Being a mom is hectic. Living with a chronic illness is exhausting. When you combine the two, sometimes the idea of getting dinner on the table in the evening feels monumental. Those are the days where I've grown to love my deep freezer and my crockpot. On a day when I am feeling decent and have a bit of extra energy, I'll prepare and freeze a batch of meals. Then, on days when I'm short on energy or need a break from cooking, all I have to do is pop the meal in the crockpot and dinner is ready!
If you haven't tried freezer/crockpot cooking yet, I highly recommend it and I can offer you a simple starting point. A good friend of mine is about to have her second baby, but since we live in different states I couldn't help her prep food before the baby's arrival. Instead, I wrote up this shopping list and instructions to make it as easy as humanly possible to get six different chicken crockpot meals prepared and frozen. Now my friend will have these meals on hand for after her baby is born!
While these meals do require you to prepare rice or noodles and possibly a steamed veggie on the day you serve it, that is a lot less effort than preparing a whole meal! And the glorious part of this particular batch cook is that it is really simple and streamlined - after I got all the ingredients it took me less than 40 minutes to prep six different meals, despite arthritis hands during chopping! I thought some of you might also be interested in trying it, so I'm sharing the shopping list and instructions below. You could always double it and end up with 12 meals too!
Also
(and here's an organized nerd alert here, guys!) I keep a list of what I currently
have in my freezer on my phone - so that anytime I'm trying to figure
out what to do for dinner I can just check the list. Otherwise stuff
would get lost in the freezer forever - especially the chest freezer! I
like to include cooking time and serving suggestions right on the list,
so I always know how much effort my choice will take in advance.
Six Chicken Freezer Crockpot Meals
Shopping List:
Meat:
- 12-18
boneless skinless chicken breasts (since 2 big breasts is generally enough to feed my family, the six-pack of chicken breasts they carry at Costco was perfect for this batch cook!)
Dairy:
- cream
cheese (8 oz)
Produce:
- 2
red bell peppers
- 1
orange bell pepper
- 2
sweet onions
- 1
zucchini
- baby
carrots (2 cups)
- 2
cloves of garlic
- lemon
juice
Baking Goods:
- cornstarch
(1-2 tbsp)
- white
sugar (1/4 cup)
Canned & Jar Goods:
- 1
can large pineapple chunks in pineapple juice
- 1
jar spaghetti sauce
- 1
can cream of chicken soup
- orange
juice concentrate (8 oz)
Oils & Condiments:
- ketchup
(1/4 cup)
- olive
oil (1/2 cup)
- white
vinegar (1/2 cup)
- honey
(1 cup)
- soy
sauce (10 tbsp)
Spices & Seasonings:
- 1
packet dry Italian Seasoning
- Black
pepper
- Garlic
powder
- Red
pepper flakes
- Salt
Directions:
(1) Get
six gallon-sized freezer bags.
(2) Label
each bag with recipe name (and, if you want, cooking instructions).
(3) Trim
any fat off chicken breasts and place 2-3 in each gallon-sized freezer bag.
(4) Chop/dice
produce (zucchini, bell peppers, onions, garlic).
(5) Place
listed ingredients into labeled gallon-sized freezer bag.
(6) Get
out as much air as you can before you seal the bag.
(7) Lay
flat to freeze to save space in freezer (but make sure the outside of the bags are
dry, otherwise they will stick to each other, tear, and then leak).
(8) When
ready to use, thaw in the fridge overnight (place in bowl or crock pot to avoid
any issues with leaking as it thaws).
(9) Individual
cooking times and serving suggestions in each recipe.
Recipe 1: Chicken
Cacciatore:
In freezer bag:
- 2-3
chicken breasts
- all
of the chopped zucchini
- half
of the chopped red bell pepper
- half
of the chopped onion
- 1
jar spaghetti sauce
Cook:
- On
low for 6-8 hours
Serving ideas:
- Over
spaghetti noodles
- Over
baked spaghetti squash
- Over
quinoa
- Over
couscous
Recipe 2: Creamy
Italian Chicken:
In freezer bag:
- 2-3
chicken breasts
- Mix:
8 oz softened cream cheese, cream of chicken soup, dry packet of Italian
seasonings in bowl; then pour over chicken in bag
Cook:
- On
low for 4-6 hours
Serving ideas:
- Over
rice
- Over
quinoa
- With
broccoli, cauliflower, or other steamed vegetable
Recipe 3: Hawaiian
Chicken
In freezer bag:
- 2-3
chicken breasts
- all
of the chopped orange bell pepper
- the
rest of the chopped red bell pepper
- half
of the remaining chopped onion (leave some for the next recipe)
- ½
can large pineapple chunks
- ½
cup pineapple juice
- ¼
cup white sugar
- ½
cup white vinegar
- 1
tsp garlic powder
- 2
tbsp soy sauce
Cook:
- On
low for 4 hours
Serving ideas:
- Over
rice
- With
broccoli or other steamed vegetable
Recipe 4: Honey
Bourbon Chicken
In freezer bag:
- 2-3
chicken breasts
- the
rest of the diced onion
- all
the minced garlic
- 1
cup of honey
- ½
cup of soy sauce
- ¼
cup of ketchup
- 2
tbsp olive oil
- 1/3
tsp red pepper flakes
- salt
and pepper
Cook:
- On
low for 3-4 hours
- When
finished cooking, remove chicken from crock pot and slice into strips.
- In
a small bowl, combine 1 tbsp cornstarch with 1 tbsp water and pour into the
sauce remaining into the crock pot to thicken. Repeat if not thick enough.
- Place
the chicken back in the sauce and stir to re-coat.
Serving ideas:
- Over
rice
- Sprinkle
sesame seeds on top
Recipe 5: Lemon
Pepper Chicken
In freezer bag:
- 2-3
chicken breasts
- ¼
cup olive oil
- 3
tbsp lemon juice
- salt
and pepper
Cook:
- On
low 3-6 hours
Serving ideas:
- With
asparagus
- With
rice pilaf
- With
couscous
- With
qunioa
Recipe 6: Orange
Chicken
In freezer bag:
- 2-3
chicken breasts
- 2
cups baby carrots
- 1
tsp garlic powder
- 8
oz orange juice concentrate
- salt
and pepper
Cook:
- On
low 3-4 hours
Serving ideas:
- Over
rice
- With
frozen sugar snap peas
