
I keep a bag of those frozen onions in my freezer at all times in case of an onion emergency!
I like the pearl onions in the freezer section 🙂
If the recipe says to cook on low for 8 hours, for example, do you need to add extra time if all the ingredients are frozen?
Caren – I never have. Mine are still semi frozen when I put them into the crock pot and I haven’t had a problem with them getting done in 8 hours on low
Posole is a GREAT (can be vegetarian) crockpot meal that you can prep ahead in the freezer. However, it is so easy from canned ingredients that you almost don’t need to freeze it either! In your crockpot, dump 2 cans tomato with green chilis, 1 can garbanzo beans, one can hominy (can sub can of corn), 1 can black beans, 1 carton vegetable broth, 1 cup chopped onion, 2 cloves garlic, 2 tsp. cumin, 1 tsp. salt, one potato chopped (can sub frozen hashbrown potatoes). Cook on low for 8 hours, or high for 4+ and you will have an AMAZING veggie meal. Can add diced tofu during final 1.5 hours of cooking if you want/need it. Hope someone enjoys this. Serve with sour cream and shredded cheddar over rice or with tortilla chips.
Thanks for the tip!
I am kind of confused! So I cook the meals in the crock pot then freeze or you just put all of the ingredients in a bag to freeze? Thanks
You freeze all ingredients prior to slow cooking.
Do you know about how many people these meals feed? I’m excited to try them. thanks
Depends really on the meal. They could definitely all feed a family of four but I know that the Beef and Carrots dish I had a lot of left overs (which I loved!)
So is one recipe enough for one bag and then you double it for 2 bags?
Yes 😉 I made 2 of each recipe to fill 2 bags 😉
so is the master grocery list for 2 of each meal or do i need to double the list?
The list is for all 20 meals.
When a recipe calls for chicken breasts, what is the average size? I usually buy them in bulk, chop them up and freeze them in bags with either 1 pound or 1 cup but it kind of throws me off when it calls for “4 chicken breasts”. The bulk ones I buy are about 1 pound each, while some others are probably 1 pound for 4 of them. What’s a good general geusstimate?
Hey Sarah – You got me on exactly how much they weight! I use a single chicken breast – for 1 chicken breast – and there is no way I use a one pound chicken breast (I know what you’re talking about – they are HUGE!) So I’m guessing around 1/2 pound for each breast 😉
I buy most of my meat on sale at the markdown meat area at my local Kroger’s. If I can’t find it there, I buy in bulk at Sam’s Club–which is where I get all my ground beef.
As far as the weight of the chicken breasts, Sam’s club sells 5 oz. portions and 8 oz. portions. I always buy the 5 oz. and consider them one breast.
I just started freezer meal cooking. I LOVE it. Do ya hear me? LOOOOVE it !!! I work a full-time job, have two kids still at home, one husband, and three dogs, and attend court reporting school full-time online every evening for about 4 hours a night. I’m BUSY!
I have a normal sized fridge/freezer. Nothing fancy. Freezer does not hold very much. I invested $50 in a freezer bag sealer at Target, and $30 in bags. BEST INVESTMENT EVER!!
I am a weird woman. I love to grocery shop. I do it every week. I spend approximately $100 per week on my freezer meals. My first trip out, I spent $300, because I stocked up on bullion, canned tomatoes, and other staples. I refill that supply every 4 weeks. So, every 4th week I spend $200 instead of $100. I make my own broth (from my crockpotted chicken in one of my weekly meals), and use it instead of buying broth.
I make a menu. Grocery shop early Sunday morning (Wal-Mart is restocking with fresh supplies early on Sundays). I come home, lay out my ingredients, get my recipes ready, and I spend 3 hours in the kitchen preparing and freezing the meals. It really fills me with pride knowing that every ingredient in the food my family is eating was done with careful consideration, freshly chopped by yours truly, and prepared with love. During the week, I pull a meal out, place it in the fridge the night before. The next day, I throw it in the crockpot to cook while I am at work. When I get home, I make the side dishes and, voila! Dinner!!
Where are you getting your best recipes?
Some are original. If we were inspired by a recipe there should be a link to the original recipe.
