Freezer and Slow Cooker Recipes

Last week I bragged a bit on Facebook about the fact that I had just prepped four great, healthy meals for the slow cooker and put them in the freezer for later use, all for just a little bit of money.  Everybody instantly wanted the recipes.  I have to give my bestie Sarah all the credit for sharing these recipe ideas.  Here's the list she sent me a couple of weeks ago.  (Please note you may need to increase the recipe for a larger family.)

Freezer meals for the slow cooker:
2 - BBQ Chicken
2 - Teriyaki Chicken

Freezer Meal / SlowCooker Meal Ideas

*I consider one meal enough to feed 2 adults for dinner plus have some leftovers for lunch the next day!*

Italian Crockpot Chicken (1 Freezer Meal)

*Everything for this recipe goes into the bag raw*

4 Chicken Breast

16 oz Fat Free Italian Dressing

1 Packet Dry Italian Seasoning

½ C Parmesan Cheese

4-6 Red Potatoes

½ bag mini carrots

Close up the bag, mix and bit, and Voila!

Reheating: This can go in the Crockpot while still frozen. Add about ¾ C Water or Chicken Broth. Cook on low for 8 hours, or high for 4 hours.

Chicken Macaroni Bake (1 freezer meal)

¼ C Onions, chopped

2 Tablespoon butter

½ C Milk

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 ½ C Chicken (or turkey), cooked and cubed

4 oz shredded cheese

8 oz pasta (any kind)

½ C Bread Crumbs

Directions: Prepare pasta according to package direction. Brown onion in butter. Stir in Soup, chicken, milk and ¾ cup cheese; heat until cheese melts. Blend sauce with cooked noodles; pour into buttered 8x8baking dish (I use the throw-away aluminum ones you buy at the store). Mix the remaining cheese and bread crumbs and place on top. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until hot.

Freezing Instructions: Prepare up to the point of baking - DO NOT BAKE. Place foil on baking dish and write the following instructions: "Remove Foil. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes (if thawed) or 1 hour (if frozen) or until hot.

Chicken and Black Bean Chili (4 freezer meals)

4 Chicken Breast, Boiled and Shredded

56. oz tomato sauce

30 oz. Black Beans

30 oz Corn

2 Onion, Diced

4 stalks of celery

Garlic Powder

Directions: Chop everything up, put into a gallon sized freezer bag and put into freezer. When ready to cook, de-thaw and put into Crockpot on low. (Everything is already cooked; it will just need to be heated up)

BBQ Chicken (Crock Pot) (2 freezer meals)

*Everything for this recipe goes into the bag raw*

Chop the following ingredients and divide them between2 bags…

3 sweet potatoes (cubed)

1 Zucchini, chopped

1 onion, sliced

2 green bell peppers, sliced

1 red bell pepper, sliced

4-5 chicken breasts, diced

In each bag place…

8oz Tomato Paste

1 T Worcetshire

2 T Brown sugar

1 T Mustard Powder

1 Garlic Clove

½ t Salt

Close up the bag, mix and bit, and Voila! Reheating: This can go in the Crockpot while still frozen. Add about ¾ C Water or Chicken Broth. Cook on low for 8 hours, or high for 4 hours.

Layered Enchilada Casserole (1 freezer meal)

1 lbs of ground beef (or turkey), browned

1 can diced tomatoes, drained (15 oz)

1 can black beans, drained (15 oz)

1 10oz pkg Cream Cheese

1 Packets Taco Seasoning

3 flour tortillas (I used 6 inch)

Directions: Mix the ground beef, tomatoes, beans, and cream cheese in a bowl. Combine Well. Place a ½ C Mixture on bottom of an 8x8 pan (I use the throw-away aluminum ones you buy at the store). Top with 1 flour tortilla. Top tortilla with beef mixture and cheese .Repeat layers and end with beef mixture on top and top with last bit of cheese. Wrap in aluminum foil to prevent freezer burn. Label.

Cooking Instructions: Thaw and bake uncovered at 350 degrees 30 minutes or until heated through.

