I have to admit, I am a little bit overwhelmed right now.
May is normally a busy month for us (mother’s day plus Burke’s birthday, Keadryn’s birthday, Drew’s birthday, my brother’s birthday, & Adam’s mom’s birthday). Add in graduation (and the grad party of the century), Burke’s birthday party (an Angry Birds brunch this weekend), the graduation trip of a lifetime (Dubai, Greece and Turkey here we come!) and planning for a month’s worth of COLORFUL (wink, wink) goodness for the blog while we’re away, and life feels, well, overwhelming.
First stop in my “Get Organized” agenda- figure out meals. And, y’all, this little Freezer-Cooking-and-then-Crock-Pot-Dinners plan has beenrevolutionary. So far. I mean, we’re three meals in. But it feels revolutionary (and organized- SO organized!). Plus, we have a freezer full of eleven dinners still to eat.
The best part is that, in crossing ‘figure out dinner’ off my daily task list, I free up an hour and a half or so each afternoon. That time is going directly towards whittling the “Burke’s Party,” “Grad Party,” “To Make/Sew Before June,” and “Graduation Trip” lists. Lovely.
Enough chatter- want to see exactly what I did?
First I found five crock pot recipes (most of them have overlapping ingredients which made for easy shopping and chopping). Then I doubled/tripled/quadrupled the recipes (to make three coconut curries, four barbeque chickens, two orange chickens, two hot and spicy peanut chickens, and three man-pleasing chickens), made myself a massive shopping list, and then chopped… and chopped… and chopped. Lastly, I separated everything into fourteen freezer bags, wrote the directions on the bag and froze everything. Easy enough, right?
Want the recipes? They’re all modified from recipes I found around the internet- for more details, just click each link.
IN THE BAG- 2 cups onions, 2 cups carrots, 2 cups zucchini, 1 red pepper, 1/2 t grated lime peel, 2 T lime juice, 2 T soy sauce, 2 T flour, 4 garlic cloves, 2 lbs. cubed boneless, skinless chicken breast.
TO COOK- Dump contents of bag in slow cooker. Cover with 3/4 cup chicken broth and 3 T peanut butter (whisked together). Cook on low for 5-6 hours. For the last five minutes, add in 1 can of coconut milk and 1 bag of frozen peas.
TO SERVE- To make it spicy, add 1/2 teaspoon of red curry paste before serving (I kept our unspicy for the kiddos). Garnish with chopped peanuts and cilantro. Serve over rice.
IN THE BAG- 3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, 2 lbs. of chopped butternut squash, 2 medium onions,chopped, 8 minced garlic cloves, 1 oz fresh ginger, 2 T curry powder,1 t ground coriander, 1 t ground cumin, coarse salt
TO COOK- Add the contents of the bag and a can of coconut milk to a slow cooker and cook on low all day. 25 minutes before serving, add another can of coconut milk and a bag of frozen peas.
TO SERVE- Garnish with chopped cashews and cilantro.
BBQ Chicken adapted from this recipe by Mama and Baby Love
IN THE BAG- 2 cups sweet potatoes, 2 cups red and green bell pepper, 1 cup carrots, 2 cups onion, 3 cups zucchini, 2 T flour, 1.5 lbs chicken, 2 cloves garlic, 1 t salt
TO COOK- Dump bag plus one bottle BBQ sauce into crock pot, cook on low for 6-8 hours.
IN THE BAG- 2 cups carrots, 2 cups bell peppers, 1 lb cubed boneless skinless chicken breasts, 3 cloves garlic, 1 t salt, 1/2 t pepper, 8 oz. orange juice concentrate (orange pineapple will work as well)
TO COOK- Cook on low in crock pot, 4 to 6 hours
TO SERVE- Garnish with clementine slices (use 4 clementines) or mandarin oranges (two cans) and green onions (two, chopped). Serve on rice. Stir fried veggies make a great side.
IN THE BAG- 2 cups red and green bell pepper, 1 cup carrots, 2 cups onion, 3 cups zucchini, 2 T flour, 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs, 2 cloves garlic, 1 t salt
TO COOK- Add the contents of the bag with 3/4 cup of dijon mustard, and 1/4 cup of maple syrup and 1 T of rice wine vinegar to a foil lined glass pan. Cook at 450 until a meat thermometer reads 165 degrees. Garnish with fresh rosemary and serve.
