Freezer Crockpot Meals

A while back I spent a whole day cutting veggies and meat, cooking meat, measuring and compiling. And by a whole day, I mean 12 hours. 8AM to 8PM, start to finish. What was I doing, you might ask? I was making  a 30 + freezer crockpot meals. Meals that have all the prep done, everything measured and cut and in one freezer bag, so that all you have to do is put it in the fridge the night before and dump it in the crockpot the day of! These meals have turned out to be so helpful in eliminating the stress associated with the question: "What's for dinner". (They would also be great to compile before having a baby!)

Why don't you join me as I look back over that crazy "cooking" day.

Before any big cooking venture you have to make sure you have all the ingredients needed, right? That is what my "day before" consisted of. I sat at the computer for hours making a Google Document spreadsheet that would hold all of my precious information. After I figured out all the recipes and ingredients needed, I checked my inventory. I had a bit, but not enough. So, with a prayer in my heart for good deals, off to Fry's the littles and I went. Sad to say, I was amazed at the deals the Lord provided. Oh me of little faith.  Nearly everything I needed was one sale! And He provided everything for just cents below my budget. How awesome to see His provision and work even in such a small task of freezer cooking!

The day before was also a day for me to cook up some beans and soak other beans. It is so much less expensive to cook beans from their dry state rather than buy canned. So, that is what I did.

When the day of rolled around I got right to work. I layed out my veggies and cutting boards, along with nearly every bowl I own, and started chopping away. I don't think I have every chopped up so many veggies, or been so incredibly tired of chopping!

 My favorite part had to be using my Pampered Chef chopper. For all those bell peppers and onions that needed to be chopped finely. This chopper is a dream. And if you don't have one, I seriously recommend it!

After all the chopping was finished, I was amazed. I have never had so many full bowls of veggies in our house! 

I also had to cook up a few pounds of sausage meat. And cut up more than a few pounds of chicken meat. 

 I bought this HUGE cast iron skillet, not too long ago, from Lodge. It was amazing how well it cooked up that sausage. Everything fit in the skillet and cooked up very well.

While I was waiting for the meat to brown, I realized that I hadn't yet written the names and directions on any freezer bags! Boy would that have been a disaster! 

Once the bags were labeled, everything was cooked and cutk and the seasonings were gathered, it was time to start filling bags. This was probably the most difficult task. With 2 littles demanding your attention, it is very hard to keep straight how many TBSP of paprika you have ALREADY put in the bag. Hopefully I didn't screw up any meals by mis-calculatinos. But only time will tell. 

After the bags were compiled, off to the freezer they went! So far most of the 30 + have been good. The picture below was my half-hearted attempt to show about 1/2 of what I made. Honestly, our family could probably eat off of these meals for a good 3 months!!! 

 My conclusion? It was a lot of hard work. Lots of prep and one very long day in the kitchen. But I think it is worth it, and I WILL be doing it again when our meals run out!!!