Teriyaki Chicken (2 freezer meals)

*Everything for this recipe goes into the bag raw*

Chop the following ingredients and divide them between 2 bags…

1 Large Bag of Baby Carrots1

1 Red Onion (cut into large chunks)

1 20z can pineapple (undrained)

2 Garlic Cloves

4 Chicken Breasts

In each bag place…

½ C Teriyaki Sauce in each bag

Directions: Unthaw Meal; add ½ cup teriyaki sauce to mixture. Cook on High for 4 hours or Low for 8 hours. Serve over Rice.

Tater Tot Casserole (1 freezer meal)

1lb ground beef, browned

1 can cream of mushroom soup

½ C Milk

1 small package of Tater Tots

3 C Shredded Cheese

Directions: In a small bowl mix 1 can of soup and fill the empty can 1/3 full of milk. Mix the milk, soup, and 2 handfuls of shredded cheese. Microwave about 2 min and stir in the browned beef. Put the beef mixture in a freezer bag. In a separate bag, put 1 C of Cheese. You will also have 1 bag of frozen tater tots.

Cooking Instructions: Remove the beef mixture and cheese from the freezer and let thaw. Pour into an 8x8 pan and then cover with frozen tater tots. Cook at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until hot in the center. Remove from oven and sprinkle the top with shredded cheese. Return to oven for about 5 min, or until cheese is melted.

Lazy Day Stew (4 freezer meals)

*Everything for this recipe goes into the bag raw*

Chop the following ingredients and divide them between 4 bags…

4lb cubed stewing beef

4 C Baby Carrots

4 C Baby Red Potatoes (Cut in ½)

2 Medium Onions, chopped

4 stalks of celery, chopped

4 tsp quick-cooking tapioca

2 tsp salt

2 15oz can tomato sauce (1/2 a can in each bag)

2 C water

2 Tbs brown sugar

Directions: Put everything into four one gallon freezer bags, shake it up, seal, label, and put into the freezer

Cooking Instructions: Thaw; cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours. Eat as a soup or serve over hot noodles or rice.

Sewing Projects

Who says sewing is hard??  This girl.  There are a lot of things that my brain does well, like play music and learn foreign languages, but piecing fabric together in the right order is NOT one of them.  My brain just doesn't think logically like that!  It hadn't really occurred to me when I started out that I would be doing math (see kids? stay in school!) and engineering just to fix up a set of curtains & make a baby sling.  But hey, all that aside, I'm doing just fine! 

I have two projects near completion.  Two out of three curtain panels are finished and hung, and hopefully the third will join them this weekend.  And, with the help of my friend Hannah and my next-door neighbor, my ring sling is coming right along and we'll finish it tomorrow.  Here are a couple pictures of my ring sling-in-progress.

Finished tail with pocket.

Almost ready to sew in the pleats & rings.

If you'll all pray that I can find the charger cord for my camera, I might be able to get some pictures of the curtains, because the ones I tried to take on my phone aren't great. They are super cute, though, so they certainly deserve their share of the spotlight!

Talk about feeling accomplished!  Special thanks goes to my neighbor, Barbara, who first offered to answer a few questions and then went above and beyond to actually teach me how to do this stuff.  She's awesome!

I've got a long way to go before I feel comfortable using a sewing machine, and I have a feeling I may not ever quite love sewing, but I am determined to know how to do it so that I can teach Addalyn.  If nothing else, I owe my daughter a few basic sewing skills.  If I start learning now, maybe I'll be ready to teach her by the time she's old enough...

Sewing for Dummies Divas

This is getting serious. One project at a time?? Pffftt. Wimps.  I have three projects.  Better get busy. I borrowed an ancient-looking sewing machine from a friend and bought a few basic sewing supplies at Walmart.  There's a box under Addy's crib with adorable black gingham curtain panels (made by one of my mothers-in-law) that need to be pleated, shortened, hemmed, and attached to the ladybug valances that came with the crib bedding set.  There's also one set of super cute teal fabric to make myself a new ring sling, and another set of even-cuter polka-dot fabric to make one for my sister-in-law, whose baby boy is due in June.  Never mind that I don't even know how to make a ring sling yet; I just went ahead and promised her one.  Gulp.  I'm committed whether this goes well or not. 

