Make Ahead Crock Pot Meals

The other day while scrolling through my news feed on Facebook, I saw this post from a friend, 10 Easy Crock-Pot Freezer Meals - Mommy's Fabulous Finds.  I love using my slow cooker, so I checked it out and thought to myself, "This is genius!  Why have I never done this before?"

With this epiphany in mind, I made a list of all the things I didn't already have in my cupboard/fridge/freezer and made out for the grocery store.  In addition to the 10 meals listed in the link above, I added two of my own from a great cook book I found in the grocery store check out aisle last year.  I added Swiss Steak with Mushrooms and Onions and Country Captain Kitchen from America's Test Kitchen Slow Cooker Revolution (recipes below).

As you can see, I set everything out, prepped all the veggies, then added all the ingredients for each meal to a labeled gallon freezer bag with instructions for cooking on the bag.  And Voila!

Twelve crock pot meals all ready to be frozen for future use.  All together, with labeling the bags, setting out all the ingredients, prepping the vegetables, and assembling the meals it took me about 6 hours.  Which seems like a lot, but really only comes to 30 minutes per meal.  We've already tried the Sweet and Sour Meatballs, which was better than I expected it to be, and the Swiss Steak, which was awesome.  I will most likely supplement what I have left of these in another month or so, before the babies get here.  That way my husband and I can have a nice home cooked meal with no effort involved except dumping the bag of ingredients in the slow cooker.  Which I assume is all we'll have time for with two new babies in the house. :)


Swiss Steak with Mushrooms and Onions

• 3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 lbs. white mushrooms, sliced thin
• 2 onions, halved and sliced thin
• 1 Tbsp. minced fresh thyme or 1 1/2 tsp. dried
• 1 1/2 tsp. paprika
• 3/4 c. chicken broth
• 1/4 c. dry sherry (I used sherry cooking wine found in the grocery store)
• 1-2 lbs. beef stew meat cut into 1 inch chunks
• 1/4 c. heavy cream
• 2 Tbsp. cornstarch

1. Place all ingredients except cream and cornstarch in your gallon freezer bag.
2. When ready to use, thaw overnight in fridge.
3. Put contents of bag in slow cooker and cook on High for 5-7 hours.
4. When finished, skim excess fat from remaining liquid.
5. In a small bowl whisk together cream and cornstarch.  Slowly add this to contents of crock pot while stirring.  
6. Turn slow cooker off and allow liquid to thicken for about 5 minutes.
7.  Serve over rice or egg noodles.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Country Captain Chicken

• 2 onions, chopped fine
• 1 green bell pepper, cut into 1/2 in. pieces 
• 1 can (6 oz.) tomato paste
• 2 Tbsp. curry powder
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1 Tbsp. minced fresh thyme or 1 1/2 tsp. dried
• 1 1/2 tsp. paprika
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes
• 1 c. mango chutney
• 3/4 c. chicken broth
• 4 bone-in chicken thighs, skin removed and fat trimmed
• Salt and Pepper
• 2 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley
• 1 Granny Smith apple, cut in to 1/2 in. pieces
• 1/4 c. sliced almonds, toasted

1. Place all ingredients except salt, pepper, parsley, apple, and almonds in your gallon freezer bag.
2. When ready to use, thaw overnight in fridge.
3. Put contents of bag in slow cooker and cook on Low for 4-6 hours.
4. When finished, skim excess fat from remaining liquid.
5. Stir in parsley and salt and pepper to taste.
6. Serve over rice and sprinkle with almonds and apple.