Fam…
So far I have gotten all of my recipes from the internet. I have a few recipes of my own that I have just adapted into a freezer meal. I have a homemade chili, a jambalaya, and a red beans and rice that I adapted to freezer meals. Oh! Also a taco soup recipe. I also made hamburgers, seasoned and pattied, and froze them. The first week I did the freezer meal, I bought 3 bags of chicken breasts (you know, like walmart sells), and on Sunday morning I cockpotted them all in one crock with cream of chicken soup (2 cans) for 6 hours. When they came out, I shredded some and put it in a freezer bag with southwest chicken chili fixins (freezer meal recipe online and super tasty!!). I put some in a pan with sockarooni spaghetti sauce, mozzarella cheese, and made chickem.parmesan which I then froze. I made a freezer chicken tortilla soup and put the chicken in there. Then I saved some for salads. That meat mix is also awesome, and I keep that in the freezer in 2 lb batches. It gives some room for spontaneity. If we were going to have burgers.but we are craving tacos, I pull it out, thaw.it in the microwave, and make tacos instead. Know what I love about it most?? Since I started freezer meals, I have not thrown away one dead vegetable or piece of meat from my fridge!! A few hours on sunday and my family gets fresh, home prepared, hot, delicious.meals. Main ingredient: Love!!
Hi I just wanted to say I’m new to this and this will be my first attempt as I need to go grocery shipping today. 🙂 thanx for the easy meals and grocery list. I was wondering how many servings do these recipes feed/ how many in your family? I’m a family of four. Hubby and I plus a nine and 3 year old.
I would think you would be good. My kids (8, 5, & 4) didn’t eat all of the dishes (don’t get me started) but those days we had left overs. 🙂
My friend and I are going to get together to do this and then split the food. We have a question (or two) as it isn’t clear. We take it that these recipes get frozen uncooked? Are we right? as well, do you have to defrost before putting them into the crockpot or dump it in unfrozen. We’ve found nothing on here that explains this. (sorry if the questions are silly but given the amount of food we don’t want to make a costly error) Love the idea!!
No questions are silly! Yes freeze raw! Then I take a meal out in the evening and let it thaw a big in the fridge over night! I pop it in the crock pot in the am and it is thawed enough to cook all day in the crock pot;) good luck
Oh dear trying to type this on my phone lol thaw overnight! Lol sorry for the typo
Lol no problem with the typo. Thanks for clarifying for us. We’ll let you know how we make out. We’ve set aside a day (first Sat in February) to get together, have some fun and get our meals prepped. Reason we are waiting ’til then is so we can use up some of our frozen foods now to make room for our 20 day meals. 🙂
lol – I had to make some room too! It’s totally worth it – take pics and report back to us! (We love posting that stuff on Facebook!)
I really LOVE how simple this is, and how everything is ready to go now! But with two little ones running around, it took me all day to make 20 meals (or maybe I’m just slow!)…so props to all you ladies who could do it in 4 hours! That’s awesome!
Well, I didn’t get my meats on sale (my husband’s in the military so we shop at the commissary which already has low meat prices), and I didn’t have any of the sauces/broth, or many of the spices, so for me it cost about $350 for all the ingredients…I didn’t double the recipes, but think for my family it will probably stretch to 40 meals anyway, so that’s about $8.75/meal…not bad for feeding 4 people for a month of dinners, but I was surprised it added up so fast…again, it probably would have been a lot less if I had bought the meat even cheaper on sale, or if I had the spices on hand, but some people asked how much it cost to make, so thought I would throw my two cents in…still worth it for the convenience, and I am so excited to have the meals ready to throw in the crockpot! (I have the Mongolian beef cooking now, and it smells amazing!)
Also, this is probably a silly question but I was wondering…with putting the sauces in the freezer bag, does the bag ever get stuck to the meat/ingredients when you try to take it out of the bag? Somehow I missed the “freeze flat” part when I made them, so maybe that is the problem…
If you let it thaw a bit more – it will come unstuck 😉
YEA for meals!
Or run under warm water for a minute!
Or cut the bag….