I broke the news to my mom that I am going to try to learn how to sew.  She had the good grace not to laugh at me.  In her words, it will either "frustrate the heck out of me" or "be very enjoyable and rewarding."  I'm hoping for the latter. I have also been warned to stick to the directions on the patterns in the order they are given, and not to try to skip steps to save time. (Step #1: Learn how to thread the sewing machine.)  I'm not sure that it bodes well that I do not have a pattern for the curtain project, but I'm hoping this will be basic enough that I can watch a few Youtube videos and follow the generous and much-appreciated advice from a couple of friends and figure it out.  How hard can it be? 

Stay tuned...this could get interesting.

Domestic Diva Wannabe

The Domestic Diva. You know who I’m talking about. She’s the neighbor down the street who is always cranking out delicious meals worthy of a spread in a culinary magazine. She’s the mom in your playgroup who not only whips up a superman cape for her little guy out of a spare piece of fabric, but has a whole imagination-packed trunk of handmade dress-up clothes in her kiddos’ playroom and ornaments her entire home with cute, made-from-scratch curtains and bedding. She’s the one who has a whole room in her house dedicated to scrapbooking and its materials, who can dream up anything and then knows exactly how to create it (AND make it look good!). She's the lady with an eye for detail that is reflected in every beautifully decorated room in her house.  That gorgeous flower garden you drive by every day on your way home? She planted it. That cute blog background? She designed it. From making her own soaps and shampoos to finding natural alternatives to cure just about any common ailment to changing the oil in the car, domestic divas are popping up all over my friendship garden.

I aspire to be one of them.

In an age of post-feminist culture, homemaking seems to be a lost art. Today’s little girls are being raised very differently than their moms and grandmothers. Basic skills, like cooking and sewing, that girls used to learn while growing up, have died out so much that to meet someone who can sew a new cutesy duvet cover for her bed is every bit as cool as meeting the President - and he probably doesn’t even know how to sew!

I have decided recently that I am tired of not having these real-life skills in my toolbox. I’m tired of letting myself rely on other people to do things for me because I don’t know how to sew a new hem on a curtain that’s too long. Granted, I haven’t really ever had much time to learn to do these things, since I have spent much of my adult life in school or working two full-time jobs at the same time. And to my mom’s credit, she really did try to teach me to sew. The teenage me simply did not have the patience for sewing, or care to learn how to do it. 

Now that I am a stay-at-home mom of one darling baby girl, my priorities have changed and I finally have time and a need to know how to keep my home. I have an obligation and a desire to raise a daughter who knows how to cook, sew, maintain a home, and fend for herself BEFORE she marries her prince. For as much as we girls try to compete the with men in our lives to keep pace with all the things they can do, I have discovered that my husband is the most appreciative when I serve an awesome new recipe at dinner or put a button back on his shirt; not because he is chauvinistic (he’s not) or thinks I should do those things (he doesn’t), but just because it really is kind of cool to have someone in your home who can do those things.

So this summer, I am going to use this season of my life to my advantage and set a new course and a goal to learn how to do a few new things so that I can one day pass those skills to my children. For starters, this blog was sorely in need of a major facelift (tadaaaaa!!!!). I’m going to plant an herb garden (and with any luck, I’ll keep it alive!), and I’m going to figure out what in the world I’m going to do with the overgrown ivy in my front flower bed. My daughter’s room is finally going to be complete when I put the finishing touches on some curtains, and I plan to make a new ring sling or two. And in my spare time, I’m finally going to start (and finish) those fun crafty projects for my house and the nursery. 

In my quest for new knowledge, I’ll be using resources like books, Internet articles and Youtube videos, asking friends for a little tutoring, and maybe even finding some cute blogs to link up with and share. And I’ll probably be asking you, dear reader, for advice as well. And while I’m at it, I’m going to scratch the itch to write and maybe actually keep this blog somewhat current (although you’ll have to bear with me – baby’s naptimes are still somewhat short!). So I invite you to join me on my new summer school adventure and choose something new to learn and share it!

