When I started meal planning I never thought I would actually have people telling me I inspired them to start planning their own meals. That is one of the reasons I wanted to start blogging about it and sharing what has worked for me and our little family. I love putting my menu together and writing out my grocery list and it doesn't really take me that long to plan everything out, but then comes the recipes. I print them out or pull them from my cook books and then the real work begins. Some recipes I pull from Pinterest or Google searches which makes it so much easier to post them, but this month I wanted to use my Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook which means I will have to peck out those recipes all by my slow typing self. I will be posting 1 weeks worth of recipes at a time or as many as my 1 year old who only allows me to type 5 minutes at a time before she starts screaming at me and trying to press buttons on the laptop.
I
Challenged Myself this month so every meal is either something that can be frozen and pulled out later or something cooked in the Crock Pot.
{Roxanne's Roast}
Ingredients
1 large roast split into 2 equal pieces
1 bag of baby carrots
1 onion
Potatoes (will not go into freezer. Will be put in when ready to Crock It)
2 envelopes of Lipton onion soup mix
Beef broth or boullion
Worcestershire sauce
Directions
1.When I get home from the store I cut my roast into 2 equal pieces and place them in freezer containers.
2. Place 1/3 package of carrots into each container.
3. Cut 1 onion into large pieces and add 1/2 to each container.
4. Pour in 1 Cup of beef broth into each container.
5. Add Worcestershire
6. Add 1 package of Lipton onion soup mix to each container.
7. Place lid in place and freeze until ready to Crock It.
8. Remove from freezer and let thaw in fridge night before you will be cooking it.
9. Dump all contents into crock.
10. Add potatoes.
11. Cook on low for 8 hours.
{Crock Pot Loaded Baked Potatoes}
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Did you know you can cook baked potatoes in the Crock? Well I didn't until this month and you better believe this is how I will be cooking my potatoes next week!
Ingredients
2-3 Potatoes
Foil
Sour cream
Shredded cheddar cheese
Bacos
Directions
1. Clean potatoes
2. Wrap in foil
3. Place potatoes in Crock
4. Crock for 8 hours
WHAT!! I don't have to wait 40 minutes for my potatoes to cook!
MIND BLOWN!
{Chicken Pot Pie (Makes 2)}
picture source
Ingredients
4 refrigerated pie crusts or frozen crusts
1 rotisserie chicken
2 cans of mixed veggies
11/2 tsps rubbed sage (dried)
1 1/2 tbsps butter
2 cups canned chicken broth
2 tbsp. All purpose flour
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 425°F
2. Pull chicken off of bones and set aside
3. Combine flour and 1/2 teaspoon sage in medium bowl.
4. In large skillet/pot
melt butter in heavy large skillet oven medium-high heat.
5. Add chicken broth and flour mixture to skillet and stir until thickens.
6. Add in chicken and vegetables and 1 teaspoon sage.
7. Bring to boil, scraping up any browned bits.
8. Season with salt and pepper.
9. Pour mixture evenly into pie crusts
10. Top with crust.
11. Bake until bubbly and crust is golden brown
12. If you will be freezing for later wrap and store in freezer before cooking. Pull out the night before to thaw then follow cooking directions.
{Mexican Stuffed Belle Peppers (Doubled)}
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Ingredients
4-8 bell peppers
1 pound of 85 percent lean ground beef
1/2 of a yellow onion, diced
1 cup of canned enchilada sauce
1 1/4 cup of shredded jack cheese
1 entire bag of cup of cooked (leftover) mexican rice
salt and pepper
sour cream and diced green onion for toppings
Directions
1. Finely dice a 1/2 of a yellow onion. Pour a cup of prepared enchilada sauce into a heat proof measuring cup and add diced onion. Heat the onion/enchilada sauce mixture in the microwave for about 5 minutes to soften onions.
2. Cut the tops off of four bell peppers. Remove stems and seeds and dice the tops of the bell peppers.
3. Pour 1/3 of a cup of water into the bottom of the crock pot and nestle bell peppers in.
4. In a large mixing bowl, combine one pound of uncooked ground beef, onion/enchilada sauce mixture, diced bell peppers, 1 cup of shredded jack cheese, 3/4 cup of cooked rice, 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper.
5. Fill bell peppers with ground beef mixture and top with more cheese.
6. Cook on low for about 6 hours. You can test mixture with meat thermometer for doneness. It should be cooked to 160 degrees.
7. f you will be freezing for later wrap and store in freezer before cooking. Pull out the night before to thaw then follow cooking directions.
Note: You must used pre-cooked rice. I used leftover mexican rice, but you can also use cooked white rice. Just bump up your seasoning so that the mixture is not too bland. You can add chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, chipotle in adobo. Whatever sounds good to you!
Pulled Pork Sandwiches
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Ingredients
1 large pork shoulder/Pork Butt or whatever you like to call it
Onion
Garlic cloves (I use the pre chopped bottled stuff because it is easier, cheaper, and last longer)
BBQ seasoning
Liquid Smoke
BBQ sauce (I used 2 different kinds because I didn't have enough of either and it was delicious!)
Water
Buns
Slaw
Directions
1. Rough Chop onions and garlic and place in bottom of Crock.
2. Place Pork in Crock and sprinkle generously with BBQ seasoning.
3. Add Liquid Smoke (I was cautious with this, but wish I had added more)
4. Pour in enough water to fill Crock 1/4 of the way up.
5. Cook on low for 8-10 hours.
6. Remove Pork Shoulder and place in large bowl to pull apart and remove bones and fat. I found a form and some tongs were really helpful. You will also want a few large bowls for discarded pieces.
7. Pour remaining liquid, onions, garlic, and bits and pieces through colander to strain and discard.
8. Return pulled pork to Crock and begin shredding with 2 forks or hands if you let it cool.
9. Pour BBQ sauce over pork to mix together.
10. Serve on buns with your choice of fixins (that's southern for BBQ toppings and sides like Slaw, BBQ Beans, and Potato salad).
11. Freeze extra meat for later use.
{Joan's Homemade Soup}
Coming Soon
I am still waiting for this recipe MIL!!