We are currently remodeling our kitchen ( a complete gut job). After only one week I am already getting tired of eating out (normally I love eating out and most days could honestly eat from the same place 2-3 times a day). I can get access to our slow cooker and set it up so I am looking for meals that only need the slow cooker so no pasta, rice, or veggies that can’t be cooked in there. Do any of you have any ideas?
Maybe you are through the worst of your kitchen renovations now! I’m just starting on the crock pot adventure – being in UK they are not commonly used over here! I mainly use it on days when we are coming in from swimming or something that means we are late home, so want the whole meal in the crock pot with no veggies, rice or pasta to wait for when we get in. The issue with adding the veggies is you really need to slightly pre-cook on the stove, before adding to the crock. When I tried the ‘no pre-cook’ method, however small I cut the potatoes or veg, they come out a bit hard still. Do you have access to a microwave that you could soften things in? Or use tinned? I don’t like tinned much myself. I have done one recipe with the rice in, it does come out quite moist and mushy but tasty! Or cous cous which only needs boiling water from the kettle pouring over it and let it sit for a few minutes? All the best!
This might be a dumb question, but when I freeze the food to use it later, how long do I usually cook it for out of the freezer (any defrost rules)?
I defrost all the meals in the fridge overnight. Pop them in the crock pot for the normal (around 8 hours) 🙂
If you’re freezing the meals, do you just throw the whole frozen chunk in the slow cooker? Do I need to thaw it at all first? If not, do I need to add time to the cook time in the recipe?
Do you have nutritional information on the meals. So far I love them!
Each of our recipes can be found on a site called My Recipe Magic, they provide the nutritional information, just search for the recipe name.
Thank you for this information. I really want to try this but needed the nutritional information because my husband and our teenage grandson are diabetic.
I’m new to slow cooking and need some advice: both the Pepper Steak and Honey Pork Chops turned out to have excellent flavor but I overcooked both dishes. I defrosted them the night before and cooked both on low (I have a 6 quart CrockPot). I wasn’t home to check on the progress but the steak was overcooked when I took it out at 6 hours (recipe calls for 8 hours), and the pork chops were overcooked when I took them out at 4 hours (recipe calls for 4-6 hours). I should clarify that I cooked the two dishes on separate days, I re-read my post and it sounds like I cooked both dishes in one pot : )
What am I doing wrong? Any advice is much appreciated.
I don’t know if you’re doing anything wrong 🙁 Maybe your crock pot is too hot? I don’t know. Maybe someone else will have better advice? I will say that crock pot meals (in my experience) are usually over done in terms of meat. I don’t mind this lol but if you’re looking for an oven taste in a crock pot it’s just not going to happen.
I was thinking that maybe the crock pot was too hot, but it is brand new and it only has three settings: low, high, and keep warm. The food simmers, is that normal? Thanks for your reply!
I wouldn’t say that is normal! I reckon your crock is faulty I’m afraid and should get it changed. My meat is always really tender and falls apart, never had anything overcooked even when I have forgotten to turn it off for hours! I’ve never peaked whilst it’s cooking though, as was told not too as it prolongs the necessary cooking time. Best to leave lid on, it shouldn’t spoil at all.
Thanks, Natalie, I think you’re right. I went to the Bed, Bath, and Beyond website and the crock pot I use got terrible reviews. There were 35 or so reviews and almost all said that this particular model overcooks dishes. Wish I would have read the online reviews before buying in-store! However, BB&B was great and I was able to return my slow cooker with no problem at all. I’ve decided to pay more and go with the Cuisinart multi-cooker. It received amazing reviews, and I’m willing to pay more so that my meat doesn’t become like leather! The only negative is that it wasn’t available off the shelf so I’m waiting for it to be delivered. Looking forward to getting back on track : )
The “newer” crockpot models tend to run hotter than older models. I have 2 west bend brand crock pots. The new one i bought this year or last year…stuff boils in it on 2 1/2 setting (out of 5 setting numbers)…my old one has to be on 4 or 5 for it to boil. So maybe you have a newer model?
I look forward to hearing how you get on once your new one arrives! I’m trying out some of the recipes on here just a couple at a time. It’s hard trying to find some of the ingredients over here (UK), especially when some of them I have never heard of! Necessity is the mother of invention though and I can usually work out a decent substitute.