I am going to be awesome. I am a Domestic Diva in training.  (Hey, that line would look really cute on an apron…)

Homemade Greek Yogurt (Updated)

True confession: I used to think greek yogurt was waaay overrated. It was just a fad, a fancy item to add to your grocery list so you could feel like you were actually buying something healthy and not just a sugary cup of pastel-colored, ultra-pasteurized dairy product.  Then one day I gave in, feeling on the desperate side of hungry & very nauseous, thanks to about 16 weeks of pregnancy.  I stood staring into the refridgerator case, and then reached for that little blue cup that cost a whole entire dollar.  And when I put my groceries away at home, I actually decided to eat it and see if it would stay down.  It was delicious.  It was also the first food that had followed the natural flow of digestion in about four months, and remained so for about another two weeks and you can believe me when I say I really took advantage of finding ONE food that I could keep down.  I bought it in bulk and ate it for every meal. 

Yes, greek yogurt may well have saved my life (well, at least my protein intake), so it has certainly earned its place as the focus of this blog post. (I don't think I've ever written a whole paragraph about yogurt before!).  It continues to be a favorite snack, but I've gotten really tired of paying $1 or more for an individual cup of yogurt - especially on our modest grocery budget.  Then a couple of weeks ago, I had lunch with a bunch of really neat ladies at the Trust Birth conference who were talking about making yogurt. What?!  MAKE yogurt?!  As in, do it myself, in my kitchen, and possibly even save some money and preserve some nutritive value in the process?  Yes, please!  So, without further ado and a couple of experiments later, here is the process that I have found works best for me.

Oh...important fact:  Full-fat yogurt is sooooooo much better for you than low-fat.  (News flash: Your body needs good fats! Milk fat = good fat.)  Use whole milk!

You'll need exactly two ingredients:

• Half a gallon of whole milk (as organic as possible & not ultra-pasteurized, or it will NOT set up right.) Update: I actually just used good-ole' Great Value whole milk from Walmart. It worked just fine.
• 1/2 cup of plain greek yogurt with active yogurt cultures.  Either use a 6 oz single-serving cup of store-bought yogurt (the last cup of expensive yogurt you'll ever have to buy! YAY!), or 1/2 cup leftover from your last batch (just make sure to use it within 7-10 days, or you'll have to revisit the expensive yogurt again).

You'll also need a few basic household supplies:

• A crockpot
• A timer (or a good memory!)
• A whisk
• A bath towel (for insulation, not for clean up! :) )
• A colander
• 2 or 3 paper towels (good quality, thick ones) 
• A container to put your yogurt in. (I re-used a large yogurt container)

Oh, and you'll need about 14 hours to make it.  This is a project you want to start around 5pm (or about 5.5 hours before bedtime) so that you can leave it overnight.

1.  Pour half a gallon of whole milk into the crockpot.  Put the lid on tight.  Turn the crockpot on HIGH for 1 hour, and then turn down to LOW for another 1.5 hours.  (This step takes a total of 2.5 hours to complete).

2. After 2.5 hours, unplug the crockpot.  Do NOT lift the lid. (I know it's tempting, but you must resist!!)  Let it stand on the counter for 3 hours.

3. Three hours later, you can remove the lid & whisk in the 1/2 cup of prepared yogurt.  (Don't worry that the milk still looks and feels an awful lot like...well...milk, at this point.  It will thicken up later, I promise!)  NOTE: the milk will have a very thin film (or "skin") on the surface.  This is normal - it's just what happens when you cook milk!

3b. If you want flavored yogurt, you could add a little vanilla or maple extract and whisk it in as well.

4. Replace the lid.  Wrap a thick bath towel all the way around the crockpot and over the lid to keep in as much of the remaining heat as possible.  Make a mental note of 8 hours from right now.  (Or 9.  Thankfully, yogurt is very forgiving.)  Go to bed.

5. In the morning, line a colander with papertowels, or cheesecloth if you want to get all fancy.  Place the colander in the sink or inside a larger bowl (best method, this way you can put it in the fridge) and pour the thickened, heavenly smelling yogurt into it.  Let it sit for at least an hour to strain off the liquid & to give it a chance to thicken up better.

(Update : The best yogurt I made was the batch that I put into the fridge to complete the straining process and forgot about for several hours.  The texture was FABULOUS.  Unfortunately, it was also fajita flavored, due to a bit of renegade fajita seasoning trapped in the lid of my crockpot.  Not recommended.)

