20 Crockpot Freezer Meals in 3 hours!

I know that as soon as baby girl make her big debut we probably won't be able to have as much free time as we would like. The one thing I know we will neglect is cooking at home and that just can't happen. I will be breastfeeding so I have to do my best trying to eat wholesome meals instead of processed junk from restaurants everyday. I wanted to make my life a lot easier since all you have to do is thaw it that day and put it in the Crockpot or bake it when you get home. Everyone's tummy will be full; it's cheaper than eating out every day and it makes my life a hell of a lot easier.  I made these meals for my husband and I off of what I've 'pinned' and 'liked' from my pinterest. I know it's so silly, but after reading through a lot of the recipes, it's so simple it's ridiculous. This complete set from start to finish took me about 3 hours to complete (and that's with me talking the entire time). I spent a total of $134.32 on everything from Wal-Mart and Costco. I had a lot of the ingredients -seasoning wise- at home. Everything I had extra of and I could freeze them again I did just so to stretch that extra penny. I hope you all enjoy! :) I know I will most definitely find more recipes and create some on my own to make via Crockpot again! 

A huge THANK YOU!! to  Lizzy Sharp & Aimee (Six Cents)  because their blogs saved me time and money with their recipes. Thank you ladies!! 

Crock Pot Hawaiian Chicken by Lizzy Sharp

4-5 servings (I divided all ingredients into 2 bags)

Ingredients:

·         4 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts

• ½ cup white sugar
• ½ cup vinegar
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 Tablespoons soy sauce
• ½ cup of pineapple juice (use what’s in the can)
• ½ can of large pineapple chunks

Directions:

1.      Divide and add all ingredients to a Ziploc bags

2.      Freeze flat and take out when ready to eat

3.      Thaw meal in fridge before placing entire contents of bag in Crockpot

4.      Cook for 4-5 hours on high/6-7 hours on low.

5.      Serve with rice

Beef Burritos by Lizzy Sharp

(6+ servings) (I divided all ingredients into 2 bags)

Ingredients:

• 1 diced onion
• 2lbs top round roast
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons whole peppercorns
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 (8 oz) cans tomato sauce
• 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce - I found this at Wal-Mart and I frozen the other peppers :)
• 1 ½ teaspoon chili powder

Directions:

1.      Divide and add all ingredients to a Ziploc bags

2.      Freeze flat and take out when ready to eat

3.      Thaw meal in fridge before placing entire contents of bag in Crockpot

4.      Cook for 4-5 hours on high/6-7 hours on low.

5.      Strain juice from meat and add juice back into Crockpot ridding of the peppercorns and onions.

6.      Shred meat and add back into Crockpot for another 30 minutes

Chicken Fajitas by Lizzy Sharp * I modified this recipe

(5-6 servings) (I divided all ingredients into 2 bags)

Ingredients:

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

Directions:

1.      Divide and add all ingredients to a Ziploc bags

2.      Freeze flat and take out when ready to eat

3.      Thaw meal in fridge before placing entire contents of bag in Crockpot

4.      Cook for 4-5 hours on high/6-7 hours on low.

5.      Shred chicken and add back to the juices

6.      Serve with tortillas and favorite fajitas toppings (cheese, sour cream, etc)

Dijon chicken by Lizzy Sharp * I modified this recipe

(4-5 servings) (I divided all ingredients into 2 bags)

Ingredients:

• 4 chicken breasts
• 1 cup chicken broth (or 1 cup water & 1 Tablespoon bouillon)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 T Dijon mustard
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• ½ – 1 tsp thyme (depending on how much you like thyme)

Directions:

1.      Divide and add all ingredients to a Ziploc bags

2.      Freeze flat and take out when ready to eat

3.      Thaw meal in fridge before placing entire contents of bag in Crockpot

4.      Cook for 4-5 hours on high/6-7 hours on low.

·         Can be cooked via stove top for 15 min if sauce is drained after thawing

·         Can be baked in oven for 35-40 min at 350 in sauce

5.      Serve with mash potatoes

Italian Chicken (serves 4-5) by Lizzy Sharp * I modified this recipe

(4-5 servings) (I divided all ingredients into 2 bags)