I was just wondering…I went to Pinterest, specifically for the 20 meals in 20 minutes…but there so much yummy goodies on that it’s a bit overwhelming…is there a place specific to find THAT on Pinterest or should I just rely on this wonderful page. My biggest challenge with doing that many meals for my family of 3 (mommy, daddy and little daughter) is being overwhelmed with so many suggestions…kind of like over stimulation for babies!! Anyway, it’s all so much, just wanted to see where is best to check specifically for the 20 meals (really 10) for crockpot cooking. Thanks for sharing your meal ideas. I really need help her, so it blessing me “overflowing-ly”. Sincerely!
Hi Felicia, We will totally agree that Pinterest can be overwhelming! We have a specific board on Pinterest that may interest you, it is our “Freezer & Crockpot Cooking Board”. All of the 20 Meals recipes, 40 Meals recipes and our soon to be released 7 Meals slow cooker recipes are found there. Enjoy 🙂
http://www.pinterest.com/whoneedsacape/freezer-crockpot-cooking/
Felecia – if I want to kill 2 hours – yup get on Pinterest 😉
You could also easily pin from our website – instead of repinning ours 🙂 But yes – make sure to follow us so you can catch when we put something new out!
I’m going to try these 10 and move onto your other 20! Can’t wait!
Hello ladies, here is an extra tip to help you save more time. If you look in your freezer aisle a good number of stores are now selling pre chopped onions and green peppers . Check it out! I use it all the time it saves me a ton.
Pre-diced frozen onions are one of my favorite short-cuts in the kitchen Edwin, love them!
Hi. Do you have a master grocery shopping list for the 20 meals/2 hours? Thank you.
http://whoneedsacape.com/2013/09/freezer-meals-part-2-20-meals-in-2-hours-grocery-list/
I took the plunge and made 20 meals. I have filled the freezer. However, I noticed that a lot of the meals say: “Cook on LOW for 6 hours.” I go to work for nine hours a day, I was thinking of putting it in the crock pot and setting it for 8 hours or even 10 hours. Would this be okay?? Suggestions? Risks?
The only risk is that you might have overcooked food. You may need to add a little broth to ensure nothing burns. Other than that – putting it into the crock pot slightly frozen will help with the longer cooking time (let it thaw in the fridge overnight and it’s not truly thawed…then I put it in the crock pot).
use a timer like they make for lamps…set it to start a few hours after you leave…or set it to shutoff a few hours before you get home. You dont want to overcook some of these recipes…they lose some of their intended flavor. dont be afraid to add a little extra water too as these all simmer down a bit even with the crockpot lid on.
oh my gosh – GENIUS!
Thank you! I will so be doing this… I pork chops, while delicious, were just cooked a tad bit too long last night.
Great idea! I see the grocery list but where do I find the recipes? Thx 🙂
You just have to click on the links in this post
It seems to be a nice idea, but it’s not veg*n friendly.
Vegan Friendly? Nope it’s not. I’m not vegan 😉
the chicken and dumplings recipe is so simple but i cant believe how good it came out. I thawed the bag inside a large crockpot on “low” setting and just let it continue to cook on low for about 8 hours. I like to make most of these recipes with extra water so they are more like a hearty soup or stew.
here’s a tip probably already mentioned: freeze the bags carefully…if they are crammed into drawers or the door of your freezer they are extremely difficult to get out as they will freeze to the shape of the drawer or freeze to each other. I had to remove an entire drawer full of bags and thaw it in the sink to just get out one bag…a few times. lesson learned
I loved the chicken and dumplings too (and I too have a bag that I froze wrong 🙂 )
On the Balsamic Steak recipe, do you just freeze the meat part and then make the sauce the night of? I don’t know if you can freeze an alfredo sauce and it be ok?
Yes – freeze the balsamic part (with the steak and sauce) and then the alfredo and pasta make the night of 😉
The sauce is not frozen.
Thanks so much for these great recipes! I thought you might like to know how a group of 5 friends and I are using them. On the first weekend of each month, each one of us picks one (unique) crock-pot recipe and prepares 6, gallon-sized, freezer bags worth. Then, on the following Monday, we get together for an exchange and each one of us goes home to stock our freezer with 6 different meals to enjoy during the month. It’s a great system – making 6 bags of one meal is so much easier than preparing 6 different meals. And, as working women, we love the convenience of having one or two of these meals ready-to-go each week! Please feel free to pass along this idea, if you think it would appeal to your readers. And, thanks again for the wonderful recipes!