6. Put it in a container in the fridge & write the date on it.  It will keep for 7-10 days.  Don't forget to reserve at least 1/2 a cup as starter for your next batch, and use that within the 7-10 days!

(Update: There is no pretty way to transfer the yogurt from the colander to the container.  I suggest doing it over the sink. The best method I have found is to spoon as much of it as possible into your container, and then carefully pick up the paper towel and scrape and/or squeeze the rest into the container.


Voila! Yogurt! And it's soooo easy. Literally, all you had to do was pour the milk and stir in yogurt and sleep. It's foolproof. (Unless you lift the lid!)  Serve it with granola or fresh fruit or jam or honey.  You can sweeten it with stevia or eat it plain.  You can even use plain yogurt in place of sour cream - it's basically the same thing except not *quite* as thick.  Enjoy!

Bonus recipe: Baked Potato Salad (soooo yummy!)

Ingredients

• 3 large baked potatoes, cooled, peeled and cubed
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled ( I use the precooked kind)
• 4 ounces shredded cheddar cheese, divided
• 2 green onions, sliced and then chopped ( green part only)
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 1 dash celery salt or 1 dash seasoning salt
• 1 dash garlic powder
• 1 dash paprika
• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley (optional)

Directions

1. Gently stir together all the ingredients in a large bowl using a large spoon, reserving a little cheddar, green onion and bacon for garnish.
2. Transfer to a serving dish.
3. Top with reserved shredded cheddar, green onion slices and bacon crumbles for a beautiful presentation.

Chicken Stuffed Manicotti

Here's a recipe that came from a company cookbook at the bank I used to work for.  This may be one of the only positive outcomes of that particular job experience, but it's really yummy! This three-part recipe is a little more involved but really yummy and still fairly easy.  Read CAREFULLY before you start, and start a little earlier so you have time to cook your chicken.

Chicken Stuffed Manicotti

·         1 ½ cup chopped cooked chicken

·         1 cup small curd cottage cheese

·         1 egg, beaten

·         ¼ c. minced onion

·         2 Tbsp minced parsley

·         ½ tsp Italian Seasonings

·         ¼ c. bell pepper, chopped

·         8 manicotti shells (jumbo shells are easiest to work with!)

Before starting recipe, chop up your chicken and cook it in boiling water in a large saucepan for about 30 minutes or until no longer pink. Remove it from the pan with a slotted spoon, saving the water/broth, and put it into a bowl with the other ingredient.  Cook 8 manicotti shells in the broth/water according to directions.  Remove shells from broth carefully with slotted spoon.  Drain well and pat dry with a paper towel.  Fill shells with the chicken mixture.*

*You can attempt to stuff the manicotti with a spoon, or you can cheat like I did and slice the manicotti shell open down one side, put the filling in, and roll it back up around the filling.  Put it seam-side down in the baking dish and no one will know!

Cheese sauce

·         3 Tbsp butter

·         3 Tbsp flour

·         2 cups milk

·         1 ½ cups monterrey jack or cheddar cheese mixture (just the shredded kind in the bag works!)

·         ¼ tsp salt

·         ½ tsp Worcestershire sauce

Melt butter in a large heavy skillet.  Stir in flour, cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Add milk, stirring until sauce comes to a boil and thickens.  Add cheese, salt and Worcestershire sauce.  Reduce to low heat and stir until cheese melts.  Do not allow it to boil. 

Buttered crumbs

·         2 Tbs (or more! J ) butter

·         1/8 tsp. paprika

·         1 cup soft bread crumbs (about 2 pieces of bread, torn up into small pieces)

Melt butter in small skillet.  Stir in paprika.  Put bread crumbs in and turn until well coated.

Assembly:  Spoon about ¾ cup cheese sauce into a 9x13 baking dish and place stuffed manicotti shells on top of the sauce.  Top with remaining cheese sauce, then top with bread crumbs.  Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or heated through.

(Note: I had a little leftover spaghetti sauce from the night before that I also poured over the top of the cheese sauce.  It tasted great!  I also sprinkled some grated parmesan cheese on top when it was done baking.)