Ingredients:

• 4 chicken breasts
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 packet ranch dressing mix
• 1/2 Tbsp. chili powder
• ½ cup water*
• 1 cup Italian dressing (Don’t put in the freezer bag) 

Directions:

1.      Divide and add all ingredients to a Ziploc bags

·         DO NOT ADD ITALIAN DRESSING

·         DO NOT ADD WATER if you are using frozen chicken

2.      Freeze flat and take out when ready to eat

3.      Thaw meal in fridge before placing entire contents of bag in Crockpot

4.      Cook for 4-5 hours on high/6-7 hours on low.

·         Can be cooked via stove top for 15 minutes if sauce is drained after thawing

·         Can be baked in oven for 35-40 minutes in sauce

5.      Shred chicken and add back to the juices

6.      Serve with tortillas and favorite fajitas toppings (cheese, sour cream, etc)

*This is amazing with garlic potatoes. I shredded the chicken that I had left over for chicken salad. I also used the juices as my dressing.

Honey Pineapple Chicken by Lizzy Sharp * I modified this recipe

(4-5 servings) (I divided all ingredients into 2 bags)

Ingredients:

·   1 cup pineapple juice

·   1/2 cup brown sugar

·   1/3 cup light soy sauce

·   4  chicken breasts

  

Directions:

1.      Divide and add all ingredients to a Ziploc bags

2.      Freeze flat and take out when ready to eat

3.      Thaw meal in fridge before placing entire contents of bag in Crockpot

4.      Cook for 4-5 hours on high/6-7 hours on low.

5.      Serve with rice

Salsa Chicken by Lizzy Sharp * I modified this recipe 

(4-5 servings) (I divided all ingredients into 2 bags)

Ingredients:

·         4 chicken breasts

·         1 15 oz. can of black beans * I omitted black beans since we hate them J

·         1 pound bag frozen corn

·         1 can diced tomatoes with chilies (like Rotel)

·         1 jar salsa * I used half a jar

·         1 packet of taco seasoning

Directions:

1.      Divide and add all ingredients to a Ziploc bags

2.      Freeze flat and take out when ready to eat

3.      Thaw meal in fridge before placing entire contents of bag in Crockpot

4.      Cook for 4-5 hours on high/6-7 hours on low.

5.      Shred chicken

6.      Serve with tortillas and favorite toppings (cheese, sour cream, etc)

Beef Burgundy by Lizzy Sharp * I modified this recipe

(6+ servings) (I divided all ingredients into 2 bags)

Ingredients:

·         1/2 cup flour * I used wheat flour

·         3 teaspoon salt

·         1 teaspoon pepper

·         2 pounds beef chuck, cubed

·         1/4 cup olive oil

·         2 onions, sliced

·         1 cup mushrooms, sliced

·         1 cup fresh parsley, minced

·         6 teaspoons garlic, minced

·         4 bay leaves

·         2 cups burgundy wine * I used dry red wine

·         1 cup beef broth

 Directions:

1.      Divide and add all ingredients to a Ziploc bags

2.      Freeze flat and take out when ready to eat

3.      Thaw meal in fridge before placing entire contents of bag in Crockpot

4.      Cook for 4-5 hours on high/6-7 hours on low.

5.      Shred meat and let it soak the juices up for an hour.

6.      Serve with egg noodles, mash potatoes basically anything you’d like.

Scalloped Potatoes and Ham by Six Cents * I modified this recipe

(4-6 servings) (I divided all ingredients into 2 bags)

Ingredients:

·         12 new potatoes and cut into ¼ inch round slices or a large bag of frozen potatoes

·         2 cans of cream  of potato

·         2 cans of water

·         2 ham steaks, cubed

·         8 oz cheddar cheese *We used shredded cheese

·         4 cups of broccoli

·         salt and pepper

Directions:

1.      Divide and add all ingredients to a Ziploc bags

2.      Freeze flat and take out when ready to eat

3.      Thaw meal in fridge before placing entire contents of bag in Crockpot

4.      Spray pot with oil

5.      Cut potatoes into ¼ inch round slices and place on bottom of Crockpot

6.      Place everything in Crockpot

7.      Cook for 4-5 hours on high/6-7 hours on low.

8.      Serve with extra shredded cheese!

*Waymon and I didn’t enjoy the broccoli in this one. We probably take all of them out before making it again.