All the best,
Gwen
I bought exactly what your list said, with the exception of about 3 pounds less of meat because I couldn’t find much on sale and was worried about spending too much. Boy did I ever spend too much! I bought store brand whenever possible and the meals still came out to $11.36 each when I totaled up the ingredients and divided by 20. That is RIDICULOUS and not cheap at all IMO. I love the idea but I’ll obviously have to put a lot more of my own work into it next time and come up with my own meals/recipes.
Thanks for taking the time to put the recipes and grocery lists together though. 🙂
oh dear – I don’t think 11 is a bad number for dinner 😉 I don’t get people who eat for 4 a meal 😉 Sorry – I don’t know if I spent that much a meal or not – guess it depends on what you have in the house? 🙂 Hope you enjoy the dinners at least!
That is less than $3 a person for a family of 4, plus leftovers in our house… I think it’s a fantastic price and so convenient. We just had our first meal last night, and I’ll be saving about another $10 since I brought my lunch to work today… Works great for our family.
Last year I made the 40 meals in 4 hours (but I only made one of each recipe), and loved the ones I tried! However, I’m not sure that I froze them correctly. Many ended up with freezer burn. Any recommendations on best bags to use? Double bag? Bag and then wrap in foil? Invest in the things that suck the air out of the bags? I don’t want to waste more this time around!!
oh boo 🙁 I did not have any problems with freezer burn! I don’t know what to tell you – maybe the vacuum sealer? I’ve heard good things but never used them. Also – don’t let them sit in the freezer too long? I don’t know other than that
The recipes are great and so is the shopping list.I don’t need to double the recipes.How much should I buy without doubling?
if you don’t double the recipes – you need half of the shopping list 🙂
I was not sure if there was a link to show me how to put these meals together or do i click on each individual recipe. Thank you.
Use the shopping list 😉 but yes click on each recipe 🙂 good luck!
Hi, I was wondering if the recipes are already doubled or do I double the ingredients in the recipes?
The recipes are NOT doubled – but the shopping list is. 🙂
Just wondering if each recipe makes two meals or if we need to double each recipe?
you need to double each recipe. The grocery list has all the ingredients though you don’t need to double that!
I think the grocery list forgot to include the Braised crockpot balsamic steak sauce! I got home from the store and I didn’t have any of the ingredients for it. Just made most of the other dishes, and they look amazing. Already ate the Fiesta Chicken soup and it was delish!
Nope – sorry – it was on there. The things not included on the list are the extras you need to make the pasta. The meat and the other freezer ingredients are on there 😉 I love love love the fiesta chicken soup;)
Hello-
I’ve printed all the recipes and the list. I’m wondering, when I go to make each recipe….I will have 2 of each? So each recipe makes 2 freezer bags?
no not at all – you have to double the recipes to get 2 meals 😉 Happy Freezing!
Just did the 20 meals…so excited!!! Thank you 🙂
Go Jaime! It’s SO SO SO nice having dinner made 😉
I love all of your recipe ideas!! I have a question 🙂 some of your freezer recipes say take out the night before and let thaw and some do not say that. Should I take out all of them them the night before? Or do I just put some in the crock pot right from the freezer?
sorry – just me being inconsistent. For any freezer meal (for the slow cooker) that I make – I take the meal out the night before and put it in the fridge. In the morning I pop it into the slow cooker. It’s usually not completely thawed, but it is thawed enough to get it out of the bag 🙂
I teach, and was worried about cooking this fall. I decided to go for it with your meals. Well, we have tried about every meal and they have been great. The pork and the soup are my favorite. The leftovers are great too. I spent about $200 in Portland, OR. Thank you!
YEA!!!!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE that soup too 🙂 You just reminded me to try it again 😉
Glad you’re loving it – when you run out we have 40 meals, 30 meals and 7 meals that you should give a try!