Bulk Ground Beef

My husband and I no longer buy ground beef individually at the store anymore. It's a waste of money in our eyes. We like to buy in bulk and separate the bulk that we have using our food scale. It takes time on our part, but it saves us money. We bought 4.6 lbs of ground beef at Costco for about $20.00, that's roughly $5.00 for every pound.I divided the ground beef into 15 equal parts weighing in at 4.5 oz and shaped them into hamburger patties. When I don't make hamburger patties I will section of 1 lb. of the ground beef and freeze it so that I can use it for other recipes later on. You could also use this ground beef to make meatballs too! After making these I no longer have to buy expensive pre-made patties and my husband can enjoy all the burgers he wants :)

Directions:
1. Measure ground beef out to weigh 4.5 oz

2. Create each of sections of ground beef into balls

3. Use wax paper to separate each individual patty
4. Take ground beef balls and shape them into patties.
5. Pinch in the center of the patty *This trick is so that when it's time to cook they will cook evenly.

6. Place all patties into freezer bag with labels

7. Pop them into the freezer flat

DIY Breast Feeding Scarfs Part II

I've gotten the hang of sewing these bad boys. I'm pretty impressed on how easy it is to make these scarfs. I noticed from the last time I made these from the Pinterest tutorial I followed, that mine are thicker since I am sewing four ends together instead of two. I'm okay with how thick it is because when I do use this in public I would like MAXIMUM coverage. Both scarfs below are smaller in length than the previous tutorial. It's shorter on the neck when I put it on.  I think I might make it a yard and a half next time I find a cute fabric. :) There was a sale at Joann Fabrics this week for 60 % off for most of the fabrics. This store is literally my heaven. I went for the first time with Chris and Stacy this past Sunday. I could DIE in there. ha!


Instructions :
-Start by laying fabric out on a solid surface. I laid mine on the floor. My fabric was folded in half (length wise) when I laid it out. My fabric was 36 in x 22 in. (Typical fabric in half from the store, you could cut the fabric in half lengthwise again to make it thinner. I would test out what you'd like.)

 -Fold the fabric up ( it should measure 18 in x 30 in) . 

-Pin the opposite side of the fold and sew. I sewed mine using a needle and thread :) I don't have a sewing machine, but if I did I would cut close to the seam of the pinned side when finished. 

-I went through what I sewed one more time to secure the thread. It took me about 30-35 minutes again for each! 

CUPCAKES!                                                       

ha! Sorry for Sass

Folded in 1/2

Finished product

 DIA DE LOS MUERTOS!

TIME: 30-35 MINUTES
PRICE : $14.00 FOR two, 1 yard fabrics from Joann 

Next project, I think it'll be sewing an infinity scarf for Baby H:) ah!

DIY breast feeding infinity scarf

Pinterest is AMAZING!! I got this project from Pinterest last week. I made the scarf for under $10!! I didn't want to pay a ridiculous price for a breast feeding scarf for the baby. These things are seriously toooooo expensive in store. I love the idea of the infinity scarf because it's simple and versatile. 

-Start by laying fabric out on a solid surface. I laid mine on the floor. My fabric was folded in half (length wise) when I laid it out. My fabric was 72 in x 30 in.

 -Fold the fabric up ( it should measure 36 in x 30 in) . 

-Pin the opposite side of the fold and sew. I sewed mine using a needle and thread :) I don't have a sewing machine, but if I did I would cut close to the seam of the pinned side when finished. 

-It took me about 30 minutes to sew the entire thing up. I finished sewing in the time it took me to watch the new episode of  'The Mindy Project'. ha 

 Tada! All done:) It's simple and easy. I will definitely make more for myself. I think I want to try a simple black and make it a little smaller in length.