Am I supposed to put all ingredients (excluding noodles and rice) as well as the spices and oil all into a bag and put it in the freezer? How does this work? I’m a little confused…
well – I believe that all the recipes have a freezer meal instruction 😉 Yes basically the majority of ingredients (on some recipes it will tell you not to freeze certain things) go into a zip lock freezer safe bag – including meat, spices, oil etc. You freeze them (label them too). When you want to cook it, let it sit in the fridge overnight. The next morning pop it into your slow cooker and voila!!!! Dinner!
You wouldn’t happen to have the nutritional values per serving would you? We did the pork chops last night and I am just wondering what it would look like with all that honey in the sauce… Also, I think I spent around $300 since I needed to stock up on some of the staples, and had to purchase all of the meat.
Sorry Joey, we do not. There are plenty of sites that will do it for you though Just use the old pal Google. Thanks for sharing your costs!
With the exception of some of the ingredients that you’ve mentioned to keep out, (yes, I’m even reading some that are mentioned in the comments:)) can the ingredients for each recipe go into the freezer bag raw? Then thawed the day before putting them in the crockpot? I have a book about freezer cooking and this page is so much easier to understand! Thank you for sharing!
I see you’ve answered this! Just to clarify, it’s just one bag it can go into, unless otherwise specified?
Yes one bag 🙂 unless we told you not to freeze something 😉
I am a bit confused on serving size. I would like to make single servings, one meal for one person each night. Do I follow these recipes as they are, or do i need to cut them down a bit? Thank you!
These meals were made for a family. So if there is just one of you yes – I would not make the full amount.
I am confused where do we find out how to put the meals together I only see recipes on cooking
Put the meals together and you freeze them. It will say on the recipe if there are any ingredients that shouldn’t be frozen
Clearly this does not say how to put together. I shows how to make it today not from a bag that is already all mixed together what am i missing
2-3 pounds of Pork Chops
3/4 cup of Romano (already grated) cheese
1/2 cup of honey
1/4 cup of soy sauce
2 T of dried Basil
2 T of minced garlic
2 T of olive oil
2 T of corn starch
1/4 C of water
Instructions
Spray Crock pot with non stick cooking spray
Place Pork Chops in crock pot
Mix together honey, soy, basil, garlic, romano, and olive oil
Pour mixture over pork chops and cook on low for 4-6 hours
Before serving take out the liquid and put in small pan, boil liquid and add the already mixed corn starch and water to the juices. KEEP STIRRING and you will have a beautiful gravy for chops and potatoes
You are totally right.
Put all ingredients minus the corn starch and water into a freezer bag.
How many people should these each serve? I have a family of five, and half of them are Samoan so they like to eat!
hahaha 🙂 I would say most meals serve about 4. you know how much your family eats though so if you need to add more – my crock pot always had tons of room in it;0
Hello I am looking to save some money and seen the 20/meals for the crock pot and I see the list but I do not see how to make the meals I want to really use my crock pot more for inexpensive meals I really do not have the funds.
Hi!!!! I hope this helps you save some money. All the instructions for the meal are linked 😉 Enjoy!
Sorry if this question was asked already but there’s a lot of comments to go through. I’m trying to make my life as a new single mother easier and I think this is a great idea. But I was wondering do you thaw the food before you throw it in the crock pot? Just because I heard somewhere that you’re not supposed to put frozen food in there.
Thaw before cooking.
In Texas watch sales ads from Kroger, Brooksghires, Albertsons or your local grocerier.
What size freezer would you need for the 40 meals?
Katie used her side by side fridge/freezer for 40 meals and she had enough space. I could have used that too but I had other stuff in that freezer (it will take almost all the room). so if you use that it needs to be just about empty!
How do you go about printing this information off for the 20 Meals in 2hours ? Ive clicked on links and cant seem to find what I need.
How many servings does each meal provide? I’m sorry if I missed that somewhere else on the page. Also, I have a 6qt crock pot. I was reading that it needs to be at least half full. Will these cover that?
Thank you for theses recipes! I loved them. I just finished making them all! I would only say that one small thing was left off the shopping list. It was the corn starch for the Honey Romano Pork. Most people may have that, I’m not sure…..but I really enjoy that my freezer is full now. Thank you!
Hi Holly – Great note 😉 Thanks!